I recently discovered in the parish archives the final report from the Notre Dame des Victoires School Building Fund. This is our current building. The fundraising campaign took place between August 8, 1960 and September 23, 1960.  The pastor, Fr. Armand Fortin and committee members, hired the Lawson Associate, Inc, out of Rockville Center, NY to conduct the fundraising campaign.  While the document contains lots of numbers, I am struck by two things: One, is that the cost to build a classroom in 1960 was $1,000. Fr. Fortin paid for one of them.

The second thing that struck me is the following quotation from the report: "From experience it was known that the man who would give his fair share to a campaign such as this would be a man who believed in the need, assumed his responsibility as a Catholic and would ask others to do only what he himself had done."

Lastly, I am grateful to Mr. Arthur J. Dubois who was selected to be the General Chairman for the Campaign. I am grateful to his commitment to Catholic education in St. Johnsbury.

Happy 65th Anniversary to our founding fundraisers!

Written By: Father Lance W. Harlow

Date Published: August 27, 2025