Update
on the Vineyards (2005)— The grape harvest this year exceeded
previous years’ harvest. This year, the vines have matured and
the quality of the grapes has improved. Through the years we
learned from our experiences as grape growers. See this year's
photos, click
here. During the summer, we bottled the wine from
the 2003 harvest. The wine is not great, just acceptable table
wine.
The grapes harvested in 2002 did not turned out very well. The
wine is not very good and it was recommend that they be processed as
wine vinegar. Ron Mancuso will process the wine into wine vinegar
and once done, it will be available to our parishioners.
The 2004 harvest produced a premium wine. It still needs aging
and will be bottled in August 2006 and will be available at our 2006
Feast Day.
The 2005 wine harvest has just been completed. The yield
has exceeded last year and the quality of the grapes is very good.
Hopefully, we are becoming better vintners as the years go by,
learning from our experiences.
My idea is to use the wine for Mass and also make some available
as gifts and possibly offer some at our gift shop as a way to pay
for landscaping of the whole campus facility. If you have a
wine future certificate, please turn it in at the office and receive
your bottle of our first wine. The wine is available now in the
office.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have made this happen.
Fr. John
The Statue of St. Francis— We
hope you will find
our new statue a great and challenging symbol of Francis which will
inspire us and draw us to greater effort on behalf of the Gospel.