HOW OUR CHRISTMAS ANGELS TAKE FLIGHT
Our parish’s beautiful Christmas angels raised their trumpets in glory to God thanks to the helping hands of eight volunteers directed by Diane DuBois.
Diane and Jean Webb created the glorious angels in 1983 and have perfected their designs each year since. Today these magnificent seven-foot tall angels bring delight to parishioners and visitors alike.
The angels are stored on the second floor of the Burke Center until the Advent season. The wings are detached and stored separately from the body. Each piece has a special storage bag.
On Saturday, Dec. 17, the angels got to spread their wings. John Condon and his sons, Jack and Dave, helped bring the angels over to church. Then the assembly work began.
The angel’s body is linked to the line at the front altar (the line that held the Advent wreath overhead of the altar). She needs to swing a bit so that volunteers aren’t trying to lift her weight, and she can be attended to from all sides.
Then volunteers Brenda White, Barbara Smith, Arla Blocker and Selene Willard begin the delicate work on each of the four angels.
First, the angel gets an undergarment, a simple white covering. Then, the flowing dress with its gold along the hem is put on. A gold sash is tied around the waist. That is highlighted by a red and pink poinsettia arrangement.
The back of the dress has openings for the metal brackets used to support the wings and the angel’s weight once she’s suspended.
Her cape is attached at the shoulders, her hands are brought up to the trumpet and attached together.
At that point, the angel is ready for her lift. She is taken from the wire, and carefully lifted by one of the men on the crew who carries her to the location where she will be attached to a new pulley line.
Wings are numbered so that the proper set gets to each angel. They are attached with bolts that fit into the brace along her back.
As the pulley line is pulled, Kevin Kulchawik is waiting at the top of the scaffolding to catch the angel, move her into place and make certain she is secure.
The angels will be heralding the good news of Jesus’ birth for the first few weeks of January.
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