HELMVILLE - Mass has been suspended for one year at Helmville's St. Thomas Parish due to a shortage of priests. This is the first time mass has not been held at St. Thomas, except for during the pandemic. After one year, the situation will be re-evaluated.

Bishop Rondell first rode into the Helmville Valley in 1872, with saddlebags bulging with supplies to conduct mass, said Peggy Mannix recalling her grandmother's history notes. Masses were held in the home of Thomas Coleman. When the first building was dedicated in 1889 it was named after Thomas. That church burned in the late 1940's.The...