Holy Week:
* Holy Thursday:
 7 p.m. Mass at St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Good Friday:
 Noon - Calvary Walk, starting at Peace Lutheran
             Church.
1 p.m. at Immaculate Conception, Butternut.
1:45 p.m. at St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Holy Saturday:
8 p.m. Easter Vigil at St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Easter Sunday:
8 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Conception, Butternut.
9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
11 a.m. Mass at St. Francis, Fifield.
Mass Times:
* Saturday, 4:30 p.m. - St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Sunday, 8 a.m. - Immaculate Conception, Butternut.
* Sunday, 9:30 a.m. - St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Sunday, 11 a.m. - St. Francis, Fifield.
* Tuesday, 5 p.m. - St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Wednesday, 8 a.m. - Immaculate Conception, Butternut.
* Thursday, 8:10 a.m. - St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
* Friday, 8:10 a.m. - St. Anthony's, Park Falls.
St. Anthony School Annual Fund
Immediate Challenge: $220,000.00
March 17: $215,521.97
Feb. 24: $208,323.33
Feb. 11: $203,946.33
Jan. 27: $184,452.88
Jan. 20: $81,140.79
Jan. 6: $75,759.70
Dec. 26: $53,589.70
Dec. 19: $39,887.00
Dec. 2: $23,565.00
Official PayPal Seal

St. Anthony School nears initial goal; will open for 2014-15
Efforts continue to secure long-term future as centennial approaches

 St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School in Park Falls will open for the 2014-15 school year.

Fr. Shaji Joseph Pazhukkathara, Pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, delivered the good news to parishioners at Masses on Feb. 8 & 9.

“We’re not quite over the hump yet, but we’re near enough that we feel we can balance a budget for the 2014-15 school year,” said Jim Litwaitis, chairman of the St. Anthony Finance Council.

At the end of the day on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the school had received $203,946.33 in gifts and pledges for the 2014-15 school year and the school’s endowment fund. Approximately $30,000 of that total was designated by donors to be invested in the endowment fund.,
leaving the school about $46,000 shy of balancing the books for
2014-15.
 
“Our immediate challenge remains $220,000 for the 2014-15 school year,” St. Anthony School Principal Michael Plemon said. “We promised to make a decision on the 2014-15 school year in early
February in fairness to our students and families, our staff, our parish, the Chequamegon, Butternut, Phillips and neighboring school districts, and to our community. We’re obviously excited that the decision is for our school to remain open.”
 
“God has blessed us greatly through the support of our parishioners, school families, alumni and community members,” said Len Schmidt, chairman of the strategic planning committee appointed by Fr. Shaji to develop a plan for the long-term future of the school. “We’re nearing the first hurdle. We felt we had to keep the school open next year to give us time to work on the next 100 years, and we’re able to do that. Now we can continue with a plan to provide Catholic education in our communities into the school’s second century.”

St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School’s cornerstone was laid on Sept. 24, 1921, and the school opened in the fall of 1922. The school is looking forward to its centennial celebration in 2021-22.

The excitement generated in the whirlwind campaign over the past three months has energized the school and parish community.

“We’re obviously excited to be operating in 2014-15. We’re equally as excited with what we’ve learned in the process. We’ve asked for visions of what our community might like for St. Anthony School to provide to our students now and in the future, and we’re taking those to heart. We’re confident we can build on the outstanding education
our school and staff provide, enhance our educational and social opportunities, and continue to instill Christian values,” Plemon said. “We have what we feel is an outstanding educational model in our math program and hope to mirror that, first in the sciences, and hopefully throughout our curriculum.”

“Our parish, our school families, our alumni and our communities have made it abundantly clear that they truly value Catholic education in our community,” said Connie Teeters, chairman of the
parish’s Education Committee. “We genuinely respect those wishes and feel a great responsibility to carry the torch for generations to come; not only to carry that torch, but to stoke the fire as  well.”

As the school draws closer and closer to overcoming it’s initial challenge of generating an additional $220,000 in revenue for the 2014-15 school year, the strategic planning committee will  now shift its focus to long-term strategies to provide annual operating revenue.

“We have a good start on the long term with $97,000 pledged annually. We’ve been blessed with gifts of over $30,000 to the school’s endowment fund. We have a long way to go and the bigger
challenge is ahead of us. The energy and love for our school is truly
heartwarming and, at times, somewhat overwhelming,” said Ken Dischler, Director of Stewardship & Development at St. Anthony’s.

A  significant piece of the puzzle is an increase in tuition. The parish’s Education Committee has approved the tuition scale for 2014-15 and 2015-16, which could provide up to an additional $35,000+ annually for school operations. The scale is $1,400 for one child, $1,300 for the 2nd child in the same  family, and a cap of $3,700 per family. The increase may be offset for some  under the new Wisconsin Tax Deduction for Tuition Expenses. Under the legislation, the average Wisconsin family paying school tuition will see their taxes cut around $240 per primary school child.
 
With future pledges and additional tuition revenues, the projections for additional annual revenues for 2015-16 and forward total $132,000, or about 60% of the goal of $220,000 annually

The ultimate fiscal challenge is to grow the school’s endowment fund a little more than 10-fold from its current balance of approximately $230,000 to $2.5 million or more.

“There are several ways to leave a wonderful legacy of ensuring Catholic education for a second century to students in and around Park Falls,” Dischler said. “Those options include gifts, bequests or memorials in estate planning, designating St. Anthony School as a beneficiary on insurance policies or investment plans, tuition sponsorships or scholarships, and others.”

For additional information, Dischler can be reached at St. Anthony’s,
715-762-4494.
Bishop Peter Christensen (right) and Peggy Schoenfuss (left), Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Superior, enjoyed the Catholic Schools Week Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, Jan. 26, with Charles & Arlene Bablick. Bishop Christensen celebrated the kickoff Mass for Catholic Schools Week. The breakfast is sponsored annually by the Home & School Association.

Fall Fest

Welcome to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church & School

276 So. 5th Ave., Park Falls, WI 54552
Office hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Phone .......................................................715-762-4494
Fax.............................................................715-762-0079
Rectory.......................................................715-762-5435
School........................................................715-762-4476
Daycare......................................................715-762-2024
stanthony75@hotmail.com
Weekly Bulletin - click on "Weekly Bulletin" tab under "St. Anthony's Catholic Church" tab

Parish Directory

Rev. Shaji Joseph Pazhukkathara..........Pastor
Rev. Mr. Chet Ball...................................Deacon
Ken Dischler............................................Stewardship & Development
                                                                 kendischler@live.com
Michael Plemon.......................................School Principal
Betty Jarosinski........................................Liturgist
Deacon Chet Ball.....................................Director of Religious Education
Nancy Little..............................................School Secretary
Mary Zoesch.............................................Parish Secretary

World Day of Prayer - March 7, 2014

Members of Frank & Michael Baren Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary #5778 conducted a POW/MIA Ceremony on Friday, Sept. 20, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Park Falls.

Shop.com/stanthonysparkfalls

When you shop online at www.shop.com/stanthonysparkfalls, a portion of every sale supports St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School - and YOU GET CASH BACK!!!
Visit the site by clicking on the link above, register as a preferred customer, and go shopping!!
Thank you for your support of St. Anthony School!

Wish List

-  Replace playground fencing along 6th Avenue.

 Any gifts towards this item would be greatly
appreciated. Contact the Parish Office at 715-762-4494.

    Prayer Requests

Please remember St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in your will.

Electronic Funds Transfer for weekly or monthly offerings

St. Anthony's offers electronc funds transfers for weekly or monthly offerings. Authorizations forms are available at the church or the parish office, or online by clicking on "Electronic Funds Transfers" under "Stewardship & Ministry" on the "St. Anthony of Padua" dropdown menu at the top of this page.

St. Anthony's Pastoral Council

Bob Hoffman, Chairman
Dolly Rand, Secretary
Bob Little
Dawn Slack
Jim Lalonde
Dennis Bablick
Amy Singer
Sharon Wasko
Jim Foley, Trustee
Gretchen Hilgart, Trustee

St. Anthony's Finance Committee

Jim Litwaitis, Chairman
Ron Schoch
Sam Pritzl
Grace Mongan

St. Anthony's Education Committee

Connie Teeters, Chairman
Kelly Kleinschmidt, Secretary
Karen Newbury
Len Schmidt
Andrea Jean
Jerry Weber
Kris Mineau, Home & School Association

Scrip News

Never used Scrip before? Well, it is EASY  and you will be benefiting the school/parish as well. You buy a gift card for it's face value and the school makes a profit from the retailer. You are not putting out  anything extra for that card. You purchase a $25 gas card for  $25. Using Scrip gift cards is an EASY way to fundraise without spending  more. Give it a try. Stop by the table at the parking lot entrance of St. Anthony Catholic Church after weekend Masses to pick up your cards or learn more about it from one of our gift card sellers. Scrip is also available after the Butternut Mass the first Sunday of every month, and through the school office any school day.
  
Thank you for your continued support of St. Anthony School.

Cans for Kids

Don’t  forget to bring your aluminum cans to the school (wood storage bin near the
cafeteria entrance) for recycling. Our school benefits from the proceeds from recycling the cans. Save those milk caps and box tops, too!!

Mission Statement

We, the people of St. Anthony's Parish, united as a Eucharistic community, make it our mission to be followers of Jesus by striving to know and live the Gospel.

Through the empowerment of the Spirit we belive that we can promote the Gospel through our worship, fellowship, education and service. Our vision is to acknowledge the giftedness of everyone, inviting each individual to be a steward in God's plan of salvation.

We believe that our words and works should initiate conversion, build community and invite discipleship.

New to the Community?
Welcome!!

We’re blessed to have you attend Mass with
us! How may we serve you?
__ I would like to learn more about the Catholic
faith.
 __ I am interested in parish membership.
 __ I would appreciate a visit by a member of the parish
  staff (any special needs / intentions?).
 __ I have a special prayer request.
Please include any requests from above in the "comments" box below and submit the form.
 

    Do you wish for us to contact you?
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St. Anthony's Padua Center
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Padua Chapel
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St. Anthony's Parish Rectory