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PHOTO RESTORATION PROJECT Fr. Odilo Burkhardt recently received several photography awards in local County Farm shows. He won a combination of First, Second and Third prize ribbons for several photos at shows in Grant and Codington counties. This was no surprise to us, as Fr. Odilo has been taking pictures for the Abbey since he arrived here in 1951. Most of the pictures in our newsletters and annual calendar have come from his camera. In recent years Fr. Odilo has made the transition to digital photography. This digital imaging technology has enabled Fr. Odilo to take part in an important project involving historical materials that we have in our archives. Among the collections of the American Indian Culture Research Center are slightly more than 200 antique glass negatives, some of them over one hundred years old. These negatives include pictures of Indian and pioneer events, as well as various other individuals from Indian reservations in North and South Dakota. The actual photographers are unknown, but the pictures were taken in the late 19th and early 20th century. We can tell this much because some of the negatives have dates on them. In many cases, the negatives have deteriorated over their years in storage. Parts of the photographic image often have flaked and fallen off. The latest digital photo technology is proving useful for this restoration project. After converting the negative to a digital image file, Fr. Odilo can “touch up” the picture by filling in the missing spots, or by cropping to eliminate them. Once digitized, the image will not degrade any more, and can be perfectly copied any number of times. The interesting photo of a young girl with her pet chicken (next page) was restored in this way, and received an award at the Farm & Home show for its historical value. As with many of these glass negatives, the names and exact dates of the subjects are unknown. Along with Fr. Stan and some friends outside the abbey, Fr. Odilo is working to preserve and restore these important records of missionary work in the Dakotas. The photos shown here are only a small sample of this valuable look back into Great Plains history. We hope our preservation efforts will keep this resource available for scholars in the future. BLUE CLOUD
ABBEY Over the past year the Ministries office has received some very nice compliments on our newsletter, the calendar and on our campaigns in general. Your appreciation and generosity make us very grateful. Through our various mailings, I try to give our friends an idea of what life and work in a monastery is all about. But with only a four page newsletter mailed quarterly, there are definite limits to how much can be said. At best I can give only a capsule summary of the many activities in and around Blue Cloud. I would be happy to increase either the size or frequency of our newsletter, but unfortunately, this is not possible right now. If you find our newsletter interesting and are curious to see more about us, there is another source of information. You can find much more about Blue Cloud on the World Wide Web. Since 1996, the abbey’s web site has been providing information about us. It has now grown to many pages of pictures, articles and research material. Here you can find back issues of the newsletter, the daily liturgy of the hours for each season, photos of the abbey and camp Mahpiyato, a large amount of writings on Native American issues, and much more. The American Indian related documents on the AICRC section are among the most popular pages. The entire site has been very successful, with thousands of visitors each month, and well over two hundred thousand total visits since it began. If you know of someone who would like to get our mailings, our guest book feature on the site is the quickest way to send us their address. The web site is also a fast way of getting your important prayer intentions to us. I hope that all of you who have Internet access will come visit us at: http://www.bluecloud.org/ The web site could also be a good way to get young people interested in matters of faith. A number of young men have come to visit Blue Cloud after learning about us through the internet. |
ABBEY NEWS NOTES In January, Br. Benet gave a retreat to the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Benet Lake Wisconsin. Groups that visited our retreat center during winter and early spring included Augustana College, Northern State University, Men’s AA group, United Methodist Church, Men’s retreat group from Sioux Falls, North American Baptist Church, Episcopal Clergy retreat group, and Roncalli High School. High winds this winter damaged the plastic insulation on our greenhouse and forced Br. Chris to make some hasty repairs. The entire greenhouse will be replaced this summer with a new structure. Our campaign to raise funds for a new greenhouse has raised about $20,000 to date. While short of the original goal, Br. Chris says this will be enough to get started. As we have been doing in recent years, we split our Easter vigil into evening and morning sessions. We had the Easter candle ceremony and vigil readings on Saturday night. At 5AM Sunday morning we returned to church for the remaining Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist. It was a fitting culmination after our weeks of Lenten penance. At the start of Lent, we restored the practice of Eucharistic exposition and adoration daily after Vespers. This was optional for the community and guests. Fr. Abbot Thomas says that since participation was strong we will continue this devotion for the immediate future. As of June 1st, Fr. Denis Quinkert will be leaving his position of pastor at St. Lawrence Parish in Milbank, SD. He will return to the abbey and take the job of novice master and vocational contact. Fr. Wilfrid Lambertz will be leaving these jobs and taking over as pastor of St. Lawrence. We wish Frs. Denis and Wilfrid continued blessings as they swap assignments. Monks of Blue Cloud continued our participation in the Native American Advisory Board for the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota. Fr. Odilo, acting as Fr. Abbot’s delegate, took part in a conference with Bishop Aquila and others from the diocese on March 27. The major indoor project this past winter was the renovation and remodeling of the basement chapel. Retreat groups that prefer a smaller room for prayer, including many of the non-Catholic groups, often use this room. Our maintenance staff of Br. Paul and Howard Lamee have nearly completed the redecorating by now. They have refinished one wall with textured stone blocks, and two other walls with wood paneling. They have also hung a new ceiling, painted the remaining wall, and replaced the exterior window. The job will be completed with new carpeting and chairs with kneelers. I will be in charge of Camp Mahpiyato this summer. Several groups have already made their reservations, and by the time this is published the camp season should be in full swing. I also expect to say mass at the 25th year reunion of my class at Marmion Academy, run by Marmion Abbey. Like Blue Cloud, Marmion was also founded by monks from St. Meinrad Archabbey.
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