Putnam patriot., 1927-05-27

-..s ts tnis state to labor among As''s .-5sren tlnaulan cUlzens ana 'i-s .5 fIanleIs0n iH January, lsS3' e1 fg4 years ne Vas transferred A4 s..-'-.....rt.fu where he renamed untl to -s fauu when ne was transfer st. Aaue parish, harliora. @ eaSlor or St. Anne.s Tor as .,.sars then came Co rutnam m apgast. 1912. aus -7., s.=.ara was fuli of energy an l
 .7,ittous. not for hImseu out Tor s''7 .'ar,snoners. N herever be has la-
 he has been d producer ai.d sn,Iser ana lett his parishes, as ne .1s. Putnam. enriched and improved
 vsII IS spiritually uplittea. He
 never content to let things stand As fast as one project, however
 r. and important t might be. was .-r,sa out he started on another. 4a aivavs stood for progress, adVan- '.,.zn- and upbuilding. Putnam con- ,,s-sd ifsel. fortunate n having such nsstor at the head of it's large Cath ,tir parish al the time of hls arrival a5 has felt itself fortunate ever |, was Sunday, August 18th, 1912, +nat Fr Bedard announced to s narishoners, at both morning masses' tsst he had been transferred 10 Put, r.r and would take up hls new du- ties he following week. This he did and has continued hIs pastorate here rearly i5 years.
 Begins Upbuilding
 No sooner had Fr Bedard arrived tb4n ne made a thorough inVestlga- tion 0f the needs of his new parish with a V.eW to its further progress ant batfernent. He was full of energy, far sighted. and soon came to reahze t,4 great possibilities for develop maHt In aIs new field He lost no time ir setting t8 worE ga carry out the plan to bring To reality the great iy is.4reHed parish that he thus ear ' yizaaiized and which he leaves as d memorial. not alone Co the Catholics of Putnam but to the city which he has benefited by bis ardaaus labors. The fact that the paroehial schools were crowded and not iu the best sani- tary condition came under his obser- vatiun He was always thoughtful of the children In seeking the solu- tion of this important problem he found that Notre Dame Academy, q boarding school for young women, was using valuable parish property with little or no return theretrOm for the benefit of the parishoners. lie found that this school. fine though 1t was, was really a detriment to the parish He set about having it re moved and il was soon accomplished, the pupils going to similar institutions Hartford
 With thiz fine building at hand la -at about ta have it transformed into model parochial school. light. sani- tary and finely equipped. Just as soon as the work Was completed the tuuiis were transferred Co the new uarters and the old. anttquated. un sanitary building was torn down. X iarp iae pole was erected where q e .Id building stood and q public flag raising was had with the children and citizens grouped about and patriotic addressez and music.
 Transforms Cemetery
 The cemetery was next to come under his observation. | had been sadly neglected and was becoming CvcrcroW ded and few lots were avail able for use He therefore bought a contiguous tract of land to the north annexed t to the old cemetery pro- pertv and parishoners were urged 10 improve their holdings therein. This was done and today the cemetery is we'll kept up and is place of beauty. A beautiful statue. Calvary, is ready for dedication. one of the last i'm movements he made
 The interior of St Mary's Church has been wonderfully improved since Fr Bedard came here The old un- comfort hle ners were remo'ed and new peas installed New earpets were also laid Then the whole interior of the euifiee was redecerated and re wired for electric lights The from en trance to the church was remodeled and wide stone steps were put iu. And but recently new church organ. one of the finest in New England was ded- icated
 Sells Priests 'sland
 The property south of the city, known Priests Island. had been held by the rarish for long time. It was a beautiful pine grove but for many years bod not been utilized. It was of no benefit to the parish. so Fr. Be dard seld t, and sold it Co good advan- tage
 Witn the completion of the new rec tory in 1915-16 it was thought that Father Bcdard would be satisfied. But those close to him knew that he would not be satisfied as long as he could discover something that would add to the valre and convenience of the par ish property.
 The ~ext thing that Father Bedard undertook was the erection of q new St MalV's school building. at a cost of over Sl00,000. The growing parish had on nor turned the pastor
 --s..-G s.. the children in the class rooms and the new building a fine modern. fireproof structu e. was added to the parish assets and wa ready for occupancy when school onensi iH the fall of 1925
 When Er Bedard went 10 Hartford from Waterbury about 1900 to be- come pastor of st. Anne's church. he found the parish heavily in debt Be fore he left to come Co Putnam Co sue ceed R@v. Fr. Van den Noort twelve years later. when Pr Nan den Noort raftsrr..4 e, EF.II,wN Ha had HaF uu lN