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This is Arthur Thomas "Tom" Brandon - our oldest member - 92 years old.

Tom was born in Atlanta, GA in 1916 in his grandmother's house - which incidentally was destroyed in the Atlanta fire of 1917

His parents settled in Dublin, GA, soon moved to Palmetto, FL in 1921.

He graduated from Palmetto High School in 1934 as president of his class.

He enrolled at the University of Florida. The total cost of a year at U of FL at that time was $385 not counting room and board. He got $30 per mointh towards his food costs from a NYA federal program.

He graduated in 1938 from the Collewge of Business Administration and because times were tough and jobs scarce, his first job with the Winter Haven Citrus Growers paid 25 cents per hour.

In 1957, he was hired as manager of Waverly Growers Cooperative.

He also served on the board of what is now known at Florida's Natural.

He served as President of Highland Crate Cooperative, president of Florida Citrus Growers, President of Florida Tangerine Cooperative, Chairman of the Growers Administrative Committee and on the board of the Florida Citrus Mutual.

He was the founding president of the Highlands Exchange Service Cooperative. He was a board member and secretary of the Florida Club.

He was board member of the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce, and a board member of the Southeast Bank.

He was foiunding president of the Episcopal Catholic Apartments.

He became a member of St Paul's Episcopal Church in 1941 and served on the Vestry there for many years. In fact, the dining hall is called Brandon Hall.

He also was Cubmaster of the Cub Pack at St. Paul's.

He is a veteran of WWll, discharged as a captain.

He has been a member of Holy Cross as Tom says, "Forever"..

He has been married to his lovely wife Peg for 63 years.

CHARLES A. SOULE

3112 Post Oak Court

Winter Haven, Florida 33884

(863) 326-5225

chassoule@aol.com

Charles Arthur Soule, CTP, “Charlie”, is a management executive, management consultant, and investor specializing in restructuring, revitalization, and growth of private companies. He is currently serving as chairman and CEO of Blue Lake Citrus Products, LLC of Winter Haven, Florida, a specialty citrus juices operation and as chairman of Wm. G. Roe & Sons, Inc, of Winter Haven, a specialty citrus operation of fresh fruit. He is the chairman and a founding principal of Aurora Management Partners, a leading management consulting firm based in the Southeast.

Charlie graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a BA, majoring in economics. He served as a line officer in the U. S. Navy in the mid 1960's specializing in communications and intelligence. He received his MBA from Harvard in 1969, graduating with distinction. He is certified in consulting and management practices as a certified turnaround professional by the ACTP.

In addition to his consulting experiences, he has held management positions as CEO and/or CFO in many industries - plastics manufacturing, citrus, agriculture, limousine service, auto parts warehouse and distribution, machine parts manufacturing and assembly, gold refining and gold jewelry manufacturing, pressure vessel manufacturing, suspended access hoists, and others.

He has been active in board memberships in churches, charities and service clubs. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, has been a senior warden in a major Episcopal church, president of the standing committee of a diocese, and held leadership positions in several community organizations, national industry associations, and major health-care organizations.

Charlie and his wife Frankie currently reside in Winter Haven in Cypresswood. He and Frankie between them have four children and four grandsons (one more in the hatchery) scattered from Florida to California. He is a low handicap golfer and enjoys computers, sports and puzzles.

Don Kennon is the current Senior Warden of Holy Cross Church.

This is the senior lay leadership in the church and with the title go awesome responsibilities in leading Holy Cross. He does not come unprepared for this leadership role. He has an extensive business background and education.

With his siter and brother, he currently is owner of B-LAK Logistic Services, Inc. We have office in Winter Haven, Jonesboro, AR, Knoxville, TN, Kernersville, NC, Coolidge, GA, Homestead, FL, Lexington, KY, and Somerset, KY.

He was employed by Scotty’s for many years, most recently serving as President of the Small Store Division where he supervised operations, buying, real estate and marketing functions.

We know him best as Debbie’s husband and the father of Alex, a med student at Florida State and Caroline, an accounting major at Florida Southern.

He has a son Michael, an associate pastor at Heartland Church here in Winter Haven and Clinton, a contractor in Gainesville, GA. He and Debbie have 4 grand children – Hayden 12, Austin 10, Robbie 5, and Gideon, 3.

Of course, we also see him every Sunday morning as lay reader and Eucharistic minister.

I grew up in a large, loving Roman Catholic family and went to school in a 12 year parochial school which my dad, his siblings and many of his cousins attended. God seemed to be a part of this fun loving and caring network. Attending daily Mass and taking Communion, attracted in the same way attending family picnics and working in the family business. He was part of the warp and woof of my life. O

ne day some nuns came to our school to speak about the missionary work they did in Appalachia and poor regions of the United States. They aroused a desire to do service and the September following my graduation from high school, I entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana. Here I received some theological education as I studied Biology and Chemistry in order to become a science teacher.

I lived the open air that Pope John XXIII fostered in the church. However, one year I took stock and saw I was not progressing in the spiritual goals I had committed myself to when I took my vows to become a permanent member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. I left the order and continued as a science teacher in Maryland.

In the next few years I would go hiking with friends more often than going to church. This fed a spiritual need of being close to God in nature. Then a serious medical problem in a member of my family made me turn back to God. But the God I now found helped me to use the situation as a mirror to look in myself and the unhealthy habits I had developed to cope with problems in myself and the situation in which I lived. I decided to turn my will and my life over to Him in a much more personal relationship that I had ever experienced before. I learned to pray on a daily basis for the knowledge of His will and for the courage and strength to follow his plan for me.

My husband and I raised two daughters while we both taught. I learned to express gratitude for all the blessings we received and sometimes I could be grateful for the problems they, too, brought growth and blessings.

When we moved to Winter haven in 2006, I visited Holy Cross and felt at home. The friendliness and commitment to outreach projects impressed me. I have found a place which supports me in deepening my relationship with God and where I can cooperate with Him in serving others. Marilu McGoldrick

Michelle currently has a very key role at Holy Cross in her leadership of the 20 person prayer team. Hardly a day goes by that Michelle does not send out an e-mail message to the prayer team asking for special prayers for someone. She always includes a suggested prayer and these prayers are so caring and thoughtful. Here's what she said about herself;

I was born in Ann Arbor Michigan, and was raised Methodist and Presbyterian. We re-located to Florida in 1972. It was very difficult for me. I graduated from Lake Worth High School and went to work and visited Michigan several times before going to Palm Beach Community College in 1978. I attended their nursing program. I didn’t complete the program and moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1979.

I married in 1981. Jon was born 9-19-1983 and Chris was born 9-12-1986. They are still my babies. I went back to school and finished my education in 1992.

James and I married in 1996. We discussed that we should find a church. He was raised in a different Christian atmosphere. We attended several different churches, even separately at times. I had mentioned a church near us that fascinated me. It was small and had a funny name….E P I S C O P A L. We researched it and found it was a Christian church so we made a visit, which was November of 1997. Upon leaving after that first visit we were energized by the love and closeness of this group. The book juggling and pew aerobics left us confused, but challenged. We kept visiting. We attended the Nicky Gumbles ALPHA class and well, it all took off from there. James was confirmed and I was reaffirmed in April of 1998.

We grew strong in our faith and united together in Christ. I attended Cursillo in the fall of 1998. I belong to the Order of the Daughters of the King.

I became the Youth director for approximately 5 years. I have also served on the Vestry twice replacing vacancies. I am active in the Cursillo and Kairos ministries. I am currently doing the on-line prayer requests.

I work full time at Regency Medical Center. I work in the recovery room. I also work part time at Bartow Memorial Hospital in their ICU. (which is my passion).

I encourage each of you to stretch out and reach for Jesus. Studying and learning about Him is so rewarding. At Holy Cross we ARE love and we follow the words of the gospel.

I feel we bring those that enter our doors closer to Jesus by following one of the great commandments….love each other as I have loved you.(John 15:12)