St. Ann's celebrates 150 years

The southernmost parish in the Green Bay Diocese will celebrate its sesquicentennial on Sunday, Aug. 5.

Located in the Calumet County village of St. Anna, St. Ann Parish will mark its 150th anniversary celebration with a 10 a.m. Mass. Bp. Robert Banks will preside with Fr. Frank Weber, pastor, as con-celebrant.

Mark and Rita Schneider have been parishioners at St. Ann's for 45 years. "We've always enjoyed belonging here," Rita said. "We have lots of friends, and our seven children all graduated from the school. We think it's a great parish!"

As publicity chairpersons for the sesquicentennial celebration, the Schneiders are enthusiastic about people coming for the Mass and the festivities to follow at the adjacent Firemen's Park. These will include a dinner, open to the public, at 11 a.m. and a parade through town, featuring the Ralph Brill Wagon Train at 11:30 a.m.. Throughout the day, horse-drawn wagon rides will be available, and along the route a speaker will give the history of the parish. Other attractions include an anniversary cake, a commemorative ornament sale and a cemetery walk, complete with maps.

St. Ann's was started in 1851 by German immigrants who had previously opened their homes to Masses presided at by priests from the nearby Marytown parish of St. Mary's in Fond du Lac County. In 1851, Abp. John Henni of Milwaukee formed the new parish. (St. Ann's was part of the Milwaukee Archdiocese until 1905, when the Diocese of Superior was formed and boundaries of the other dioceses in the state were changed.)

St. Ann's current church building is the third in its history. The first was built of logs on 40 acres of land donated by Englebert Flatten. Seven years later, a larger frame church replaced the log building. In 1878, an addition was built, doubling its capacity, and in 1885 the rectory was completed. The present church was finished in 1896 and was consecrated by Abp Francis Katzer of Milwaukee.

(Today, the term "dedication of a church" is preferred, but consecration indicates that the blessing of the church was done by a bishop in a solemn ceremony. A church can be dedicated by a priest, but only a bishop can consecrate the building and use holy chrism for anointing the structure and its altar. St. Ann's was a bit unusual in that its main altar contained relics of three major saints: Lucy, Agatha and Irene.)

The parishioners' generosity in financing the building of their church exceeded the amount needed, and with, money left over, they were able to start an elementary school. St. Ann's School was completed in 1898 and enlarged in 1939. The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity taught at St. Ann's from its opening until 1983, then School Sisters of Notre Dame served the school. In 1985, the school closed. Parish children now attend other schools, including Holy Rosary in New Holstein. Currently, there are 150 members in the parish.

"There's a sense of community there, where people work together for a common cause. They're always willing to help each other. That hasn't changed over the years," said Linda Schoenborn, a life-long member of St. Ann and the Schneiders' oldest daughter. "A couple years ago, my husband was in a serious car accident, and there were so many prayers and offers of help. When I think back to when I was growing up, my mom and dad were strong in their faith, and the church was a center. Everything revolved around it."

Schoenborn carries on the family tradition of parish services, having served on the parish council and teaching religious education classes. "At St. Ann's, we encourage the participation of all ages, especially the youth. Once a month, the youth sing with the adult choir, and some young people are even heading up committees for the celebration coming up."

This isn't the parish's first commemorative event. Fr. Weber remembers the centennial of the current church building in 1997.

"That was soon after I came here," he said. "It was a big celebration. There's something for all ages. We're hoping for good weather and a great turnout."

(Pat Kasten contributed to this story.)