Last night was a spectacular event at the Silver and Gold Anniversary Celebration Gala! All who came out had a wonderful night! We were blessed with Fr. Murphy, the founding Pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church, and Sister Elizabeth, the first principal of St. Andrew Catholic School! We watched the boy scouts carry and post the colors our flags, American, Papal, State, City. School Parent, Parish Cantor and Recording Artist, Maritza Cendeno de Smith, sang beautifully "God Bless America". Our Emcee for the night was non-other than Dr. Chris Parfitt, Assistant Principal of Saint Andrew Catholic School.
Fr. Richard York, current Pastor of Saint Andrew Catholic Church, led everyone in the anniversary prayer to start the evening off. This was followed by Proclamations by Commissioner Manning and Mayor Sawicki that November 8th was declared Saint Andrew Day in jubilation of our Silver and Gold Anniversaries. Each guest was presented with a wine glass, etched with the anniversary logo for wine toasts of 25th of the school and 50th of the church. Fr. Timothy Murphy, school & church founder gave the blessing before the meal.
The silent auction continued till the end of the night. We were served a surf and turf dinner with dessert & coffee following. During dinner, people gathered, talking and getting reacquainted with old and new friends! Many surprise faces showed up for this momentous event! An audio visual presentation was shown with a message from Bishop Dewane and many other guests, including Dr. Judy Hughes, Principal of Saint Andrew Catholic School and Fr. Richard York, Pastor of Saint Andrew Catholic Church. (The presentation should be available on the website in the next few weeks if you didn't get a chance to see it.)
We were then delighted to have Sister Elizabeth Anne, Director of Center for Catholic Culture Aquinas College, Nashville, talk to us about what it means to be Catholic and where are heritage has come from and looking to the future as to how we can make a difference in the world of Catholicism. She was followed by nationally recognized comedian, Jeff Allen, Thou Shalt Laugh, who had the crowd laughing over the realities of being married for multiply years. Almost everyone in attendance could relate on one level or another!
The evening ended with the Jonathan Elliott Band entertaining us with Music and Dancing! The dance floor was crammed with people from all generations coming together and just enjoying the jubilation of the evening together.
Thank you to the Gala Host Committee, the Sponsors, the Guest Appearances that traveled so far to be with us, our Clergy from the Diocese of Venice and Saint Andrew Parish, the Parish and School Staff and especially, Fr. Richard York, who blessed us this year with our continued message of "Finding Union in Communion" in celebrating our Silver and Gold Anniversary Celebration Gala!