Holy Trinity Awards
are
 
Fr. Normand R. Gaumond Memorial Award
Lords Acre Award

In loving memory of our pastor, Fr. Norm

 

 

About the Fr. Normand Gaumond Memorial Award 

 

Within weeks of the death of Father Norm on March 6, 2005, a committee of parishioners formed to choose ways to celebrate his life while honoring his memory. Richard Blinn painted a poignant visual rendering which hangs in Deacon Hall. The children of the parish raised funds to buy a tree which was planted in the front yard of the rectory and marked with a plaque.

The Father Normand Gaumond Memorial Awards are given to graduating seniors who exemplify faith in action both within our parish community and the community at large; are in good academic standing and have chosen to go on to higher education. 

 Lords Acre Corn Festival Award

 


It wasn’t until 1944 that permission was granted by the Bishop of Springfield, to form a “Bolton Mission.”  Building a church was the next step for Bolton Catholics, but a great deal of money had to be raised.  In 1948, Gus and Mary Cloutier, had an idea:  to plant an acre of corn, with donated seed and cultivated with volunteer help, and they donated their own land.  When the corn was ripe, it was picked, cooked, and sold right at the field.  Proceeds of the sale went to a building fund for the new church.  Thus originated the “acre of corn planted for the Lord”. 

In 1952, at the fifth Lord’s Acre Corn Festival, Bishop Wright encouraged the parishioners to proceed with plans to build a church on land which was purchased by the Diocese of Worcester.  Financed with proceeds from past years’ festivals, the church was completed by the following spring.  Its unique corn crib design would serve as a permanent reminder of how the parishioners raised the funds.

The festival continued as a traditional part of Bolton’s Labor Day weekend until 2007 when the 60th and last LACF was held as the St. Theresa’s and St. Francis communities were coming together under our Pastor Fr. Dennis.

The first LACF award was presented in 2009.  It is given annually to a deserving graduating senior who has demonstrated faith in action and plans to further his/her education at a college or university.  The award is in memory of the many families and individuals who over the years contributed so much to the Lord’s Acre Corn festival and the Catholic community of Bolton.

 

2010 Father Normand R. Gaumond Memorial Award
and Lords Acre Award
Presented on May 23, 2010, 5:00 p.m.

 

 Congratulations to 
Eryk Lorenz-Kruk and Brian Flaherty,
this year’s recipients

 

Eryk Lorenz-Kruk is a witness to his faith.  At the end of third grade, the earliest age permissible, he became an altar server.  Serious and dedicated from the start, he has continued as altar server throughout his high school years to the present.  He lives his faith not only within church walls but also out in the community at large.  He volunteers, caring for animals and working with children in summer and vacation camps, teaching them about the proper care of animals and the importance of animals in our world today.  He has demonstrated Christian love and concern for others in his commitment to cooking for and serving dinner at Mustard Seed on a regular basis since his sophomore year.  Preparing meals is generous and admirable unto itself, but actually making the trip to Mustard Seed, an inner city soup kitchen in Worcester, takes a good deal of maturity.  He has unselfishly given back to the parish community and the extended community.  He feels that with what he has learned from Holy Trinity Parish, he can continue to discover his own faith and share it with others at college and in the years that follow.  We are honored to present the Fr. Normand Gaumond Memorial Award to Eryk.  We thank him for his service to Holy Trinity Parish and wish him well as he travels south to Florida Institute of Technology to study aerospace engineering. 

Brian Flaherty is one who, as expressed in our parish mission statement, uses his time, talent, and treasure to carry out Christ’s mission.  His commitment and service to others makes a valuable difference in our parish community, our town community, and even our global community.  As far back as 2000 he worked the Lord’s Acre Festival and continued to do so many following years.  In his elementary school years, he played roles in the church Christmas pageant; in his middle schools years, he was an altar server; and for a period in his high school years, he volunteered as a religious education aide.  He has been serving his local community and extended community as well.  Locally, he has been a counselor for several years in the Tom Denney Nature Camp and has been a volunteer as an assistant.  Coach for Bolton Youth Soccer.  Reaching out to those in need beyond regional borders, he has, for a good number of years, worked with Just ‘Cause Breast Cancer – 3 Day Walk, Relay for Life, and the NRSF Dollars for Scholars Phon-a-thon.  For the last three years he has been involved with Cleats for Kids, collecting used soccer cleats and gear to send to less fortunate children in Honduras and other developing countries.  Brian has become a powerful role model for all of us.We are honored to present The Lord’s Acre Award to Brian.  We thank him or his service to Holy Trinity Parish and wish him well as he heads off to study business at Fairfield University.

2009 Father Normand R. Gaumond Memorial Award
and The First Annual Lords Acre Award
Presented on June 7, 2009, 5:00 p.m.

Baccalaureate Mass Attendees Class of 2009

 

Congratulations to 
Emily Egan and Brad Giunta,
this year’s recipients of the
Father Normand Gaumond Memorial Award
and
Lord's Acre Award.

 

 

Emily Egan's commitment to Holy Trinity Paris is exceptional.  She has supported parish community by assisting annually with the church picnic, church and rectory holiday decorating and with the pancake breakfast.  With care and concern for those less fortunate and with the desire to make a difference, she has been active in social justice, participated in the non prescription drug collection for Haiti, the Junk Food Drive for Loaves and Fishes, she organized and managed the Parish Book/Art Supply Drive for the nonprofit Horizon for Homeless Children.  She has been an altar server and has been the altar server trainer since her junior year. She credits our parish community as the model from which she learned "the power of faith and the need to answer God's call for compassion."  Now she is the role model.  We congratulate her as she continues her education at Bates College.

 

 

Brad Giunta is a community member and a community leader. Service could be his middle name.  He is positive, kind, and caring, always willing to help.  He credits his sense of compassion and charity to his involvement with his parish, which showed him, "that giving of oneself in time and in talent, no matter how great or small, can have a lasting, profound effect."  He is an example of faith in action, he has been an alter server since 5th grade, he worked the Lord's Acre Festival annually for ten years, volunteering many hours in food preparation, set-up, and clean-up.  He has done more than his share of cooking for others, baking pies for the Lord's Acre Fair, preparing meals for Mustard Seed, and assisting with the parish picnic. He established a holiday food drive three years ago which he continues to run annually and has expanded throughout Bolton and into Lancaster. We are fortunate to have Brad as a member of our parish and we congratulate him on receiving the First Annual Lord's Acre Award and wish him well as he continues his education in culinary arts at Jonson & Wales.

 

 

2008 Father Normand R. Gaumond Memorial Awards
Presented on June 1, 2008 at the 5:00 p.m. Mass

Baccalaureate Mass Attendees Class of 2008

Lauren Andrews ~ Marissa Bilancieri ~ Mary Collett ~ Colin Costello ~ 
Ariel Geist ~ Kylie Gordon ~ Julie Heislein ~ James Jarvis ~ Catherine Johnson ~
Kathryn Kennedy ~ Samantha Leahy ~ Amelia Mazzola ~ Sarah Muzyka ~
Hillary Rowse ~ Jordan Schnipke ~ Tyler Swearingen ~ Andrew Walter ~ Elizabeth Zayka

We are very proud of all our altar servers in both Churches. We are especially grateful to the four senior altar servers who are graduating this year and who were honored at the Baccalaureate Mass Kathryn Kennedy, Hillary Rowse, Tyler Swearingen and Andrew Walter. We thank you for your years of service.

Congratulations to 
Kathryn Kennedy and Hillary Rowse, 
this year’s recipients of the Father Normand Gaumond Memorial Award.

Kathryn Kennedy has been a member of St. Theresa’s Parish since she was five and she relates her faith journey to this parish and the teachers and mentors who have helped her form her sense of faith. Kathryn has been visible to all of us as an altar server for the past 7 years and as someone who is always here, usually tending to a younger sibling as she arrives in the pew. Kathryn has been very involved in the life of the parish helping out wherever she sees a need or opportunity to serve, especially assisting with religious education of the younger kids and helping with our Living Nativity on Christmas Eve and the Town Christmas pageant as choreographer. Kathryn is known as a young woman of great patience, commitment, humility and organizational ability. We are proud to have her as a member of this parish. We congratulate Kathryn and thank her for her service to St. Theresa’s and we wish her well as she continues her education nearby at the College of the Holy Cross.

Hillary Rowse has been with us at St. Theresa’s since birth. She has a real appreciation of the parishioners who have helped her on her faith journey through its ups and downs. She is not afraid to question, and will seek answers to her adult faith questions. Hillary has been visible in the sanctuary as an altar server for many years and also did a stint in the Children’s Choir. Hillary has also enjoyed helping with children’s activities for the parish picnic. She is known as a hard worker, sincere, mature and fun loving. As a young adult she has witnessed to her faith by participating in the Mexico mission trip last year and by volunteering at Camp Sunshine. These experiences gave her a real sense of faith and what it means to be a committed Christian. We congratulate Hillary; we thank her for her many years of service to St. Theresa’s and we wish her well as she continues her education a little further north at Colby College.


Baccalaureate Mass Attendees Class of 2007

 

Awards Presented June 3, 2007

Our first recipient has been a very visible member of St. Theresa’s parish In addition to being an alter server herself for 7 years, she has also taken on the responsibility of training and mentoring new servers. She has served as a religious education aide, and served on the liturgy committee. She has assisted with the Living Nativity productions and Passion Plays for many years. We congratulate her as she enters the College of the Holy Cross this fall.

 Lindsey Tonge

Our next recipient is a quiet and unassuming young man, sees St. Theresa’s Parish as his second home. He has been a dedicated altar server for the last 8 years; he is familiar to the 11:30 Mass crowd and is also quite visible during Holy Week. He has also helped with greeter duties and volunteered for many parish projects, most notably the Easter Flower Sale over the years. His time spent in Mexico with Tapestry of Life Ministries helped him see how difficult life can be for people where basic survival is a challenge. We congratulate him and wish him well as he embarks on his studies at Union College.

Ed Lamere

 

 

Awards Presented June 4, 2006

Our first recipient sees St. Theresa’s faith community as her guide, the parish as her second home. She has been a parishioner since birth, a dedicated altar server for the last 6 years and has volunteered for many parish projects over the years.  In her application she describes a vivid moment of faith during her confirmation retreat where she truly experienced God’s presence. She had a personal relationship with Fr. Normand, as he was there to guide and mentor her through all the important spiritual events.   As she embarks on her studies at Bryant University in Rhode Island, we congratulate

Hillary Smith

  

Our second recipient has been a member of our parish family since age 5.  St. Theresa’s community is family to her and has supported her as she has grown in her faith. She regularly attends mass and has volunteered in the parish on many occasions.   When her close friend was diagnosed with leukemia she sprung into action,  rallying the parishioners to raise money for the Jimmy Fund  in her friend’s name. Father Normand encouraged her in this project and helped her to believe in herself. As she heads to the University of Tampa in Florida we congratulate

Kasia Lorenz-Kruk.

 

Like our other award recipients this individual is a model of Christianity.  He has been a faithful altar server since grade 5, Bible school helper, greeter, and involved in numerous parish volunteer activities. He says St. Theresa’s has been the single biggest influence in the growth of his faith and appreciates the religious education he received here.  A parishioner since birth, he had great respect for Fr. Normand and learned a great deal from his sermons.   Leaving for Western New England College in the Fall we congratulate

David Oliva

 

The last recipient of the memorial awards probably holds the record for longest serving altar server.  She has been serving Mass for the parish since grade 3.  She has been involved in many parish activities including serving as a confirmation mentor and making two Mexico mission trips.  St. Theresa’s parish is described by her as home, family and strength; a community that has helped her grow and mature; the church a place of comfort, reflection and a sanctuary of meditation.    As she enters her freshman year at Union College in Albany, New York we congratulate

Jessica Wenger.

 

 

 

We are very grateful to those who made a contribution to the Fr. Normand Gaumond Award and to the members of the committee for all their dedication and hard work.

Link to the Application Form

Past Contributors

 

 

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