formed, and labourers and tradesmen alike
responded warmly
by donating their time and skills toward the construction of
the new church. Many worked for free or for less than their standard
wage. Keystone Contractors Limited generously carried out the
excavation for the basement and laid the foundation without charge.
Sterling Construction Co. Limited supplied the construction materials
at a reduced price.
In the meantime, a fund-raising campaign was under way. Dinners,
dances, movies, bingos (called buncos and kenos) and parties
sponsored in private homes were held to raise money. Between
January 1 and June 30, 1939, a total of $615.95 was raised through
such events.
Spaghetti dinners – costing 75 cents – were another
successful fund-raising device. The Christian Mothers Society
donated $198.21, which represented the amount collected at their
socials. The Holy Name Society donated $184.67, Senior Girls
C.Y.O. $98.58, Boys C.Y.O., $98.58 and St. Angela’s Ladies
Society, $25.00. Donations from January 1 to June 30, 1939, amounted
to $723.30 and from July 1 to December 31, 1939, totalled $2,114.32.
The Diocese of London loaned the new parish $16,640.00 and the church building
was well on its way.
On October 29, 1939, the Feast of Christ the King, the cornerstone
of the church was blessed by His Excellency, the Most Reverend
John T. Kidd, Bishop of London. On Christmas Day 1939, just one
year after his arrival in Windsor, Rev. Father C. DeSantis celebrated
the first Mass in the basement of the new St. Angela Merici Church. |