The Immaculate Conception Church and Catholic School is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word teaching and ministering at the parish and K-8 school today.
There will be a 11:30 a.m. mass, followed by a luncheon in Kertz Hall. Other festivities will linclude a performance by parish priest Fr. Anthony Viviano who will be singing in the style of Frank Sinatra.
The church will have a scroll with the 228 names of the sisters who have worked in the parish, 208 of whom have taught in the school, said Sister Josetta Eveler. Of the 208 teachers, 30 are still living.
The first sisters arrived in the parish in 1914; they taught 90 students in the first year. It was not until the 1950s that a teacher entered the parish who was not a part of a religious order. However, no women have entered the religious life from the parish since 1966, according to information from Eveler. A total of 16 young women from the parish have entered the Congregation of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
Though the school is 100 years old, the parish is 101.
"The kids have said we don't look 100 years old," said Sister Bernadette Forck. "Well, there were sisters here 100 years ago, and we are getting there, but we are not quite there yet."
Sisters are coming from all across the country to take place in the celebration. Of the 23 who are expected, six are parish natives and 11 have taught in the school, Eveler said.
"For us, it is just the celebration of bringing the sisters together," Forck said. "That is the greatest gift that we could enjoy, just coming together and having so many of the generations of parishioners coming to join us for that celebration."
Both Forck and Eveler attended the school in their youth, they said, and the children they now teach are the grandchildren of their classmates.
"Their kids got to know too much because their parents knew me," Forck said jokingly. "That gives me great joy though, being here and seeing the families coming to church on Sunday with the father and the mother and the children. It is a sign of growth within the parish. It is a joy for me to see the families participating."