Berkshire religious items find a new home

December 16, 2010

JoAnn at the altar in Mississippi

JoAnn Hauge of Lanesboro was excited when she opened the Feb. 26, 2010 copy of The Catholic Observer.

â€œI was thrilled to see the altar from my home parish was featured and was now being used in a parish in Mississippi,â€ she said.

JoAnn, a native of Adams, said she grew up in St. Thomas Parish in Adams and loved seeing the altar was now part of Annunciation Parish in Kiln, Mississippi.

The altar from St. Thomas in Adams

She cut out the article from The Catholic Observer and put it in her travel folder. This fall, she and her husband, Lee, journyed to Nashville, Tennessee to visit their son. â€œI did some research and found out that Kiln was just eight hours due south of Nashville,â€ she said. â€œWe decided to go visit the place. I was unable to attend the closing Mass at St. Thomas in Adams and felt like I had missed something.â€

She said St. Thomas was where she was brought up and married and she wanted to see the altar and say goodbye.

She called Annunciation Parish and arranged for a visit. She said Tammy, the parish secretary, was very helpful and Fr. John Noone, the pastor was most hospitable.

JoAnn with Fr. John Noone

JoAnn said the parish had a smaller church but the parish had grown since people moved north to the Kiln area after Hurricane Katrina. The parishioners voted to use their parish gym as a church and create a larger space.

Exterior of Annunciation Parish

JoAnn said the gym was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and was a sturdy structure. Still, a lot of renovations were done to make this former sports place a house of worship.

The pews were brought in from St. Mary Morningstar in Pittfield.