St. Mary's Parish Festival this weekend, August 1 & 2

The Parish Festival for Our Lady of Czestochowa, Nanticoke, a.k.a. Saint Mary's, will be held this Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2, 2008, at the Holy Child Grove in Sheatown (directions, sort of; these are to Guardian Elder Care, a nursing home located in front of the grove.)

Saint Mary's Parish Festival, or Church Bazaar, or "Picnic" (to use the more genteel term) used to be a thing of legend. For years these were held in the parking lot behind the church and school and were three-day events, starting Friday night and wrapping up Sunday night. Sounds of polkas could be heard for blocks around, and the smell of frying food permeated the area for days. Beer flowed like water, parked cars clogged the streets in the neighborhood, and young punks rubbed elbows with the elderly. Yet somehow, I never remember any fights or other disturbances.

2005 is the last year St, Mary's had a traditional Church Bazaar. November 2005 was the first time we had a Fall Festival, an indoor mini-festival. We didn't have a Church Bazaar or Fall Festival in 2006, but we did have a "Spring Fling" in 2007. There was no Church Bazaar in 2007. I don't recall if we had a Fall Festival in 2007, and there was no Spring Fling this year. But this year we are having a Parish Festival. It may be our last.

We won't be having the Festival at our traditional location this year because the hardware for cooking and serving food is gone from our parish. Discarded, perhaps, or sold. Maybe it was redistributed to another area parish, much like our traditional antique manger scene figures disappeared from Saint Mary's and mysteriously showed up this past Christmas at Holy Trinity down the street. Whatever the case, we no longer have the capability to hold a festival on our own grounds. So we are forced to hold the bazaar several miles away. All those people who used to walk from their homes to their neighborhood parish festival - well, too bad.

Not that it may matter soon. Parish consolidation continues under shutdown manager Bishop Martino, and St. Mary's is one of the parishes shortlisted for closure. It's not set in stone yet, though Bishop Martino has displayed a George W. Bush-like tenacity when it comes to sticking to decisions he's made. So in a few months, all of the Catholic parishes in Nanticoke may be crammed into a single church with poor handicapped access, no air conditioning, and an already-overcrowded parking lot. I wonder if maximum occupancy codes apply to churches?

Whatever. Please come to the St. Mary's Parish Festival this weekend. It may be the last one, ever.