By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 8/5/04)

Calls of "Is it there yet?" poured into the St. Ann Parish Office last Wednesday as parishioners waited for the arrival of the steeple to top their new church. The morning rush hour and flooded roads from an overnight thunderstorm created a traffic situation that made moving the 2,000-pound structure even more difficult. But in the afternoon a half-dozen families greeted the oversized load when it finally arrived at the Arlington church.

The steeple left Munns Manufacturing Inc. in Harrisonburg at about 7 a.m. and arrived in Arlington just over six hours later. Because of the size of the steeple, special permits had to be obtained to transport it and specific routes had to be taken.

When it arrived, families posed for photos and adults and teenagers gathered around the steeple while it was still secured to the trailer to be able to touch the structure before it was raised high in the air with a crane and mounted on the new church roof.

The eight-sided steeple measures 23-feet tall — including the three foot copper cross — and is more than 10 feet wide. A mere 16 bolts secured it to the roof.

After the steeple was secured, the cross, after being blessed by Father William Schardt, pastor, was placed atop it.

The steeple from the original church was made of wood and had deteriorated from weather, but the cross was saved and Father Schardt said it would be used in the new church.

The new church will seat approximately 800 people, 200 more than the old church sat even after folding chairs were moved into one wing. Construction began on the new church in the spring of 2003.

A daily Mass chapel is also being built. The stained-glass windows in the chapel in the rectory, which were donated by parishioners, will be moved into the new chapel. With seating for 100 people, the chapel will be used for daily Masses and small weddings and funerals.

Father Schardt hopes the parish will be able to use its new church by Thanksgiving.