The Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Hillsboro will hold a 90th Anniversary Festival on Saturday.
The festival will be held from noon to 10 p.m. at the church, 703 Third St., and will include live music, children’s activities, and food and drink.
Jessica Mayer, the congregation’s youth minister and a member of its picnic committee, said the event essentially is the annual parish picnic with an emphasis on the 90th anniversary of the church, which was established in 1934.
“We have invited previous Good Shepherd priests to attend the picnic,” Mayer said. “In addition, we are putting together a memory book of the church and are collecting stories and photos from people. That’s an ongoing project.
“People will be able to tell their stories and turn in their pictures at the picnic. They can be interviewed at the picnic. We’ll have a display of things we already have in the cafeteria. That’s where we’ll do the interviews. At a later date, we’ll have an ice cream social where people can buy the book.”
The church also will have a special commemorative T-shirt on sale.
“We always do a picnic T-shirt,” Mayer said. “This year’s features a hand-drawn sketch of the church done by a parishioner, Helen Conway.”
Mayer said three musical acts are scheduled, including the Seth Partney Quartet from noon to 2 p.m., Angela Pirolo from 2-4 p.m. and Tom Sampson from 5-10 p.m.
Mayer said those who look forward to the church’s chicken dinner will have to wait a few more months.
“We will not have the chicken dinners at the festivals,” she said. “Instead, we’ll have a chicken dinner day in the fall.”
However, plenty of food and refreshments will be available for purchase at the festival, including Ted Drewes frozen custard and beer, she added.
“We’ll have barbecue from Bubba A’s BBQ,” Mayer said.
Other activities include a cornhole tournament, bounce house, dunk tank, 50-50 raffle, cake walk, petting zoo and face painting.
The festival will be held rain or shine, Mayer said.
For more information, call the church at 636-789-3356 or visit its page on Facebook.
Church history
The congregation traces its roots back to 1934 when Father Ferdinand G. Wieberg came to Hillsboro. He celebrated the congregation’s first Mass on July 8, 1934, in a barber shop on Main Street, according to the Good Shepherd Catholic Church website.
The church held its first-ever first communion ceremony on Oct. 15, 1947.
Parishioners built the church building over the next year, with the first Mass held there in Nov. 1, 1934. That Mass was held in the building’s basement as work continued upstairs. The first Mass in the actual church took place Nov. 18, 1934. The Archdiocese dedicated it on Thanksgiving Day that year.
Good Shepherd parish operated an elementary school from 1947 until last year, closing after the school year ended in May 2023. A preschool program remains, operating out of the former school building, 701 Third St.
Parishioner Carrie Arlt, a member of the congregation’s Anniversary Committee, said about 45 families were involved in the church when it got its start nine decades ago. Now, the church serves about 300 families.
During the St. Louis Archdiocese reorganization last year, the Rev. Michael Boehm became the church’s pastor, as well as the pastor at Our Lady Catholic Church in Festus and the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Crystal City.
Arlt said the Good Shepherd community has maintained its sense of community over the years. “Everybody who comes here is treated like family,” she said.