Dear Friends,
It was tremendously exciting to see the success of our inaugural parish festival here at St. John the Baptist last weekend! Unbelievably, the messy weather cleared long enough to give us a pleasant afternoon to enjoy our time together as a Christian family. It was personally satisfying to see so many smiling faces as children ran, jumped, and swirled, while parents chatted around tables of good food, good friends, and good entertainment. Despite the initial threat of rain, God certainly showered his blessings upon our very first event.
As I strolled around the festival grounds talking to people, it was evident how much everyone was enjoying themselves. This was especially true for the kids. Toward the end of the afternoon, parents kept telling me that their children did not want to leave. I don't think the parents were too anxious to leave anyway. Everyone was all smiles and I even caught a few ladies dancing to the music as they served food.
The entertainment was simple, but wonderful. Although, I did not count on being a part of it, somehow, I was coerced into hopping on stage at one point to do the "Chicken Dance!" No problem. I grew up in a Czech/German family environment in which the "Chicken Dance" was a requisite if one was to remain a member of the family.
All in all, it was an uplifting event. Rarely do we have an opportunity to gather as an entire parish family to celebrate our Christian unity. Many of us are involved in our own respective ministries and organizations which meet at different times. It sure is nice when we can all get together in a broader context such as this.
By all appearances, the festival turned out to be far more successful than we could have imagined. Being the first one, we did not know exactly what kind of response we would have. We could only guess as to how many barbecue plates to serve. As it turned out, the only major glitch was that a few folks were deprived of food. We apologize for this and are going to take steps to correct this problem for next year's event. Despite this, the majority of comments were positive and everyone had a good time.
There are, of course, many individuals for whom we should be grateful for making this new tradition so successful. We have to begin by thanking the "movers and shakers" of the event, Cat Longoria and Rachel Dimas. Lawrence Balderas, our Parish Council Chair was also instrumental in getting the plans off the ground. We also should recognize the rest of the festival committee, namely, the leaders of the various ministries and parish organizations. These include the Women's Council, Catholic Daughters, Guadalupanas, Knights of Columbus, Ushers, EM's, Lectors, Altar Servers, Life Teen and Edge, and many others.
The barbecue preparation was headed up by Michael Hite, Raul Muñoz, and the rest of the KC's. To them and their spouses, we are especially grateful because they stayed up all night cooking the delicious brisquet. It is also necessary to thank Esmeralda Megee for coordinating the entertainment and keeping it going when one of the groups didn't show. Angie Windnagle, our youth minister, and her core team managed the activities for the younger folks. The desserts were provided by the parish's women's organizations and the drinks were provided by the ushers. Thanks also go to two of our parishioners who are on our city's police force and provided security. The altar servers and Boy Scouts helped keep things clean.
I know there are so many others who assisted in making our first festival so special. We thank all of you who did so. Most importantly, thanks to all of you who participated despite the less-than-ideal weather. Keep praying for us as we continue to implement new programs here at the parish. God bless!
Fr. Paul
