Sister Virginia Bartolac, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas City, Kan., marked her golden jubilee as a religious during a special celebration in Leavenworth on Sunday, June 24.

Sister Virginia, who holds a doctorate in canon law, served as collegiate judge in Atlanta’s Court of Appeals from 1991 to 1995. She left when she was asked to become chancellor of the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri in July 1995. At that time she was one of about 35 women in the country serving as chancellors.

She has also held positions in two Midwestern Catholic Church tribunals and she worked for Domestic Court Services in Wyandotte County, Kan. She continues to judge marriage cases for several Southern dioceses.

Celebrating their golden anniversaries with Sister Virginia during a special Mass were Sister Michael Delores Allegri, Denver; Sister Ann Lucia Apodaca, Leavenworth; and Sisters Karen Guth and Elizabeth Skalicky, Leavenworth.

The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth serve in the United States and Peru, South America. They number 271 sisters in ministries including education, health care, social service, pastoral service, spiritual direction, and advocacy for peace, justice and the environment.

It was the volunteer service of the Knights of Columbus that drew Ed Parker to the organization at St. Joseph Church, Marietta. From the fundraisers and the Lenten fish dinners to serving the poor, Parker felt drawn to the group’s work.

“My favorite service project is probably the Thanksgiving food baskets where a family is given everything to prepare the Thanksgiving meal. Not just a turkey, but all the food to have a truly complete Thanksgiving meal,” he said in an email.

Parker, 66, was elected the grand knight of the St. Joseph Knights of Columbus Council 4599 for fraternal year 2012-2013. The council’s new officers were to be installed on July 7.

A native of Missouri and father of two children, Parker and his wife of 35 years, Susie, have attended St. Joseph Church since 1992. He works in the commercial building industry.

“I would tell any man considering joining the Knights that by joining the organization you will become a better husband, a better father and a better Catholic,” he said in an email.

Middle school students at Holy Redeemer School brought home the second-place trophy at the Odyssey of the Mind world finals at Iowa State University. More than 800 teams competed in May at the championships.

Odyssey of the Mind promotes innovative thinking and creativity in solving problems.

Students tackled challenges like the “Ooh-motional vehicle problem” that required teams to design, build, and drive a vehicle on a course where it encountered three different situations. It had to display a different human emotion at each encounter and travel in multiple directions with various sources of power and propulsion. The team also created a theme reflecting their vehicle and the different emotions.

Starting last September, the team, made up of seven students in sixth through eighth grade, dedicated time before school and on weekends to reach the finals. They had to win regional and state competitions throughout the year. At the world championships, they competed against 56 teams in their division. Their solution tackled the concept of dependency on technology. With creative engineering, acting and humor, the team was able to bring home the second-place trophy to the Johns Creek Catholic school.

Congratulations to Catie Shelly, Lindsay LeCoq, Jack Arndt, Spencer Arndt, Nick Pittman, Andrew Hopkins and Thomas Navarro.

“I’m so proud of all of our students that have competed in Odyssey of the Mind this year! They all worked very hard to develop creative solutions to their problems, and they’ve had fun doing it,” said Kim Woods, coordinator for the program at Holy Redeemer. “It is amazing that our team did so well since this is the program’s second year at our school. I think Odyssey of the Mind will have a bright future at our school.”

Parents of seminarians were treated to dinner recently by the members of the Alter Christus Society.

The annual event brings together family members of seminarians of the Archdiocese of Atlanta for a Parent Appreciation Dinner.

Some 140 people—priests, seminarians, parents and supporters—came out to the Cathedral of Christ the King for Mass and dinner.

The organization, which formed in 2003, focuses its efforts on seminarians studying to be priests for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, especially support in prayer. It issues a poster of the men studying with contact information and a brief word from the seminarians.

The dinner gives parents an opportunity to form friendships among other parents of seminarians.

According to organizer Diana Shertenlieb, a parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw, the dinner even draws parents