Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Building of Chateau St. Michael rooted with history

Chateau St. Michael resident Mary Keith, 89, addresses the
crowd at  the building's centennial celebration on Saturday.
Keith became a resident at the home in 2008.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy


Jim Purdy will never forget a spiritual moment he experienced at St. Anthony’s Home.


At the centennial celebration on Saturday of the building that is now Chateau St. Michael, Purdy said he had many memories when he worked as a maintenance staff member at St. Anthony’s Home from 1984 to 1990. While Chateau St. Michael is only 13 years old, part of the building was built in 1912.


Purdy said a manger was set up every Christmas on the grounds of the home. It was the responsibility of whoever was working the afternoon shift to put the baby Jesus in the manger at midnight.


“The night that I had to do it, it was the most miserable storm that you could imagine. (It was) just terrible and windy and you could barely even see out to the manger,” said Purdy. “I opened the door and I had the Baby Jesus in my arms and I stepped out the door and the wind stopped. I walked out, put the Baby Jesus in the manger and it was calm.”


“That will be with me forever. That’s my special moment,” he said. “Mother Nature … accommodated a spiritual event and here, more than that: a historical event.”


For more information, see an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.