St. Mary School’s Wonderful Life Celebration honoring the special Eugene, Ore.-Taylorville, Ill., connection

In March 2020, soon after the Covid breakout, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Mary School in Taylorville, Ill., reached out to a Eugene, Ore., author. Cathy Schaeffer was seeking permission to video herself reading Bob Welch’s book, "52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life." That way, her students, studying remotely, could listen to it, respond to questions from Cathy and learn life lessons from it.

Welch said yes, of course. That led to a seven-year relationship between Welch and Schaeffer’s sixth-grade class each year in which, each year using Zoom, they interview him and he offers a commencement address, “What Would George Bailey Say.”

Now that the first sixth-grade class is graduating from high school, Welch and Schaeffer are throwing caution to the wind and putting on a banquet May 14, 2026, at St. Mary School to honor:

 The students (and their parents) in the 2020 class, who missed face-to-face learning opportunities and their end-of-year graduation fun because of the pandemic.

 The kids in all the other classes that Welch has interacted with.

 The link between a small farming town in the Midwest and a college town (University of

Oregon) on the West Coast.

 The spirit of the “others-before-self” movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” that drew these two places together.

The goal for donations is to pay for the banquet, estimated at $5,000. (We already have a $2,500 matching-gifts pledge from a Eugene couple who will kick in that amount if other Heart, Humor & Hope subscribers come up with $2,500.)

Any donated money beyond what we need to pay for the May 14 event will go to fund additional college scholarships to be given to additional members of the St. Mary 2020 class that’s now graduating from Taylorville High. The kids who missed out on so much because of Covid back when they were sixth-graders. The kids who, after I mentioned the recent death of my mother, sent me such beautiful homemade sympathy cards. (Nothing brings tears like crayon drawings.)

All donations go directly to St. Mary School, 422 S. Washington, Taylorville, IL 62568. The school is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. If you would like to receive a tax form for your charitable contribution, please call 217-824-8178 or email apickett@stmarytaylorville.org for tax forms. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. No goods or services will be provided in exchange for your contribution.

Thanks for considering a gift as part of St. Mary School’s Wonderful Life Celebration honoring a special Eugene, Ore.-Taylorville, Ill. Connection.

— Bob Welch

St. Mary School Presents- A Wonderful Life Celebration with Bob Welch