Bus Ride to July Meeting at St. Joseph Abbey

Baton Rouge Woodworkers Club is organizing a bus ride to St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, LA, where we are holding our July 2019 Monthly Meeting (7/13). The meeting will feature the tour of St. Joseph Abbey’s woodworking facility, where they manufacture caskets. See down below for more information about the abbey.

During February Monthly Meeting, I passed around the sign-up sheet for the bus ride to the abbey. Twenty-seven (27) of us signed up to ride. Of those, 6 members signed up their spouses to ride along. This put us over 30 riders to go forth with the plan.

Bus Ride Information

• Cost: $20 per person
• Maximum Passengers: 50
• Pick-up/Drop-off Point: Juban Crossing shopping mall in Denham Spring
• Departure Time: 7:30 AM
• Return Time: 1:00 PM

How to Reserve Your Seat

Your seat is reserved when you place your payments. Our Treasurer, [brwc_user id=”105″], will collect the payments (cash or check) during the monthly meetings. The deadline for payment no later than the June 1st Monthly Meeting.

The seats are reserved for those members (and their spouses) who signed up for the bus ride during the Feb. Meeting only until all the seats are is filled.

Cancellation

If you cannot ride the bus for any reason, you may cancel your reservation at any time before the June 1st Monthly Meeting to receive full refund. The club owns the right to cancel the bus ride altogether if there aren’t enough paid riders by June 2, 2019.

Additional Notes:

• While we initially collect $20 per person, the price may come down if we have enough riders. If this happens, we will reimburse you the difference.
• Members’ family and friends are welcome to join as long as there is room in the bus. Please understand that the members get the first preference, and we may have to ask non-members to be off once the bus is full.
• Bus will depart St. Joseph Abbey by 11:30, giving us about 30 minutes after the meeting to walk the grounds/gift shop
• You are welcome to drive yourself to the meeting; the abbey is located just north of Covington, LA.
• (Optional) Regardless of riding the bus or not, we will have a lunch social at Walk-On’s Restaurant at Juban Crossing upon return from the trip if there are enough interests.

About St. Joseph Abbey & Their Casket Making

Main Website: https://www.saintjosephabbey.com
Woodworks Website: https://www.saintjosephabbey.com/about-woodworks

Saint Joseph Abbey was founded in 1889, and it is run by Benedictine monks. Their main focus is the education and formation of future priests.

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Monks revived the ancient practice of casket making in 2007 to support their educational and healthcare expenses. However, Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors moved to shut them down because it was a crime in Louisiana for anyone but a government licensed funeral director to sell caskets to the public. In 2013, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to strike down the legislation, which makes it a crime. The case was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, and eventually The Supreme Court rejected the board’s petition for review. Henceforth, we can purchase the caskets from St. Joseph Abbey under the name Saint Joseph Woodworks.