Intentional Community: Post the Third

So, now that you’ve got the picture, here’s what we propose:

The Catherine of Siena Institute is sponsoring a day long gathering on the subject of Building Intentional Community in the Parish in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Friday, August 31 (the day before Labor Day Weekend).

We will be drawing upon some of our experiences with the Nameless Lay Group as well those of other parishes around the country. And we want to hear your ideas and experiences as well.

We will be spending the day (9 am – 4 pm) together at the beautiful Penrose House at the base of Cheyenne Mountain (lunch will be provided) and then end the day (starting at 6 pm) with an evening barbeque at a nearby city park.

This will be your chance to get to know some of our ID team (Sherry W, Fr. Mike, the other Sherry, Kathie Lundquist, etc.). In addition, Mark Shea and his family will also be joining in the festivities!

To cover the cost of lunch and dinner and the other expenses of putting this on, we are asking for a donation of $20/per participant for the whole day.

The day gathering at the Penrose House is an adult only event as there are no child care facilities on the grounds. The Institute cannot provide child-care.

The evening barbecue would work well for families. Cost for adults and teenagers to attend the barbecue only is $10 and for children under 12 to attend the barbecue only would be $5.

If you are interested, please call Mike Dillon in our office at 888 878 6789 or e-mail him at miked@siena.org. We do need you to pre-register for this by August 1 so we know how many to plan for. Let us know as early as possible since our meeting space, the old Coach house, can only hold a certain number.

Details:

Colorado Springs has a small, attractive airport although you can also drive down from Denver international Airport which is about 1 ½ hours away via freeway.

Rental cars at the Colorado Springs airport t and local hotels are relatively inexpensive. Mike Dillon in our office can recommend inexpensive local hotels if you need them.

The day gathering at the Penrose House is an adult only event as there are no child care facilities on the grounds. The Institute cannot provide child-care.

There are a number of good day options for those with children. If a spouse or family member would prefer to sight-see with the children, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the highest zoo in North America is nearby. You can feed giraffes by hand – it’s smelly but very cool!

Or you could choose to visit Focus on the Family, the amazing Garden of the Gods, Pike’s Peak (America the Beautiful was written about the view from the top of Pike's Peak) , Manitou Springs, the Rockledge Ranch Living Museum, go on a day hike, etc. (There is a reason why 5 million tourists visit CS each year).

Labor Weekend in Colorado Springs is the weekend of the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic which is wonderful early morning or evening event for the whole family.

Notice the clothing we were wearing last Labor Day! Yes, it starts to cool off here at 6,000 ft plus altitude in late August and we have very low humidity and almost no bugs! So if you would like to escape the dog days of August, this is the place.