St. Jerome School 1909

2007
November

November, 2007

November, 2007

Father David Willett organized a town meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall to discuss use of buildings and property which would no longer be leased by Graves County Board of Education after June 2010. David Nanny with Nanny Home Inspections provides report dated 11-24-07 to Father Willett of his..Read More

2008
February

February, 2008

Father David Willett organized a second town hall meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall to discuss use of buildings and property.

2009
January

January, 2009

January 11th the first meeting of the Parish Vision and Planning Committee (PVPC) was attended by 19 parishioners with the purpose of providing guidance on the spiritual and physical plant needs of the parish.

February

February, 2009

February 27th and 28th Sister Geri and Sister Georgia from Murray came to Fancy Farm to facilitate vision training sessions at Haeseley Hall for the 28 parishioners who attended. During those sessions Father Willett provided the following quote: “Whatever we do will be for those whocome after us”. PVPC meetings..Read More

2010
January

January, 2010

January 28th PVPC meeting held and final recommendations for building and property usage was agreed upon for a formal presentation to the Parish Council.

2011
February

February, 2011

February a four-person sub-committee of the PVCP committee was appointed by Father Darrell Venters to determine the cost estimates for repair of Haeseley Hall – no fund raising, only obtaining cost estimates.  The four members of the sub-committee that would eventually be known as the St. Jerome School 1909 Renovation..Read More

April

April, 2011

April 17th Bill Macintire from Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) tours the school building and adds St. Jerome School to the KHC official building database.

May

May, 2011

May 10th the Parish Council approved the recommendations of the PVPC. Father Darrell Venters gave further guidelines for the sub-committee and the PVPC was dissolved. May 21st a meeting of sub-committee decides that Andy Elliott would serve as committee chair, Bill Higdon as vice-chair, and John Carrico as secretary. This..Read More

November

November, 2011

The final Three Phase Project Proposal for St. Jerome School was developed by the 1909 Committee and presented to the Parish Council which their approval.

December

December, 2011

Father Venters gave approval for fund-raising efforts to begin for the repair of the school.

2012
February

February, 2012

February, 2012

February 18 fund-raising efforts were discussed at all the weekend Masses and a brochure was developed. A Facebook page for St. Jerome School 1909 was created on February 24th (currently over 600 people are members of this group) and a fund-raising campaign was launched to raise $150,000 by October 31,..Read More

August

September, 2012

September, 2012

August 10th the funds raised for the project topped $200,000 with 112 charter donors.

October

October, 2012

The cleaning out of Haeselely Hall began along with the removal of partitions/closets in the classrooms on the first floor and the partition on the second floor hallway.

December

December, 2012

Father Darrell Venters gave the approval to begin the renovation work.

2013
January

January – July, 2013

Asbestos removal, roof replacement, floors cleaned/sanded/re-stained, walls/ceilings/windows painted in hallway and two north classrooms, sidewalks replaced, shrubbery and trees removed, bricks removed from front steps and new railings installed, removal of old windows on front north rooms and hallway entrance door/windows and installation of new windows and door, and installation..Read More

March

March, 2013

An application was prepared by a Nomination Specialist and sent to the Kentucky Heritage Council to request nomination for the school, the church, other buildings, and 17 acres to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

June

June, 2013

On June 23rd an article in The Mayfield Messenger newspaper is published about the renovation.

July

July, 2013

A classroom was developed into a reference library with a computer, another classroom was developed like classroom decades ago, and donor plaques and senior composite pictures were hung in the hallway, along with pictures of former pastors and nuns who were principals at the school. An article in the Mayfield..Read More

August

August, 2013

On August 4th the “Dedication and Grand Opening” of St. Jerome School was celebrated at the 133rd St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic.

September

September, 2013

September 23rd the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board approves nomination request for the school, church, and other buildings and 17 acres to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places – nomination is sent to the U.S. Department of the Interior for approval.

October

October, 2013

On October 13th an article about the church and school being nominated to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places in published in The Paducah Sun Newspaper.

November

November, 2013

November, 2013

Western Kentucky Catholic newspaper publishes article about the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places being approved by the State Review Board. Pam Nanny added as a member of the renovation committee.

December

December, 2013

December 14th the first annual Christmas Memories at St. Jerome School event held at the school.

2014
January

January, 2014

January 8th the U.S. Department of the Interior designated that the St. Jerome School, along with the church, other buildings and 17 acres be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. January 22nd and 23rd articles are published by the Mayfield Messenger and the Paducah Sun newspapers about the..Read More

March

March, 2014

More windows and doors were replaced.

April

April, 2014

Classroom floors on the south end of building cleaned, sanded and re-stained and room painted.

May

May – June, 2014

Social Room had bathroom added, new cabinets/island installed.

July

July, 2014

On July 20th a Historical Marker designating the St. Jerome School, church, other buildings, and 17 acres being placed on the National Register of Historic Places was dedicated on the front lawn of the school.

August

August, 2014

Kentucky Heritage Council presents a plaque to the St. Jerome School 1909 Renovation Committee on August 2nd at the 134th St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic naming it as being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On August 16th committee members visited the Hickman County Museum in Clinton, Kentucky..Read More

October

October, 2014

October, 2014

October 29th the upper level south windows are installed.

December

December, 2014

Grant application sent to the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation in Paducah.

2015
January

January, 2015

Work commenced on the creation of a museum room and continued through August. January 31st the National Register of Historic Places plaque is installed on the exterior of the school building.

June

June, 2015

Grant for $20,000 received from the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation in Paducah.

August

August, 2015

On August 1st the museum room is opened for the 135th St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic.

December

December, 2015

December 19th Fancy Farm Mule Wagon and Team Tack is donated to the school and installed in the school basement. Grant application for the second grant submitted to the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation in Paducah.

2016
March

March, 2016

March, 2016

In March and April the mule room in the basement is renovated.

April

April, 2016

An application is made to the Kentucky Heritage Council for approval for a preservation tax credit for expenditures made for renovations to the school and church over the past two years.

June

June, 2016

The Kentucky Heritage Council approves the preservation tax credit application. A grant for $30,000 was received from the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation in Paducah.

July

July, 2016

July, 2016

July 3rd Mule room in the basement is opened to the public for the July 4th Fancy Farm Parade.

September

September, 2016

Tax credit sold to Stockyard Bank and Trust, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky and a check in the amount of $24,766.79 was received from the bank for St. Jerome School and St. Jerome Church.

October

October, 2016

October, 2016

On October 16th dedication of a plaque in memory of Father David Willett took place. Father Willett died in April of 2016 and was our former pastor, member of the St. Jerome School 1909 Renovation Committee, and ardent supporter of the school project.

2017
January

January – December, 2017

Additional items were collected for the museum room.

April

April, 2017

April 25th the committee hosted the Board of the Hickman County Museum at the school for a tour of the facility.

November

November, 2017

November the staircase to the second floor is refinished.

2018
March

March, 2018

Demolition continued on the southeast classroom on the second floor. March 3rd the Fancy Farm Bank vault doors that have been donated and refurbished are installed in the museum.

April

April, 2018

On April 14th a “Grand Reunion Celebration” was held for the graduating Classes of 1973-1985.

June

June – July, 2018

June – July, 2018

The second floor hallway and northeast classroom room painted and the staircase steps and second floor hallway cleaned, sanded, and re-stained. July 18th the name of the Facebook page was changed to St. Jerome School and Museum. July 29th Shelley Bourne from the Mayfield Messenger Newspaper tours the building and..Read More

August

August, 2018

August 4th at the 138th St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic the Graves County Pioneer Award Committee awarded the Graves County Pioneer Award to the St. Jerome School 1909 Renovation Committee.

December

December, 2018

The second floor is opened to the public for the annual Christmas Memories event. Elizabeth Barnstead with the Western Kentucky Catholic Newspaper tours the school to obtain information and photos for an article.

2019
January

January, 2019

January, 2019

An article was published in The Western Kentucky Catholic newspaper about the school and museum by the editor of the newspaper who toured the building in December.

February

February, 2019

February 4th a three panel painting depicting a scene in the basement cafeteria from the 1940’s, that was painted by local artist Gayla Elliott, is installed in the Social Room.

August

August, 2019

Morgan Cash is added as a member of the renovation committee.

September

September, 2019

On September 22nd a celebration was held for the 110th-anniversary completion of the school in 1909. Bishop William Medley and Father Darrell Venters are guest speakers, along with John Carrico and Andy Elliott. A time capsule, to be opened in 2044, is available to put items and writings in.

November

November, 2019

November, 2019

The time capsule from the 110th-anniversary celebration is sealed.

2020
January

January, 2020

January 11th a strategic planning retreat was held to determine future projects and needs of the school and museum.

February

February, 2020

February 10th a meeting was held to discuss the development and creation of a website.

September

September, 2020

September, 2020

September 18th three committee members toured museum of Larry Higdon to determine items that might be of use to the school and museum. September 29th the installation of HVAC units, electrical and lighting for the second floor hallway and the second floor northeast classroom begins.