By Matt Hall
Photo by Geo Lujan
St. Helen’s Catholic Church will host a celebratory festival October 3-6 for the 75th anniversary of the St. Helen’s and St. Thomas More Newman Center.
The historical celebration will take place at St. Helen’s Catholic Church, 1600 S. Ave O, just West of Eastern New Mexico University’s campus. The Newman Center was ENMU’s first student organization.
St. Helen’s member Sandra Salguero said that the festival is the church’s main fundraiser.
“It’s usually earlier in the year during the summer, but this year [we] wanted it to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of the Newman Center,” she said.
There will be food, booths, games, and entertainment during the festival, as well as a big dance “under the stars” Saturday, according to Salguero. She said it’s “just a lot of fun.”
Salguero said that she has a long history with the Newman Center. When she went to ENMU, the Newman Center held daily Mass.
“We had two priests, and one was assigned to the Newman Center,” she said. “The Newman Center, all my life, has been around.”
Father Jim McGowan explained the deeper history behind the Newman Center. Father Raymond Sopper established the Newman Center at ENMU on April 6, 1938, with assistance by Louise Boillin.
Boillin was a faculty member at Eastern New Mexico University. Father Sopper led the congregation at the Sacred Heart [Catholic Church] Parish in Clovis.
The Newman Center has been housed in various buildings during its 75 years as part of the ENMU campus community.
The current building was purchased in 2008, renovated, and then dedicated in 2009 by Archbishop Michael Sheehan.
“We’ve been in operation since 2009 here in this present location,” McGowan said.
A fiesta starts at 5:30 p.m. October 3 with a procession around the church grounds in celebration of the Feast of St. Helen’s and St. Thomas More Newman Center’s 75th Anniversary.
During the fiesta, there will be a crowning of a king and queen, who will represent the functions at St. Helen’s, according to Salguero.
“This year, we didn’t have very many children running for king and queen,” she said. “What they do is they have fundraisers to raise money. Usually, they have a competition to see who raises the most money, but this year we just have one boy and one girl. Even though they are the only ones running, they have been working really, really hard to raise money.”
October 6, the last day of the celebration, will feature Catholic Mass, food booths, entertainment, and an award presentation.
The awards, Salguero said, will be presented to “past members and past professors that sponsored the Newman Center while it’s been at Eastern.”
There also will be an open house Sunday.
“It’s so the people can see what exactly the Newman Center is and to see what we have to offer the students,” McGowan said. “We are inviting the students, we are inviting back alumni. We are going to have a presentation of the Utopia award.”
Sunday also will feature an auction consisting of items donated by the community and Parish. The auction begins at 3 p.m.