[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]REDGRANITE — Lee Laudolff has always found a loving, nurturing home at St. Mark Parish. “My parents belonged to that parish before I was even born,” he said. “The parish and the people there have always been there for me and taken care of me. They have always been there to support me.”
Laudolff also belongs to Berlin Boy Scout Troop No. 673. When he decided to become an Eagle Scout in the organization, he learned he had to do a project for the community as part of the process.
“The first organization that came to my mind was my church,” he said. “I wanted to do something to give back to them because they have been giving so much to me from before I was born.”
There was an empty section of land that the parish owned on the other side of its parking lot. Laudolff wanted to put that land to use for his project. He had seen the Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine in Orlando, Fla. It has a rosary garden, “and it was just so beautiful,” Laudolff said. He decided to recreate that garden in Redgranite.
He plotted out what he would need to do. The circular garden is in the shape of a rosary. The garden is laid out with round stepping stones that are two feet in diameter. Each stepping stone represents a bead in the rosary. At each “decade” point, there is a square stone of a different color set on the diagonal.
A four-foot wide path with a solid gravel base leads visitors around the garden. In the middle of the garden is an elevated flower bed about three feet high and in the middle of that is a four-foot tall statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Laudolff received a lot of help for his project. Money was raised from individual donations from parish members and from a breakfast sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Several of his close friends from his Boy Scout troop helped with the work, as did his family: his father, Frank; his mother, Cindy; and his brother, Matthew.
Three dedication ceremonies were held at the rosary garden in early October and members of the parish were pleased with the result. “They were very happy and very eager to use it,” Laudolff said. “There were some people there who did not know how to pray the rosary and this helped them learn.”
Another visitor told Laudolff, “It’s so great to see individual people come together to build such an amazing, holy spot.”
Laudolff is keeping busy with other activities these days. He is studying welding at Fox Valley Technical College in Oshkosh and works at Henry’s Honey Farm in Redgranite. But he still holds his parish activities close to his heart.
“I love the rosary garden,” Laudolff said. “I was so happy to do it, and I had a great time. I’ve been an altar server for eight years, and now I’m in the Knights of Columbus. I like giving to the parish. I know they would and have done the same for me.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_message color=”alert-info” style=”rounded”]Your Catholic Neighbor
Name: Lee Laudolff
Parish: St. Mark, Redgranite
Age: 18
Favorite saint: Michael
Words to live by: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]
