Editor’s Note: Marco Longo is a parishioner at Saint Vincent de Paul in Mays Landing, which held its parish festival Sept. 28. To encourage the Diocese’s young writers, the Catholic Star Herald asked Marco if he would like to reflect on the celebration.
My name is Marco Longo, and I am 9 years old. My birthday is two days before Saint Vincent de Paul’s feast day! His feast day is Sept. 27 and celebrates his legacy as the patron of Catholic charities. At my parish, we had a gigantic festival to celebrate.
There were so many people who attended the festival, including Bishop Dennis Sullivan, [who celebrated Mass with Father John March, pastor]; Father Steven Bertonazzi from Collingswood, Atlantic County’s Sheriff Joseph A. O’Donoghue and Undersheriff Mario Suarez, Hamilton Township firefighters EMTs, and many police officers from our township.
My mom, Kristina, helped to coordinate the festival with her very good friends. I got to go to some of the meetings, and there were so many volunteers who wanted to help. They cooked food and built booths for people to visit at the festival. The festival didn’t cost anything – everything was donated.
The Eastern Service Workers Association had a tent there, collecting donations for families who need some help. Our very own Wreaths Across America ministry had an awesome red, white and blue tent, and the Scouts helped. Honestly, there were so many booths, it’s hard to remember!
There was a bouncy house, carnival games, very good food [from many cultures] and a marching band. During the opening procession for the festival, I got to carry a banner with Father David Klein and my little sister, Aria. The basin [grassy part of the property] was filled with different activities, like disc golf, volleyball, bocce ball, cornhole and tug of war.
There were old cars we could look at and take pictures with, and there was also a really neat race car simulator.
Each year, the festival gets better – and I am super excited to see everyone again!
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