IMLAY - St. Cecilia's Catholic Mission in Imlay has a new look after parishioners repainted, landscaped and installed an outdoor shrine and steeple at the little church.
J.P. and Joanie Hayes, along with Joanie Hayes's parents Leo and Maria Menicucci, have transformed the house church into a building that looks like a church.
"The parishioners want a church that looks like a church," said J.P. Hayes.
"One morning, Joanie said, 'wouldn't the church look good with a steeple?' So I went out and got the wood," Hayes said.
Joanie Hayes and her father repainted the inside and outside of the building, while her mother designed the garden area along the walkway.
Hayes said the makeover was a labor of love for the group.
The church was once the home of her grandparents, Jesus and Maria Montes. The couple lived in the railroad section of Imlay from the 1920s until Jesus built the home in what is now known as lower Imlay in the late 1950s.
The couple raised five children, Mike, Rudolpho, Robert, Lupe and Maria, in Imlay. Robert Montes and Maria Menicucci are their last two surviving children; both still live in Imlay. In fact, the couple has five generations still living in Imlay.
"She was the glue that held the family together," Joanie Hayes said.
She has fond memories of having homemade tortillas at her grandmother's house; the tradition continued with her children and their friends, Hayes said.
For many years Grandma Maria, as she was known to many in Imlay, opened her home for the Sisters of the Winnemucca Convent to hold Catechism classes. Joanie Hayes remembers taking her Catechism classes in her grandmother's home.
Around 1967, Maria Montes opened her home to serve as a Catholic mission. The altar was set up on her kitchen table and Father Harold Viegagas officiated over Masses, her daughter-in-law Dolores Montes remembered.
After Montes' passing in 2000 her home was turned into the official presence of the Catholic Church and was named St. Cecilia's Catholic Mission.
Mass is officiated by Father Edger Villanueva at 3 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month. The other Sunday Masses are officiated by Dolores Montes when she is in Imlay. She is currently on vacation in Texas, but services will continue when she returns, Hayes said.
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