Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

We all know the expression “it takes a village”. Well, in our case it takes a parish. Well over 400 volunteers, in addition to the staff of the church and school, made our annual carnival last weekend a brilliant success. While many organizations measure the success of their carnival in dollars and cents, the St. Benedict’s Carnival Committee draws their first priority to building the parish community and in developing relationships with the surrounding communities. On that standard, this was a highly successful weekend. Thousands of people came through our grounds over the course of the weekend. Many of them were people who are not regular members of our parish or school. It was wonderful to see families – in some cases four generations of a family – enjoying food and fun at the carnival. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the financial success of the carnival is not also an important issue at the end of the day. The numbers this year suggest an increase from last year. Once all has been settled, we will put the final results in the bulletin.

I want to thank everyone from the parish and school who volunteered at a booth, picked-up a piece of trash, bought a raffle ticket, played a game, or went on a ride, or maybe just walked through, had a bite to eat, and had a conversation with someone else. Your presence, your work, your smile, no matter what it was, made a difference and made this carnival a success. A special “thank you” to all sponsors and those who, working behind the scenes, made this weekend look and feel like a top notch professional event. In a special way our committee members; Tom Angelo, Melissa Berde, Jim Cavuto, Desmond and Fran Sullivan, Meg Troiano and coordinating parish staff members Margaret Roddy and Lori Ulrich, put in hundreds of hours and made sure that every “i” was dotted and “t” was crossed. Bob Cognat and his crew, working behind the scenes, helped everything to run smoothly.

Put this same weekend on your calendar for next year! It seems like the perfect time for a carnival, and we have been steadily growing each year. Of course, we are always looking for ideas and for new people to join the committee and assist us in moving forward.

As previously indicated we will use the money from the carnival and the Super 50/50 to enhance the security of the property. This means keyless entry systems, expanded camera coverage, and increased lighting on the property. Along with a state grant for the school, we will be able to accomplish all that we had hoped to do.

The local police departments and first responders were a great presence here over the weekend. We need to extend our gratitude to them for their continual efforts and insuring our safety and security. I would like to encourage all teenagers and young adults who are looking to give back to the community to consider volunteer positions as EMT’s or firefighters. There is a great need for such volunteers and the personal benefits are an additional reward.

This is a wonderful community, it was in clear evidence (again) in response to the hurricane relief, and the wounded warrior rescue dog project.

Thank you for your generosity, your faith, and your commitment.

Let us continue to pray for one another, and for peace in our community, nation, and our world.
Father Garry