St Martins Furnace Project

"I am deeply grateful to the Knights of Columbus direct involvement in gifting this parish with a heating system that will save thousands of dollars for the church," declared Rev. Joel Cyr, pastor of St. Martin's, St. Peter's and St. Benedict's. "This," he added, "is a true testament that they are the right hand of the church in the many dimensions of our temporal and spiritual affairs. We are so blessed to have such a Catholic organization. May God give them the spirit to continue the works of the Lord. Thank you, brother Knights." The purchase and installation of the new Bantam Boiler heating system could have made the project more costly if it were not for the efforts of a group of seven men, three of whom are members of Council 680. The men who are providing volunteer physical labor and know-how to the project, include: Knights John Levesque, William Rush and Robert Moscone, plus Charles Davis, Michael Moscone, Dennis Moscone and Tony Filauro.

Because the project is a church - in fact, his church - and the boiler of his own design, successful bidder, Millinocket native and long time businessman Robert Moscone is not planning to make money on the project, he stated. He is, Moscone said, employing cost saving measures, plus involving family members, to keep costs down. Volunteer labor is keeping costs down, Moscone is quick to acknowledge. Tradesmen working on such a project generally receive an hourly wage of between $25 or $30 an hour, according to Moscone. He suggested labor costs for the project, if not for volunteers and the involvement of his family, could be in the $15,000 range. Explaining the need for a new heating system, Moscone said, the church is experiencing a 640,000 btu heat loss and the old boiler is two and one-half times bigger than needed. The new system will reduce the volume of heat used, cut down on electrical use, reduce water use and, furthermore, pumps won't run until heat is called for. Eldon Doody, of D & S Engineering Inc., of Millinocket, confirmed the significant savings the new heating system represents. Noting that the church used 5,791 gallons in 2006, 6,152 gallons in 2007 and 3,901 gallons though June 8 of 2008, Doody suggested, "We should be able to reduce this by 33 percent and probably more." Peter Cesare, Cluster 5 Finance Committee Chairman and a member of St. Martin's Finance Committee, concurred. The old system, he noted, cost approximately $40,000 per heating season to run, including electricity, water and other operational costs. The new system, he suggested, should cut that cost in half to $20,000. The old, oversized system, he added, was designed "...when oil was 29 cents a gallon." Two years ago Doody and his firm began studying ways to make the church more energy efficient. All the engineering work and time put into the study were donated free of charge. Out of that study came a new entry way for the church, weatherization of the single pane, inefficient windows (Doody: "We found places where you could stick a pencil from inside the church to outside the church due to the shoddy original construction"), and the new, more efficient heating system. "Thanks to the many volunteers who are donating labor, it will be much less than the cost of any bidder," he said. "Although the work is being overseen by licensed professionals, everything possible is being done by able volunteers," Doody said. "I don't know," he added," the final savings, but I expect it to be 30 - 50 percent off of normal installation costs." The new heating system is expected to go on line sometime in April.

And, also, if it were not for other volunteers, the benefit suppers would never have gotten off the ground. The moving force behind this huge volunteer and organizational effort is Kitty St. John, also a member of St. Martin's Finance Committee, who took on the task on her own initiative to help out the Knights. "Express my thanks...to any and all...", urged St. John as she spoke of the various volunteers and their hard work. "Our goal is to raise $1,500 a month - any more would be terrific," declared St. John. It takes a lot of help to put on the suppers, but an unfazed St. John organized a huge cadre of volunteers, including cook Gene Nice, a cook's assistance, kitchen help, dishwashers, dining room help, delivery personnel, dessert contributors, potato peelers, advertising help, ticket sellers and on and on. "It takes a lot of hands," St. John said of the nearly 25 persons who help put on the suppers. The rotating menu for the twice a month suppers includes turkey, roast beef, Italian night, roast pork and ham. "Looks like a zoo while being prepared, but comes out beautifully," observed one supper-goer. "Meals are good," offered another, while finishing off a home style turkey dinner and eyeing the dessert table.