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In 1999 Ed Dihlmann and Hugh Brown met with the principal of St.
Patrick’s school in Spotsylvania Virginia and asked, “What do
we do when our children reach High School age?” At the time
both men had very young children beginning pre-school and
kindergarten at St. Patrick’s. The question was referring to the
lack of Catholic High School in the Fredericksburg area
and surrounding counties. Their concern was “what to do”
for their children’s High School education, centered on Christ
and our Catholic faith.
The answer was simple, we needed to take the initiative and
through the grace of God work to find an answer. Thus the “Catholic
Business Network of Central Virginia” was born. We
officially incorporated in 2001 and the mission of the
organization was two-fold. We wanted to create a business
network that allowed Catholics to share in fellowship, live
their faiths in their businesses, and build a strong “Catholic
business culture” in Fredericksburg. The organization began by
holding monthly luncheons, hosting speakers, business forums and
working hard to help support each other’s businesses.
The second part of our mission was very specific. We founded a “Catholic
High School subcommittee” in 2002 with the intent of
establishing a Catholic High School here in Fredericksburg.
Through effort, faith and the grace of almighty God “Saint
Michael the Archangel high School” was established in 2004 and
opened its doors to 21 students in the fall of 2006. As of the
fall of 2009 the school has over 60 students and a state of the
art facility on 19 acres in Fredericksburg with the goal to
continue to grow to serve hundreds of students and defend the
culture of life and by teaching and living our Catholic faith to
our students.
www.saintmichaelhs.org
We did not stop at founding Saint Michael the Archangel High
School. We have also founded the “Adopt a Classroom”
program supporting local Catholic parochial schools, Saint
Patrick’s, Holy Cross Academy, Epiphany Catholic School, and
Saint William of York. This program alone has contributed over
$50,000 to our local Catholic schools since 2005.
The organization also founded and established two bingo’s run by
Mr. Fred Espinel in late 2006, held every Thursday and Saturday
nights respectively. To date the bingo effort has contributed
over $400,000 to Saint Michael the Archangel High School and
local Catholic education. Our late Holy Father John Paul II
stated that it was the responsibility of all Catholics to ensure
the prosperity and continuation of Catholic Education and we
have tried in great humility, recognizing the role of providence
in any success we have been allowed, to heed his call.
Today the “CBNCV” has over 60 members and our goal is to
continue to serve Christ through our business practices while
also supporting local Catholic education. To find out more
please visit our “Contact Us” page and learn how you could
become part of our dynamic organization.
The Lord asked we, “Do great things in His name,” and we
ask you keep our efforts in your prayers. |
