Some Things Saint Benedict Center Does for the Town of Richmond

Some neighbors have asked what Saint Benedict Center does for the Town of Richmond. Here is a list which is by no means exhaustive:

1. We provide religious services for Richmond residents. All are welcome to our Masses, our public Rosary, and other religious services not only on Sunday, but every day of the week. (Non-Catholic Richmond residents have come to our services.)
2. We have night classes every Friday. They are free and open to the public.
3. We provide a Catholic school that Richmond residents can send their children to. While religious instruction is mandatory for all students, we do not require the students to be Catholic to attend. We have had non-Catholic students.
4. We have an annual Christmas pageant and other musical / entertainment programs five other times of the year (All Hallow’s Eve, Thanksgiving, Anniversary of the Order, St. Patrick’s Day, End of School Program.) They are free and open to the public. There are non-Catholic Richmond residents who have come to them.
5. Our school puts on the Richmond Blueberry Fiddle Festival, begun at the suggestion of the former fire chief, Mr. Bud Jacobsen. (Bud, who is not Catholic, is the much-liked former owner of the 4-Corners Store. He has since moved down South.) The festival is a cultural event which provides free, wholesome family fun and entertainment to all comers. Yes, it is a fund raiser for our school. ALL advertising openly states that it is put on by our school. (Some have falsely accused us of "hiding" behind the name of Richmond.) Hundreds of people come to this event.
6. On different occasions the brothers and sisters from the Center have organized our members to to assist handicapped, aged, or grieving neighbors, several of whom were folks who did not come here for Mass either because they were not Catholic or because they were non-practicing Catholics. For example, our neighbor, Mr. Grover LaBelle received much attention from us after his beloved wife died. The brothers visited him and gave him occasional car rides when he was sent to the Carpenter Home in Swanzey. (Both Grover and his beloved wife died Catholics, received into the Church here in our chapel.)
   
7. Other little acts of neighborly charity would include this: Several "Center families" who live on Tully Brook Road assisted their new neighbor and his family to move into their new house. The gentleman is a Mormon bishop.
8. It's not Richmond, but it pertains to a slightly wider "local community": Every week we visit the retirement home in Winchester (next town to the West) to visit with the residents. The staff there is appreciative of our charitable work of visiting with lonely and sick old folks. One of those residents benefits from regular rides to and from Sunday Mass.