From left, Nancy and Bud Helms pose next to the cutout of Pope Leo XIV and Heidi Wise, with her son Peter Wise, in front of the “One Nation Under God” prayer station at St. Boniface Catholic Church during Chetek’s Liberty Fest parade on July 4. (Catholic Herald photo by Jenny Snarski)
Jenny Snarski
Catholic Herald staff
It may be difficult to track the spiritual fruits of St. Boniface’s outreach at Liberty Fest 2026, but volunteers were thrilled with the concrete numbers.
The Chetek parish had two goals for the July 3-5 festival, which this year honored the United States of America’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers hoped to amass 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration and 250 Works of Mercy, both initiatives encouraged by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
As of the writing of this article, more than 280 hours of adoration had been reported. Works of Mercy reported through an online tool for the event numbered 185.
Organizer Heidi Wise commented the count does not yet include goods donated at each church for the five nonprofits supported by the initiative. She was confident they would reach their goal of 250.
Besides the concessions and silent evangelizing presence of more than a dozen people wearing “Be the Church” and “One Nation Under God” T-shirts, the Prayer Station had a handful of people approach to select token religious items. Before the parade got underway, volunteers meandered through the waiting crowds greeting people and asking for prayer requests.
Although Wise emphasized that everything planned was to give God greater glory, she smiled as Mayor Jeff Martin passed by St. Boniface Church during the parade that traveled through downtown Chetek.
The mayor, who is also pastor at The Refuge International, pointed to the Pope Leo XIV cutout, “You don’t see that every day.” From his seat atop a convertible in the parade, he complimented, “It’s really great what you’re doing here this week,” and added, “God bless.”
Youths from a local church camp who were in the parade carrying an oversized American flag also jumped out of their spots in the parade to take a selfie with the cardboard pope.
For Wise, the best feedback were personal comments.
Joanne Antczak of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Strickland shared, “It was so nice to see the great turnout for the “One Nation Under God” celebration at St. Boniface. It was good to see church and state come together to celebrate, pray and give thanks.”
St. Boniface member Susan Davis said she returned for adoration three times over the 24-hour period.
“That’s how welcomed I felt,” Davis added. “Welcomed, calm, safe, loved and heard.”
Terry Verdegan, a Knight of Columbus, attends St. Peter’s Church in Cameron. He also greatly appreciated the time of adoration.
“It was a great experience for me to be at church,” he said, commenting that he enjoyed how quiet it was.
Another parishioner of St. Boniface and active member of the church’s charismatic prayer group who helped with the prayer station during the parade, June Wittbrot, offered that the events were “truly the most meaningful of events. They brought together the heart and soul of our nation and its purpose, which is to glorify God.”
The initiative was described as “amazing” by Jean Malsom, parishioner of St. Peter Church in Cameron. She said beginning and ending the events with Mass (First Friday on July 3 and then Sunday Mass on July 5) was “perfect.” She added, “Adoration was a great opportunity to show that many of us do need quiet time with Jesus. We pray this celebration opened up more hearts to Jesus!”
About 250 people attended the Sunday Mass, Wise said, a significant increase from their average attendance of 140 people. More than 450 people have viewed the Facebook livestream.
