By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Four “voices of Vermont” with personal and professional ties to Joseph Dutton of Molokai, who was born in that state, will be the presenters at a live webinar about Dutton, now a sainthood candidate, hosted by the Damien and Marianne Catholic Conference, May 13, 10-11:30 a.m.
Preregister for this complimentary webinar, “The Voices of Vermont, USA,” at www.dmcchawaii.org.
The panelists will share stories about how their lives have been influenced by the Civil War veteran who went to Kalaupapa to help Father Damien and remained there for 45 years serving the Hansen’s disease patients.
Dutton was born in Stowe, Vermont, on the site of what is now Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. The church is known for its artistic images of the life of the saint-hopeful that decorate its outside walls. Dutton is affectionately known to the people of Vermont as Brother Joseph Dutton, beloved son of Stowe.
Here are the presenters:
Joanna Turner Bisceglio instructs Soulcore, a rosary fitness program, is a lector, and hikes and skis the mountains of Stowe with her husband and four children. She has been deeply inspired by the story of Joseph Dutton and aspires to make a pilgrimage to Molokai someday.
Matthew H. Strong was born in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, in 1957 on a small family farm. His passion of history, biographies and his background in woodworking, wood finishing and art led to his selection as the one to restore the artwork depicting the life of Joseph Dutton on the walls of the Blessed Sacrament Church. He and his wife live in Stowe, Vermont.
Peigi Guerra arrived in Stowe in 1978 and began attending Blessed Sacrament Church. A ski injury led to her introduction to Maria von Trapp, who gave her a job coloring Easter eggs for the lodge which led to her current job at Trapp Family Lodge as docent. The story of Joseph Dutton and his connection to her parish came to her attention in the 1980s. It was the von Trapp family’s visit to Molokai that led her to further investigate Dutton’s life.
Lynn Altadonna has been a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament Church since moving to Stowe in 2000. He learned about Joseph Dutton through fellow parishioner, Gerry Kirchner, who was an avid spokesman for the sainthood candidate. In addition, the art at this church, dedicated to Joseph Dutton, are vivid scenes depicting life on Molokai that moved him to become active in the cause for Dutton’s sainthood.