Listen to this interview with Catherine Buning Steiger recorded at the “Sneak Preview” for Saint James Cathedral in downtown Orlando, November 13th, 2010.
Catherine Buning was born in Orlando in 1957, the sixth child in a family of eight children. The Buning family lived in a large home on Lake Eola at the corner of Robinson Street and Rosalind Avenue. Their house was built in the 1920’s and was one of the six larger family homes on Lake Eola. Catherine recalls the lake as her backyard and has fond memories of looking out her bedroom window at night seeing the fountain change color and knowing which color was coming next. She would climb the oak trees around the lake for fun and feed the injured birds cared for by “The Bird Lady” at Grace Motel.
LISTEN (9:37)
The Buning family walked together the two blocks up Robinson Street to attend St. James Church and participated in the annual Easter Parade at Lake Eola. Cathy remembers having a new hat, purse, gloves and walking across the stage at Lake Eola for the judging. One year the Buning family won the best dressed family award and got their picture in the paper. Catherine Buning met her husband here in Orlando and they have raised four children at St. James: Matthew, Steven, Joan and Sarah. She says, “St. James is a part of my identity and it is a part of their lives, too. The comfort of knowing a lot of the history, and of the people who have gone before me and helped build this parish…. There is a lot of warmth and comfort in knowing the community and being a part of it.”
As Orlando continues to grow as a city and a community, Mrs. Steiger thinks “the Cathedral will become even more of a centerplace for people to not only worship but for the arts… Things that would bring more of a spirituality to our community and be there to help answer some of the needs of a growing community as well.”
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Interview with Catherine Buning Steiger at the "Sneak Preview" for Saint James Cathedral in downtown Orlando, November 13th, 2010.
Catherine Buning was born in Orlando in 1957, the sixth child in a family of eight children. The Buning family lived in a large home on Lake Eola at the corner of Robinson Street and Rosalind Avenue. Their house was built in the 1920's and was one of the six larger family homes on Lake Eola. Catherine recalls the lake as her backyard and has fond memories of looking out her bedroom window at night seeing the fountain change color and knowing which color was coming next. She would climb the oak trees around the lake for fun and feed the injured birds cared for by "The Bird Lady" at Grace Motel. The Buning family walked together the two blocks up Robinson Street to attend St. James Church and participated in the annual Easter Parade at Lake Eola. Cathy remembers having a new hat, purse, gloves and walking across the stage at Lake Eola for the judging. One year the Buning family won the best dressed family award and got their picture in the paper. Catherine Buning met her husband here in Orlando and they have raised four children at St. James: Matthew, Steven, Joan and Sarah.
She says, "St. James is a part of my identity and it is a part of their lives, too. The comfort of knowing a lot of the history, and of the people who have gone before me and helped build this parish.... There is a lot of warmth and comfort in knowing the community and being a part of it." As Orlando continues to grow as a city and a community, Mrs. Steiger thinks "the Cathedral will become even more of a centerplace for people to not only worship but for the arts....Things that would bring more of a spirituality to our community and be there to help answer some of the needs of a growing community as well."
