What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com.

Earliest man used cave walls; ancient Egyptians used papyrus scrolls; early scribes used clay tablets. St. Joan of Arc Webmaster, Jeff Rholl, used a sweatshirt - not historically notable, but it got the job done.

This story actually starts years ago when Brad Marr, a young teenage artist and member of the SJA youth group, designed the logo that is still used today. Brad remembers that a former youth pastor, Tom Donlon, asked him to design it. Brad was only a junior in high school at the time, but despite his young age, it seems that Donlon’s faith was well placed. Brad tells of imagining the logo when he was at a Youth Camp trip in Taylor’s Falls. When I asked Brad what the logo represented to him he responded, “The logo represents the equality of all people in the world and how St. Joan of Arc treats all of their congregation”.

A few years later, when Margaret Gustafson was director of the Youth Group at SJA, the teens decided to have sweatshirts made with the logo to sell as a fundraiser. Darlene Arbuckle found the logo on the parish computer and passed it on to Margaret who then sent it to the company making the sweatshirts. The logo on the shirts was printed in color.

When Jeff Rholl was designing the St. Joan of Arc web site in 1999 he needed an image of the logo for the site. The only thing available was in black and white, still on the computer in the parish center. He wanted it in color. Jeff remembered that his wife owned one of the sweatshirts made by the Youth Group. Being a creative kind of guy, he rounded up the sweatshirt and his digital camera, laid the sweatshirt out on the driveway at home and…….voila! A colored digital image appeared! (Software meets hardware?)

'Sweatshirt' logo and Lynn Dolan logo

You can still see the “sweatshirt” logo on the website, but its days are numbered. Lynn Dolan has created a cleaner copy which is gradually replacing the original version. Regardless of which image you see, it remains a symbol of the mission of welcome, brotherhood, and collaboration that is at the core of St. Joan of Arc.

Sue O'Brien is the wife of Tom, mother of four children, and grandmother of six. She is dental hygienist and manages a dental practice in Spring Lake Park. A parishioner for many years, Sue worked as a caregiver at Grace House for seven years, beginning the week it opened. Now she is looking forward to meeting new people at St. Joan of Arc as she helps out as a web reporter and photographer. Sue can be reached at sueo-b@comcast.net.