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Donation saves chapel, Belgian heritage in area

	ROADSIDE CHAPEL: Troy Thiry outside the Belgian roadside chapel he donated to the Shrine at Robinsonville, sparing it from destruction. (Rick Evans photo)
	Celebrating 150 years What: Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Belgians' arrival in northeast Wisconsin When: Sunday, Oct. 5 Where: 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph Church, Champion, celebrated by Fr. Samuel Jadin, Belgian Club Chaplain, and assisted by Fr. Jean Ducat of Belgium and Fr. Milton Suess, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Luxemburg. Other: Rededication of the Grez-Doicean monument, built in 1885, which carries the name of the village in Belgium where most of the area's immigrants came from. Special guests from Belgium will attend. Dinner: The Woods Golf Club after Mass.

When the State of Wisconsin decided to widen Hwy. 57 in Door County, the future of a 115-year-old roadside chapel appeared uncertain.

The chapel stood on Troy Thiry's land just east of Dyckesville on the corner of Cty. S and Bader Road. That meant it would have to be razed or removed to allow for reconstruction of the highway.

Rosary walk What: Candlelight Rosary Procession When: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 Where: Our Lady of Good Help Shrine, Robinsonville Why: To commemorate the sparing of the Shrine during the Peshtigo Fire on Oct. 8, 1871 Information: www.shrineofourlady.com.

So Thiry, who wanted to preserve the chapel as part of his heritage and 150 years of Belgian heritage in northeast Wisconsin offered to donate the chapel to Our Lady of Good Help Shrine in New Franken. The Green Bay Diocese, which owns and operates the shrine, approved the chapel's relocation, and the state paid moving expenses.

Steve Tipps, caretaker of the Shrine, said, "Troy Thiry wanted the chapel to find a proper home, and the state wanted it on a religious site. Now it's located in the northeast corner of the property in the back processional area. By next spring, people can visit and use it as a prayer chapel."

Thiry is restoring the chapel to its original condition. The exterior is complete, and the interior is under construction. Tipps' wife is restoring the statuary, and a plaque will be posted to tell the chapel's history.

Similar roadside chapels still exist throughout Door, Brown, and Kewaunee counties. They are part of a Belgian tradition, reports Mary Ann Defnet, a member of the Peninsula Belgian-American Club.

"Prayer chapels are very common in Belgium," Defnet said. "They're built into the sides of buildings, on street corners, just everywhere. Here they were built along roadsides for people to pray, often for a family member who was ill. Then everyone could use the chapel for prayer."

A large number of Belgian immigrants arrived in America starting 150 years ago, Defnet said, an event that will be honored this Sunday at a Mass and dinner (see sidebar).

"Belgium became a country in 1831, but people didn't own the land," Defnet said. "They had large families but only got one-twentieth of the crops. Also, the potato famine covered Belgium, too, which added to their problems. When the people heard that land was available cheaply here, many immigrated. They wanted to own land, vote, and better their economic condition.

"They came on a ship with people from Holland who were going to Sheboygan," Defnet continued, "so they went there too. But most people there spoke Dutch or German, so the Belgian immigrants moved north of Green Bay, where there was a French-Canadian church and a priest who spoke French and who helped them buy land. Gradually, as their numbers grew, they spread into Kewaunee and Door counties."

The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help was the first house of worship in the Belgian settlement, where its larger, rebuilt version resides today. The first 10- by 12-foot log chapel was built by Sr. Adele Brise's father near the spot of her reported vision of the Virgin Mary.

Although she was commonly called Sr. Adele, she and a community she led were not members of a religious order. Rather, they were Tertiaries Secular of the Third Order of St. Francis; they wore a religious habit, but took no vows, retained their property and could leave when they desired.

Adele had come to the Green Bay peninsula area from Belgium during the 1850s with her parents and family when she was 24 years old. In 1859, Adele reported having three visions of the Blessed Virgin, who commissioned her to catechize the children and admonish sinners, which she did. Eventually, a school and convent were added to the grounds.

Under diocesan ownership, the Chapel grounds continue to be improved. Recently, a new roof and gutters were installed on the convent. An outdoor flower garden was planted in an area where the 14 Stations of the Cross will be completed next spring. The Stations came from a closed church and are being preserved on the site.

At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8, there will be a Candlelight Rosary Procession at the shrine Chapel to commemorate the seemingly miraculous sparing of the site during the Peshtigo Fire. On that day in 1871, as the whirlwind fire approached the Belgian settlement, the sisters, children, and area farmers and their families fled to the shrine for protection.

"Sr. Adele and the community prayed all night long," Tipps said. "Then a torrential rain fell, and when it was over, everything was completely burned except the five acres of shrine property, the school, convent, and Chapel. The fire never entered the Chapel grounds."