It’s been a busy summer at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Two weeks or so ago, the local SCJs were able to gather at St. Catherine’s in Big Bend, South Dakota for the dedication of a new parish hall. The previous hall had ‘given up the ghost’ and was too old and run-down to host parish celebrations.

The pastoral team of Fr. Vincent, SCJ, Fr. Hendrik, SCJ and Fr. Joseph Dean, SCJ cover both sides of the Missouri River. West River, they serve three parishes — Reliance, Kennebec, and Lower Brule. East River, they are joined by Sr. Charles, OSB and Deacon Steve McLaughlin to cover Ft. Thompson, Stephan and Big Bend.

Ms. Escorn and her grandson, Grey Star Warrior Adam, joined us in the photo to represent the past, present and future of this church community.

We hope the St. Catherine’s parish is able to enjoy their new church hall for many years to come.

You may be aware that St. Joseph’s is building a new facility to combine our medical clinic and provide office and therapy space for our Family Service Counselors. The construction is well underway and we are looking forward to watching the building develop!

A few days ago, the construction crew ran into a little bit of a problem as they were trying to dig a ditch to lay pipes for water, sewage and electrical wiring. All was going well until they hit one of the buried power lines and knocked power out over half the campus! They knew the line was there, but it had been miss-marked and was not where they thought it would be. Fortunately, power was up and running again within a half hour.

Crews are also putting in new parking for our teachers and staff for the upcoming school year, which is less than two weeks away.

We’ll keep you updated as the construction progresses.

To help fund our new Health and Family Services Center, Chamberlain’s local Wells Fargo Bank branch recently donated $25,000! Mr. Terry Krome, Business Banking Manager of the Chamberlain branch, explained that the Bank is committed to providing the resources local communities and their educational institutions need to grow and prosper.

This generous gift will help St. Joseph’s provide the opportunity for all of its’ students to receive comprehensive health care and counseling services in the same building to enhance caring for the ‘mind, body, heart and spirit’ of the whole child.

St. Joseph’s extends a BIG pilamaya—thank you­—to Wells Fargo for their generous contribution.

At the end of June, Chamberlain hosted the 2016 Hemmings Motor News Great Race. Drivers were in the middle of a time/speed/distance road rally from San Rafael, California to Moline, Illinois. The 120+ drivers/navigators and vintage cars began arriving in Chamberlain in the early afternoon.

For the drivers and navigators, one key rule of the rally was no electronics—no cell phones, GPS, laptops, tablets, etc. Some of the cars did not have a top and I doubt if any of the older cars had air conditioning, but, despite the heat, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

One bumper sticker really stood out on the back of a 1916 Hudson: ‘1916 Hudson. 100 years old, and I’m in front of you.’

We have already started orientation for new staff as the start of school is just around the corner. The Homes will open on August 14 and classes begin for grades 1-8 the next day.

Since the Chamberlain School District does not start until the following week, our high school students have some extra time off. Those who want to take part in sports will come back a bit earlier to participate in fall camp.

It seems we just had graduation and our summer camp for children from Lower Brule and Ft. Thompson… where did the time go?

I hope you are able to relax and enjoy the remainder of the summer. Stay safe and enjoy!

 

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain