It Took a Village to Save a Statue

People were rushing around and busily going about their morning errands on a recent Friday morning. Busy, but not too busy to notice that a change had taken place next to St. Joseph Church on 44th Street.

“When did THAT get here?’ asked a neighbor who stopped dead in his tracks looking toward the historic church. “I just passed here a couple of days ago and that wasn’t here.”

“It’s such a lovely addition,” remarked another passerby.

“What’s all the fuss?” asked a third person.

The” fuss” that was attracting so much positive attention on this early Friday morning was the recent placement and scheduled blessing of the Sacred Heart statue of Jesus that was being relocated to the church grounds after 14 years. Originally, the statue stood in a grove of evergreens on Landis Avenue next to the former rectory, for more than 70 years.

The story of how the statue and all the faithful who turned out for its blessing on June 16 is nothing short of a miracle. It was back in 2009 when demolition and site clearance for the new St. Joseph Church was taking place.

Pat Haffert, who was on hand for the blessing, said his brother Greg, who was working as a foreman for JF Builders at the time, took a call for a request for help with a forklift. Apparently, there was a statue at the church demo site that was just too heavy to be lifted and tossed into the dumpster. Greg Haffert arrived several minutes later and, according to his brother, said, “Whoa! Slow down, what are we doing here?”

Although the 42-inch statue of Jesus was showing its age, Greg Haffert helped load it onto the forklift as carefully as possible hoping to avoid any further damage. Then, instead of dropping it in the dumpster as planned, he carted it about a block away to his house, which was originally owned by his grandfather, a former mayor of Sea Isle City. Haffert placed it right in his front yard. Haffert’s wife, Mary, who was an accomplished gardener, planted roses around it to accentuate the faded red heart.

The statue remained a fixture in their front yard for about a decade. When the family decided to sell the home, the statue was once again on the move. And once again, it moved to a former mayor’s backyard. Mike McHale took possession of the statue just about two years ago, and the restoration work began.

“It’s often said that it takes a village,” McHale said during the blessing. “That was certainly the case here. There were so many people involved in helping to make this project a reality. We are so thankful to so many. Otherwise, we could have never accomplished what we have.”

The sanding, restoration – including the replacement of missing fingers – and painting restoration all took place in McHale’s backyard. Once complete, with the support and encouragement of Fr. Perry a site was selected on 44th Street. Site work included a concrete foundation and laborious custom brickwork for its new pedestal that was constructed by Roger Fehrle of Herman Fehrle and Sons Masonry.

A crowd of more than 100 were on hand on June 16, as Rev. Perry Cherubini blessed the statue and to a person, were thrilled with the new, albeit old, addition to the church grounds.

Andy Bednarek, of the Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church committee, wanted to make sure that, “Everyone who made this project possible knows how much we sincerely appreciate their support and efforts.” Included in those contributing to this project are: Don Teefy and the Sea Isle Water and Sewer Department; church custodians Don Marinucci and Joe Mooney; Bill Flynn; Gibson Associates; Scott Taylor; Taylor Design Group; Vince Lamanna; Sean Mulholland; Roger Fehrle; Mike Jargowsky; Mike Boyle; Andrew Larsen, and, of course, Mike McHale and Greg Haffert.

“Beautiful” seemed to be the word of the day used to describe the restored statue – although one adult parishioner had a slightly confused look on her face and said: “I just remember it being so much bigger from when I was a kid.”

“That was a long time ago ,” said a friend standing nearby, with a smile and a nudge.

Mike McHale speaks to the gathering following the blessing as as Father Perry and Deacon Joseph Murphy look on.

Father Perry Cherubini leads parishioners in a ceremony to bless the placement of the statue on the 44th Street side of St. Joseph Church.