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NEWS LETTER Christmas 2003
St. Francis Lodge
Lake George, Minnesota
 Mission Of St. Francis Lodge: To provide a place of peace and prayer
for Catholic Nuns and women exploring religious life as Catholic
Nuns, in a beautiful wilderness setting with no organized
agenda, in a quiet bed-and-breakfast at no charge.
Dear Friends of St.
Francis Lodge:
God has blessed us this past year at St. Francis Lodge despite the
financial challenges most of us have found ourselves in. We have
made many improvements at St. Francis Lodge that we would like to
share with you. In all we have added about $100,000 in value to our
project with only about $4,500 in actual cash. Our improvements have
come as a result of your generosity, the Cuningham Group architects,
and "sweat equity" (hard physical work).
This past year:
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We moved 40,000 lbs. of
natural Minnesota rock down to the shore to build a stronger and
more beautiful shoreline.
-
We reinforced our stairs
to the lake and added several more stairs to make the long climb to
the lake easier and safer.
-
We re-built "Our Lady Of
The Lake Grotto" with more beautiful stone and a more defined look.
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We built a beautiful
stone border around our pond to make it more defined and have added
natural plants to enhance it next Spring. Also, we cut and cleared
all the broken logs out of the pond.
-
We planted many new
Norway Pines and Sugar Maples for future beauty to our site.
-
We commissioned Sister
Mary Ann Osborne with the Teaching Sisters Of Notre Dame out of
Mankato, Minnesota, to carve our outdoor Stations Of the Cross. They
are now completed and all are now sponsored through the generosity
of so many kind Benefactors. We will put them up next Spring (go to
www.stfrancislodge.com/lodge.htm to view each station and
learn about Sister Mary Ann Osborne's wonderful artistic work).
-
We pulled all the logs
and trees out of the water on the lake front to clear up the water
for future use.
-
We had St. Francis Lodge
officially Blessed on September 6, 2003, by Father Rolf Tollefson
with St. Charles Borromeo in Minneapolis to dedicate our work and
this wonderful place to God.
-
David Engleson with The
Cuningham Group architects in Minneapolis has agreed to draw our
initial and final plans for St. Francis Lodge (go to
www.stfrancislodge.com/lodgedraw.htm) that include a chapel,
big lodge, and bunk house/garage. David has taken on this project on
a pro bono basis to help us. His work is worth approximately $50,000
to us. (Go to
www.cuningham.com/portfolio/worship) to learn about the
Cuningham Group.
-
Finally, we finished
clearing the building site and have built a turn-around for parking
with natural Minnesota stone.
As a reminder, last year
we got power brought in, our well dug, the road built, and septic
in. We are ready to begin building in 2004!
Please remember to keep
this project at the top of your prayer list and also tell others
about it who may wish to contribute (see
www.stfrancislodge.com)
by becoming a benefactor for a part of this project. It would be
very much appreciated.
God Bless You All! Have
a wonderful and peaceful Holiday Season! Also, Blessings to you all
in the year 2004!
Gratefully yours,
Sal and Beth Di Leo
Proprietors of St. Francis Lodge
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