Our Lady Queen of Peace serves up a bounty of baked goods
Whether you ate cavatelli and meatballs, pizza fritta, cannolis, chocolate chip cookies or all of the above, the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Festa was sure to satisfy any cravings.
The festa was held from Friday, August 6 to 8, and besides food, it included games, carnival rides, music and dance performances. This was the first year the parish held the event after Our Lady of the Assumption Church and Immaculate Conception Church consolidated to form a new church.
One of the great things we feel about the event is we have volunteers of all ages, said Steve Masullo, chairperson of the festa committee. `We have young kids that are volunteering up to our seniors in the community it is about 300 volunteers this year.`
Masullo said besides the festa being an event for the community, it is also serving as a healing process for parishioners of the two churches.
`In the town of Rotterdam it has always been a staple here and for the years that it was gone it was sorely missed,` said Jeff Fallat, another committee chair.
Volunteers do all the baking, which takes months, and as early as January the parish starts preparing for the next event of that year, said Fallat.
`When we get into this week it almost becomes a 24/7 operation, especially for these three days,` said Fallat. `For the three days the volunteers put forth an immeasurable amount of effort, because it just keeps going what seems like a three day event is actually 10 days.`
The event helps raise funds for programs through the church that are beneficial for the community and also help pay for some facility expenses. The feast of the assumption of Mary is what started the festa initially.
`The one thing that impresses me the most is all of the people that come together and work they put a lot of hard work into it,` said Father Vincent Citolli.
Masullo echoed the statement and said, `It is really a labor of love.`
Shirley Milano and Becky Farina are two of the people behind the baked goods at the festa, which have become good friends through working with each other. They started baking in May and made 6,564 cookies for the festa, said Milano, and froze everything to keep it fresh.
`I didn’t know Becky that well and she didn’t know me and she is old enough to be my daughter,` said Milano. `Who would have ever thought, we have become very close friends.`
Milano said some people come back every year looking for a particular baked good and some of the items even sold out during the first day.
`We are noted for our baked goods,` said Milano.“
