‘Heavenly Bits’ prove doggone good

It was a blustery fall evening outside, but inside the large kitchen at the Motherhouse in Concordia, a cluster of Sisters of St. Joseph was warming up the room with enthusiasm for the task ahead of them.


The kitchen staff had all gone home for the day, and the “Heavenly Bits” crew has all paws on deck to create a specialty product that will feed dogs and benefit women and children in Concordia.


“Heavenly Bits” dog biscuits are the brainchild of Sister Christella Buser, who has been “retired” for nearly a decade but has yet to stop working. She’d heard about another religious order that had developed a successful dog-biscuit company and focused her well documented energy toward finding out more.


“Lissie’s Luv Yums” is that earlier dog-biscuit success. It was founded in Great Falls, Mont., by Sister Johnelle Howanach, a member of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary of Davenport, Iowa, and her foster daughter, Melissa Clark.


Melissa — nicknamed “Lissie” — used her business to overcome the learning difficulties she faced due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; she continues to use her success it to give others hope and to educate people about the potential damage from mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy.


Sister Christella has a simpler mission: To do something fun while raising funds for the new Neighbor to Neighbor center in downtown Concordia.


All the proceeds from “Heavenly Bits” will go to support Neighbor to Neighbor, scheduled to open in early 2010 in a storefront on East Sixth Street. The center will provide a wide range of programs and services — and a place just to get to know each other — for women and women with young children. Three Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia — Pat McLennon, Jean Befort and Ramona Medina — will operate the center and design the programs offered there.

The “Heavenly Bits” biscuits are mixed, cut, baked and packaged in the Motherhouse kitchen, under a state “Commercial Feeding Stuffs License” from the Department of Agriculture. They are available in three flavors (peanut butter, chicken and beef), in assorted flavors, and in either large or small bags. Small bags are between 4 and 6 ounces and cost $4; large bags weigh 14 to 16 ounces and cost $8.


They are available at the Motherhouse Gift Shop in Concordia, which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. They are also available by mail order, using this printable ORDER FORM.

“I knew I couldn’t do it alone,” Sister Christella explains. So she enlisted other sisters who also live at the Motherhouse: Sister Edwardine Flavin, to help with packaging; Sisters Francis Margaret Otter and Mary Esther Otter for their creative flair; and Sisters Janis Wagner and Geraldine Kokenge for their baking talents. Also lending a hand for the most recent “biscuit production night” was Martha Bryant, the Sisters of St. Joseph executive development director.


“We’re having fun,” Sister Christella notes, “and we’re laughing and helping people. What more could we ask?”

If you’d like to make a donation to support Neighbor to Neighbor or any of the sisters’ other ministries, you can make a donation through a secure server with Amazon Simple Pay, simply by clicking on the Donate button:

• Eight Associates now serve in Silver City area

The number of Associates who help serve through St. Mary’s Spirituality Center has doubled with the recent commitment ceremony of four Silver City, N.M., women.

In a ceremony that focused on all the service Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and their Associates provide in the Silver City area, the four were formally welcomed into the congregation.

They are Doris Lugo, Jovita Foster, Margaret M. Ogas and Vickie Ogas.

Four longtime CSJ Associates — Jerry Richard, Jayme Schwantes, Dave Schwantes and Oralia C. Rede — also renewed their commitment to the Sisters of St. Joseph during the ceremony Oct. 30.

Sister Marcia Allen, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, attended the ceremony and potluck dinner at Marian Hall, next to St. Mary’s Center. She thanked the Associates for their efforts in a wide range of ministries and for their commitment to the community.

In addition to operating St. Mary’s Spirituality Center, Sisters and Associates are active volunteers throughout the community, working in conjunction with The Volunteer Center, El Refugio, Single Sock, and many other service projects.

Sister Marcia and three other members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia Leadership Council — Anna Marie Broxterman, Jean Rosemarynoski and Mary Jo Thummel — were visiting Sisters Rita Plante and Rosemary Farrell, who live and work in Silver City.

Sister Rita is the director of St. Mary’s Spirituality Center while Sister Rosemary is a play therapist working with children at El Refugio.


CSJ Associates are Christian men and women who seek participation in a faith community through sharing and communal prayer. They recognize the spirit of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia in their own hearts and seek a closer association with the sisters and others.


For more information on CSJ Associates, click HERE.

Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia have served in Silver City for 83 years. The earliest sisters to serve in that area of southwestern New Mexico were Sisters of Mercy, who arrived in the 1880s. That congregation eventually sold their facilities in Silver City to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton, Ind., who served until the early 1920s. In 1926, the sisters in Silver City became affiliated with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, who have served in the area ever since.

St. Mary’s Spirituality Center is at 1801 N. Alabama St. in Silver City, N.M. The phone number there is 575-538-3350. Sister Rita may also be reached by email, at rplante@zianet.com

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