In the early 1920's someone purchased the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue and asked that it be placed in the church.
The priest, probably Father Wicke, had the window covered up and the statue put on top of the altar. Fortunately they
left the window in place and put wire mesh over the outside so that rocks and balls did not damage the window. Recently
there has been growing interest in opening the window back up so that all could see it. After all it is what our church
is named after and it is important to the history of the church.
On Thursday February 4, 2010 the window was removed and taken to Artisan's Glass Art in Terre Haute. Here it is
being restored. The glass is being cleaned and the window is being re-leaded. Missing or broken glass is being
replaced and designs on each piece are being duplicated.
Below are pictures of the restoration and the re-installation of the window.
The Annunciation was dedicated to Abraham Turner, the side lights are shown below.
I have been contacted by Martha Ann Brown Forsythe who tells me that her great-grandfather was Abraham Turner.
He was a merchant and built the family home at 103 S. Walnut. Martha grew up in that same house with her parents James
and Catherine (Glasgo) Brown, her grandmother Martha Turner Glasgo, Abraham's daughter, and her great-uncle Hubert Turner,
Abraham's son.
Martha Glasgo was the organist for the church for several years. Martha Forsythe's great-grandmother Katie
(Wehrle) Turner was a long-time member of Annunciation.
March 19,2010 the windows were reinstalled in the church and some of us got to see glimpses of what the windows will
look like before they were covered over with curtains. The windows will be revealed on Thursday March 25, 2010 which
just happens to be the Feast of the Annuciation.
This project has taken a lot of time, effort and coordination. We want to thank Margaret Ann (Holechko) Jaksich, sister of Joe Holechko, who donated the money to have this done and who showed
remarkable patience waiting for its completion. We also want thank Dave Rosen at Artisan's Glass Art for all of his
time and talents restoring these windows. A thank you also to DM Masonry for all they have done removing all of
the plaster that covered the window and restoring the window wells and getting all of the painting done on our time schedule.
And Norm's Glass for taking the window out and carefully reinstalling it.
We must give a very special thank you to Martha Tempel who headed up the
whole project. She found the right people to do the job and then coordinated the efforts of everyone so that we could
have the unvailing on Thursday.
