Rural Life Days schedule

Spring holds a mixed bag of blessings and concerns as farmers prepare for the new growing season. High fuel costs and the European scare of both foot and mouth and mad cow diseases are among realities the rural community faces as it celebrates Rural Life/St. Isidore Days, April 3 and 4.

While it was a good winter, with adequate snow cover despite intermittent cold spells, prices paid continue to be low for milk, crops and livestock. On the flip side, said Terry Vanderheiden of rural Seymour, prices for feed fertilizer and fuel just keep rising. Terry and her husband, Jerry, recently quit the dairy business Jerry had been in all his life. "Prices just didn't make it feasible anymore," Terry said.

The couple will keep their land and hope to raise some young stock, but their income will come from off-farm employment. The Vanderheidens tell about auctioning their dairy business in a Rural Life 2001 section article.

Stories like theirs are not unusual today and are on the minds of the rural community as they gather for the Rural Masses this year. Everyone - whether involved in farming or not - is invited to Rural Life Days and to reflect on how they are afftected by the changing of an agricultural tradition that built this country. Dcn. Paul Grimm, acting rural life consultant for the diocese, notes rural issues impact anyone who eats, drinks water or enjoys outdoor recreation.

"Rural Life Days are for everyone who has an interest in rural issues," said Dcn. Grimm, "whether they live in the country, in the suburbs or the city."

Rural Life/St. Isidore Days will be held:

-- April 3 at St. Francis Solanus, Gresham. Bp. Robert Banks will be the celebrant.

-- April 4 at St. Mary, Chilton. Bp. Robert Morneau will be the celebrant.

Both days begin with 10:30 a.m. Mass and include blessing of seed, soil, animals and machinery. Lunch and presentation follow. Srs. Georgia Acker and Geraldine Hoye, OP, will speak on "Called to Stewardship, Summoned to Serve: Celebrate your giftedness that echoes the sacredness of the land, the blessings with are shared by many."

Tickets for the Rural Life dinners are $5.50 and must be purchased at least five days in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door. To obtain tickets, call diocesan Pastoral Services at (920)437-7531, ext. 8310, or 1-877-500-3580. Host parishes will also sell tickets: Chilton at (920)849-9363 or Gresham at (715)787-3250. (Tickets are not needed for the Masses.)