March 14, 2023 // Bishop

Bishop Blesses New Installment at Ganser Farm

Joshua Schipper

Video/Digital Content/Graphic Design Producer

Troy Ganser’s devotion to St. Michael has unveiled itself in numerous ways throughout his life. The angelic saint inspired both Ganser’s confirmation name and the name of one of his sons. The name also came to him in the form of a favorite uncle. St. Michael inspired him once again when several parishes returned to the tradition of praying the St. Michael the Archangel prayer at the end of Mass.

This devotion to St. Michael culminated in the design of a new sculpture at Ganser’s fun farm, which Today’s Catholic initially covered in late 2021 (todayscatholic.org/artist-building-a-legacy-of-faith). The fun farm, a Ganser-made village of whimsical, kid-oriented attractions, is located on nearly 30 acres of land in rural New Haven, and is available for special events. The site includes everything from an inhabitable giant shoe to a pirate ship. Dinosaurs have even been known to make an appearance.

On Friday, March 10, Bishop Rhoades went to the fun farm to bless this new installment on the property.

The process to create this intricate piece was anything but easy. Ganser had initially begun preliminary design work on the sculpture with an artist, but that partnership ultimately disbanded.

“Then the pandemic happened,” said Ganser. “Everything kind of froze for a little while and all that time I sought some type of a solution. It ended up being another example of ‘What can I figure out myself?’”

Then, a metal sign manufacturer that Ganser encountered offered to laser cut a custom design for his project. After that, the pieces began coming together.

Ganser said, “Then I found another guy — a second guy who could weld it all together, including the armature, and then a third person who could powder coat everything so it would be weatherproof. Now, there is a fourth guy who will be putting in lighting to light it up.”

Ganser admitted that perhaps his pride made him think that he would find one person to “just take care of it all,” adding that God is “developing another part of my character.”

As for what the future holds, Ganser said that he would like to continue exploring similar sculptures, maybe with archangels Raphael and Gabriel, or perhaps the addition of Mary and other statements of faith.

“I really do try to be open to the Holy Spirit, and I want to promote others. I want to work with others and help them shine and [I can] take a backseat, take a humble approach to it. So, I’m working on my patience about that with all the things that we’re doing, and really trying to discern, ‘What am I supposed to be doing? Is this God’s plan for me to carry out or wait and see?’ I have a sense of urgency about life. Nothing’s promised, who knows?”

Ultimately, Ganser said, he wants to look back on his life and say, “Wow, I can’t believe I did that, and use every bit of blessing and talent that God gave me at the highest level. Hopefully, I can keep trying to bring about the way the earth was intended to be before it became a fractured universe with sin entering into it.”