Parishes adjusted as power went out in Saratoga County

The power outages that struck New York State last week due to high winds disrupted businesses, homes -- and Catholic parishes, where some Masses were canceled and a bridal reception had to be moved:

* "The force of the wind was just immense. One lightning bolt seemed to hit the parking lot, and we all jumped. There's a lot of damage from [fallen] trees and limbs.

"We were supposed to have a Generations of Faith session on Friday [attended by more than 200 parishioners], so everyone on the staff had to take a number of names and try to call these people. If they came anyway, we kept the parish hall open and gave them pizza. I think maybe 30 people showed up. They were grateful for a place that was warm."

-- Paula Barrett, coordinator for funerals, weddings and the choir at Corpus Christi parish, Round Lake

***

"We lost power on Friday, and it didn't come back until Sunday afternoon. We had to cancel all weekend Masses."

-- Wanda Rice, parish secretary, Immaculate Conception Church, Corinth

***

* "Our Reach Out Committee called our shut-ins to make sure they were doing okay. There are 5,000 to 6,000 people here, and pretty much everyone lost power."

-- Margaret Rebida, parish council member, Immaculate Conception parish, Corinth

***

"We lost power on Friday afternoon and got it back about 8 p.m. on Saturday. We had to cancel our Saturday vigil Mass at St. Joseph's but were able to go ahead with Sunday morning Mass. At St. Paul's [mission church] in Rock City Falls, both Masses were canceled.

"I called some people in Middle Grove and Rock City Falls, and invited them to come over here if they needed showers or food. I have a wood-burning stove, so I was able to at least cook."

-- Sister Diane Schoff, CSJ, parish life director, St. Joseph's, Greenfield Center

***

"We lost power late Friday afternoon. There was a bloodmobile going on at our parish center. They had to close it down, and we had to turn away some donors.

"The power came back around midnight on Friday, so we didn't have to cancel any of our weekend Masses. However, because of the outage, attendance was down quite a bit."

-- Phyllis Lawrence, parish secretary, St. Michael the Archangel, South Glens Falls

***

"On Friday, at the 5:30 Mass, there was just one other parishioner, Father [Arthur] Tuttle [associate pastor] and I. We had a wedding rehearsal at 6:30 in the dark. We had candles in the sanctuary and headlights blaring into the front window. The bride got a call that their reception was canceled. They were able to [move] their reception [to] Albany."

-- Marilyn Helenek, sacristan, St. Clement's Church, Saratoga Springs

***

"We lost power in the office early, and we did stay for a while, thinking it would come back on. Father [had] five o'clock Mass on Saturday without power. When Mass began, there was a little bit of light from the windows. We made do, and everyone stepped up to help; I think they did the readings almost by flashlight by the end of Mass.

"The power came on at this side of town early [Sunday] morning, and we had our Masses. So we got everything in -- even though the church was still cold."

-- Carolyn Hamlin, secretary, St. Peter's Church, Saratoga Springs

(Reported by Kate Blain, assistant editor, and staff writers Pat Pasternak and Karen Dietlein Osborne.)

(2/23/06) [[In-content Ad]]