Page 49 - MLD Book

think he was always a little colored by stories from the diocese about my relationship with Polk, and pursued a constant themesong of that fact that I was doing too much and other staff not enough, all the while not offering a real solution to shift things around to those not qualified to take on extra stuff. So while outwardly somewhat appreciative, there was often a kind of underlying doubt, although it was never an accusation of incompetence.
But in the months before Ned’s arrival, Dick was the real Rock. Since he had rescued us for the third time, everyone felt we needed to do something to show our appreciation. By virtue of our long association that dated back to the seventies when Melvin worked with him at St. Francis, we had a close relationship. One day he was talking about how his car was 15 years old and he needed to do something about it. That gave me the idea of the parish buying him a new car. He and Joan went to Florida for the month of March, so that was a perfect time to do a fundraiser. And everyone jumped on board. Henry and Sally Meigs provided a big chunk, but nearly everyone chipped in, and we raised the whole amount – I remember something like 23,000 dollars. Walt Morris got a good deal, as only Walt could do, and so in April, we had a gala reception – a surprise! – in the courtyard. At one point, Walt drove the car through the open gate, and handed the keys to Dick, and we all cheered. I have a pic somewhere of Dick driving off in his brand new gold car, rather in shock. But he really deserved it. He still has it!
Another occasion for celebration (at least I hope) was the anniversary Sunday, the first Sunday in July, when there was a giant reception in Parker Hall honoring not only my 40th, but also Melvin’s 25th at Calvary. Art Dietz was in charge and gave us three huge boxes all wrapped up. They were three suitcases, intended, with cash also included, for a vacation trip to Germany! All our children were there, and I remember vividly Shadow pitching a huge fit and lying face down on the floor screaming. Never did figure out why! I made some crack about guess they were trying to get rid of us with suitcases. Little did I know then that would come true eight years later, for this was a joyful occasion and we were pleased.
2005
Not only was this the first year of the reign of Morris, but we also experienced another assistant in the form of Rhonda Lee – first as seminarian in February, then Deacon in June, then Priest in December. Nobody is ever going to convince me that an assistant doesn’t take more time of the rector than if the rector does it alone, because I have seen this over and over during my many years there. But here we were, and Rhonda learned a lot. She was thankfully smart. She was very attractive and in these earlier days of women priests, she was fully on the bandwagon of proving that in social situations, women priests needed to shed the collar and dress in a sexually pleasing way. Well, UNDRESS is more like it! I remember a fancy party hosted by Corky Sachs where she appeared in a dress so short that everything almost was visible from the bottom and tits almost entirely exposed from the top! But she was very smart, preached well, and sympathetic to gays and Ned Reiter in
particular, and those things at that time are to her credit.
In the realm of music, we had the most successful Lenten Series to date, with proceeds being donated to Help Ministries. We had our first CD featuring highlights of the 2005 series, and also produced a cookbook that produced enough revenue that we were able to buy a long needed copy machine. Not very romantic, but it surely helped the process of printing things like bulletins! Ned Morris decided we needed to branch out a little so he instituted the alternation of organ and guitar at the 9:15 service. It wasn’t a totals success but he liked it, as stellar performance was not his goal or appreciation capability.