A church in Greene County is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a special event Saturday.

St. Patrick’s – Cedar Historical Church and Cemetery is hosting its sesquicentennial that starts with a mass church service with the opening of the time capsule at 11:30am. Then at 12:30pm lunch will be served with the Greene County Cattlemen’s Association grilling burgers and Lidderdale Country Store providing sides.

Some of the afternoon activities include a Heritage Parade of Families at 2:15pm, followed by the start of a live auction at 3pm. Auctioneer Jeff Pudenz tells Raccoon Valley Radio the top bidder will get their choice of either a commemorative 30/30 winchester lever action rifle with gold and silver inlay of Greene County, along with a picture of St. Patrick’s Church, the Mahanay Memorial Bell Tower and the Greene County Courthouse, or one of ten kaleidoscopes. Pudenz talks about the history behind the handcrafted kaleidoscopes that were made from trees that were planted over 127 years ago, along with the boxes that each come with.

“And they’re made out of the coal shoot in St. Patrick’s Church over 100 years ago that that coal shoot was put together. In the past, there was a derecho, it was in the 1950s, that blew some of the windows out of the church. So when you look through the kaleidoscope you will be looking through glass that was in the windows of St. Pat’s Church.”   

Pudenz says the auction will also include handmade wooden eggs and they will go until there are no more bids. He is collecting bids now and you can contact him at 712-790-7101. All proceeds from the auction goes toward the St. Pat’s Foundation for maintenance of the historical church. 

Co-organizer Andy Geisler says there will also be self-guided cemetery tours, pioneer wagon trail rides, antique tractor displays, kid crafts and games, along with funnel cakes, ice cream and music inside the church. He talks about another project the church and cemetery committees are currently working on.

“We designed a monument, memorial that was going to be five-sided and surrounded by stepping stones of the public rosary where you could have an interactive rosary while you visit the cemetery. But there will be a display of what the monument will look like and people are donating generously for that.”

Geisler adds people can bring their own chairs for the outdoor events and there will be tents set up around the property and there is also air conditioning inside the church. There will also be a commemorative book, “St. Patrick-Cedar 150” that features contributed memories from individuals that is available for purchase.