The St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Mateo County is running up to the holidays much with the help of volunteer Peggy Cooney.

Fall was a busy time for putting new names on office doors at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park. Welcomed to the faculty to teach and assist in several areas of faith were Father John Boettcher, Dr. Nina Heereman, Dr. Francis Feingold, Father Francis Lowe and Jesuit Father David Robinson.

Catholic high schools are mixing it up with the men’s and women’s Crusader Mixed Choir blending voices from Archbishop Riordan, Mercy San Francisco and ICA Cristo Rey. The group is based at Archbishop Riordan High School.

Joe Pena has been at the helm of Catholic San Francisco’s ad department for all of the paper’s now near 20 years. I think all of us here would say it has been a privilege to work at his side but you never really get to be at his side since his day is mostly spent whizzing around the office on one chore or another. He did sit still though for an office lunch Oct. 4 in his honor. In a note to staff, CSF editor and general manager Rick DelVecchio said it would be “a fond and grateful farewell to our friend and colleague.” Rick called Joe “a pioneer member of the CSF organization who with his sales staff has led the revenue effort over more than 600 regular issues, plus specials.” That all adds up to “something like 10,000 advertising pages,” Rick said.

As I get closer to retirement, I expect ending my years as a chancery grunt will be my one and only opportunity to lift the prized milestone. Lorraine Paul has several retirements under her belt.