Tag Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon

Museum Exhibit Was Fantastic

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Saturday morning we loaded  the bus and headed to the California Museum in Sacramento to visit the Women & Spirit Exhibit about the History of Religious Women in America.  It was very inspirational and something that made us feel really good about the women who helped shape the country.  It was really very moving.  I did take some clips of the exhibit which was allowed so after some editing will share the clips I took.

One interesting tidbit I discovered was about the Mayo Clinic.  It was started by the Sisters and they asked Dr. Mayo if he would work at the hospital if they built it and provided the support!  He said he would and the rest is history!

Because this was the traveling exhibit, it was the featured exhibit and quite large.  After spending about three hours in this section, I could not believe that much time had passed, I then went around to the other exhibits which I described yesterday.  I was especially interested in finding “Ishi” the last wild Indian in America.  It was very interesting and I enjoyed reading the material about it.

We spent the entire morning at the museum and by 1:00 had pretty much seen everything so people broke up into small groups and headed for all points in Sacramento.  My group headed for Old Sacramento which we really enjoyed especially the old hardware store.  Lots of great things to see in this town loaded with history.  After lunch we went to the Train Museum.  Wow…what a place two stories of locomotives…full size…took you through the ages in trains.  Also included a large wing on toy trains.  Incredible building and the content was fantastic – Highly recommend to all train lovers!

Wonderful shops to visit all around Old Sacramento and as 5:00 approached we made our way to the Cathedral for Mass.  The Cathedral was recently renovated and as we learned yesterday, the architect and overseer of the renovation was done by the uncle of our friend, Colleen Nistler, known by many of you.  Her uncle did a GREAT job.  It is beautiful!  Pics to come later.

After Mass, ten of us headed over to the Pyramid restaurant across from the Cathedral and we had a wonderful dinner outdoors where we could enjoy the facade of the Cathedral and people walking .  It was a great evening!  After dinner we headed for our hotel and I have to tell you…I was tired!  I did not even get into the pool!  Just went to sleep!

I can assure you that we all had a great day yesterday.  It was a remarkable event for us and one that I am glad to have taken part in.  Today we head back to Portland on our “Noahs Ark.”  It will be a lot of fun as this group of 44 has really had a wonderful time building community and enjoying the entire trip.

See you soon!

 

Sacramento Morning Day 2…

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

We got into the Best Western last night and found our way to our rooms.  The rooms were spacious and wonderful and after a 13 hour bus ride it was such a welcome sight!  It was not hard to fall asleep!  Seven pillows on each bed?  This morning I processed a little video tape that I took yesterday at the Heaven on Earth restaurant.  I told you about Rosie who got out her guitar to share a song she wrote about the place.  It is quite charming.

We will be leaving here at 9:30 this morning and heading to the museum.  There are several exhibits there and I plan to take almost all of them in. Of course the purpose of our trip is to see the one featuring the History of Religious Life in America which originated in the Smithsonian Institute.

One that sounds interesting to me is the 100th Anniversary of Ishi’s discovery, an enhanced display chronicling the life and legacy of “the last wild Indian in North America”

California’s Remarkable Women 2011 – Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s suffrage.

2011 California Hall of Fame – This will showcase the personal artifacts of the visionaries, legends and dreamers in the class of 2011 inductees – that should be interesting depending on who they are!

Tuskegee: Journey to Flight – Celebrates the gallant African-American men and women who broke barriers as  aviation heroes of WWII, as well as champions of equality.

California Indians: Making a Difference – featuring Native voice and over 400 extraordinary artifacts

California Innovates: The Computer Chip

Explores the impact of the computer chip – I will take this one in so I will have something to say when I sit down with one of my friends from Intel! 🙂

Uprooted! Japanese Americans During WWII

 

What has Sidelined the Sisters on their Way to Sacramento?…

Sr. Krista von Borstel 10 Comments

ANSWER:  DINNER AT REDDING 🙂

6:00 am started the day, as usual with Liturgy of the Hours followed by Mass in the Convent Chapel.  7:00 am With excitement, the Sisters went to breakfast, anxious to bring their suitcases down and load the bus!  Discussion at breakfast included itinerary for the day and what the Sisters would be doing who would stay at home.  Waffles?  Chinese Food?  Sr. Rita (Motherhouse Superior) pulled out all the stops to make the weekend special for those who would stay behind.

Breakfast did not take as long this morning as people had things to do before leaving!  Shortly after breakfast, 7:45 am, Sister Charlene announced over the convent intercom that the bus had arrived and it was time to gather and load the bus. The elevators came to a grinding halt as they were called to third, fourth, and fifth floor all at the same time to move the luggage to ground level (you had to be there!)

The Sisters loaded onto the busses with remarkably frugal bags of “stuff” except for me, of course, who had to drag my cameras along to document the trip.  We staked out our areas on the bus and got comfortable as the driver closed the door and began to back the bus out of the loading area near the convent bakery and garages wing.  My heart was touched by all of the people who came out to say good by (Sisters and lay people alike) and wave as we rode down the Sisters’ driveway in front of the old gym and swimming pool.  Staff came out of several doors of the convent to see the sight and wish us a good and safe trip.  We all mentioned how touching it was.

Not long after exiting the driveway, Sr. Charlene led us in a prayer for a safe journey.  We all joined in – using the booklet that was thoughtfully put together for us.

We picked up a few Sisters and guests along the way, Sister Patricia Marie in Medford and Sister Allison’s Mother in Roseburg.

We stopped at Azalea, OR at a place called “Heaven on Earth” where we were treated to cinnamon rolls and coffee – compliments of the bus company Noah’s Ark!  I highly recommend this stop, as it is quite a remarkable place.  One of the staff by the name of “Rosie” entertained us with a song she wrote and told us the story of the establishment.  Rosie has worked at this endeavor for 30+ years and is a dedicated soul.  She will be highlighted in a post later tonight.

Currently 6:30 pm, we are in Redding, CA at Logan’s Roadhouse for dinner.  We will arrive in Sacramento approximately 8:30 this evening, God willing, at Sutter’s Inn Best Western.

We are having a BLAST and remembering YOU in PRAYER.  We would all like to hear from you so please respond to these posts and I will share them with the Sisters.  Thanks for reading and responding!

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Sacramento Here We Come!

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

Reminder…Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon (about 40 of us) are headed to Sacramento to see the exhibit on the “History of Religious Women in America!”  This show was created by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and the closest it gets to Portland is Sacramento!

This adventure is very exciting and one that will be written up in the Archives of the Sisters for sure!  It is the cap of the Sisters 125th Jubilee anniversary this year and will be a great memory for those who take part.  Join me this weekend as I blog our adventures!  And please leave comments! 🙂

Now to the practical side of things…

ü  Our hotel has a swimming pool!

ü  Forecast for Saturday: high of 84 and low of 63.

ü  Sr. Rita has snacks for us.  She will also ask for a bowl of tuna fish to be prepared on Thursday so we can make sandwiches either Thursday evening or Friday morning.

ü  Kelly (our tour arranger) is not only providing snacks and water, but she is also treating us to cinnamon rolls, coffee/tea at “Heaven on Earth” in Azalea, OR.

ü  Bring your own water bottles to refill/coffee mugs.

ü  Remember that we cannot take fruit into California – so pack your lunch accordingly.

ü  We will not stop for lunch (lunch on the bus) but we will stop for lunch/dinner on the return trip.

Schedule

Friday, April 27

6:00 Morning Prayer and Mass followed by breakfast

7:45 a.m.      Bus Arrives

8:00 a.m.     Board Bus

10:00             Rest stop near Eugene

11:30             Stop at Roseburg to pick up Barbara Green

(exit 127 – Home Depot parking lot)

12:30             Stop at Heaven on Earth Restaurant (exit 86) for coffee, tea, and cinnamon rolls –( thanks to Kelly)

2:30 p.m.     Pick up Sr. Patricia Marie at McDonald’s on Biddle

5:00 p.m.     Stop in Redding, CA, for dinner

8:30 p.m.     Arrival in Sacrament (Best Western Sutter House)

Behind the Scenes at the Convent

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

I took the day off  to help share a bit of Oregon with some Sisters from Ohio and Wisconsin.  If you read my blog yesterday then you know the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon (SSMO) (my community) celebrated 125 years as a religious community.  Two groups of Sisters came from back East to help us celebrate: the Precious Blood Sisters (CppS) from Dayton, Ohio and the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity (OSF) from Manitowok, Wisconsin.

Sister Noreen Jutte CppS; Sister Charlene Herinckx SSMO; Sister Caritas Strodthoff OSF; Sister Louise Hembrecht OSF; Sister Catherine Hertel SSMO, Sister Joyce Lehman CppS; Sister Joyce Barsotti SSMO, Sister Krista von Borstel SSMO; and Sister Nancy Recker (not pictured)