On June 6, the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities-Diocese of Madison held its annual summer outing.
This year’s event was at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo. With cooperative weather, the event was memorable and fun for the attendees of the Mass celebrated by Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, meal, and ice cream social.
Numbering in the hundreds, attendees traveled from St. Coletta’s in Jefferson, various other parts of the Diocese of Madison, the Diocese of Green Bay, and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Traveler’s voices
For some, excitement began on the bus, as they rode to Devil’s Lake, because they were looking forward to seeing familiar faces from the previous Apostolate outing, the “Day at the Duck Pond”.
Twelve-year-old Monica was riding with her mom, Bonnie, and said, “I’m really looking forward to hiking and Mass. I also hope there are a lot of other kids there.”
Dilsha Happel and her son Vincent, recently featured in Blessed Sacrament Parish in Madison’s magazine, The Pillars, talked about how much they love the community of the Apostolate.
They said, “We’re really looking forward to Mass; we’ve really enjoyed the events in the past, so we’re excited to be out at Devil’s Lake.”
Almost all participants were excited about having Mass at Devil’s Lake.
“We are excited that we’ll be able to have Mass again and be outside. The Knights of Colombus have volunteered to cook, which we are very grateful for,” said Megan Wedwick, who will be completing her second year as the director of the Apostolate.
She also stated that Devil’s Lake State Park was very accommodating and a beautiful venue for the Apostolate’s trip.
The Deaf Apostolate from Milwaukee, who attended the “Day at the Duck Pond” in the past, joined travelers at Devil’s Lake.
Fr. Christopher Klusman, director of the Deaf Apostolate, interpreted by Shiloh Buchman said, “The [Deaf]Apostolate is very excited to be back again this year and we are so grateful to the Diocese for hosting this event.”
Buchman also interpreted the Mass, which was both beautiful and greatly appreciated by deaf and hard of hearing participants.
An Action Track wheelchair
Among the participants was Jeremy Oster who traveled from Browntown, Wis.
He brought an Action Track wheelchair for attendees to use at the event, which is an all-terrain wheelchair that can be used for hiking, fishing, or traversing other rough terrains.
Originally given to him as a gift, Oster puts the wheelchair to good use by loaning it out free of charge and bringing it to events.
He said, “I’ll meet anyone anywhere who would like to use it. I don’t charge anything for it, but if people want to donate for the upkeep, I accept that. It was given as a gift and I want to use it for others, not for myself.”
Oster is also trained as a USA Archery Level III Junior Olympic Archery Coach, and when he teaches archery lessons to students with disabilities, he lets them use the Action Track.
He said that when his kids were younger, he was a single dad and wanted to find something that he could do together with his kids, some of whom have disabilities. Growing up, he loved to learn archery with his grandfather and decided to teach his kids the skill. Soon after, he was teaching archery to other kids with disabilities and to adults as well.
Now, Oster is the founder and president of Hononegah Archery in Browntown and has a passionate love for the sport and all his students.
In addition to his expertise, Oster has equipment that makes teaching archery safe and said that archery lessons at a parish festival, school “fun day,” or private party is a particularly memorable addition to special events.
To contact Jeremy, email him at [email protected], call him at 815-289-2822, or visit his website at honoarchery.usarchery.org.
Oster enjoyed the day along with his children and is excited to attend future Apostolate events.
To help make the event a success, volunteers included Core Team members of Love Begins Here who greeted participants as they drove into the state park, parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison who provided music for the Mass, men from various Knights of Columbus councils around the diocese who cooked the meal’s brats and burgers, and the St. Ambrose Academy boys’ basketball team who served the meal.
All participants were very grateful to the Apostolate, the volunteers, priests, and Bishop Hying who made the day memorable.