If those who enjoyed homemade soups and sandwiches during Saturday’s annual St. Robert Bellarmine Bazaar offered any measuring stick, the Roman Catholic Parish’s Food Shelf will soon be well stocked.
The 11th Annual St. Robert Bellarmine Bazaar, which began after parishioner Terry Novak founded Team Raging Through the Ages over 12 years ago to raise money for the American Cancer Society and later featured small bake and yard sales, has since grown into a parish wide event.
“When we began,” said Sandy Cerel, who chaired Saturday’s successful event, “several of us had young sons and daughters who were part of our team. Those children have graduated from high school and college and they're now part of group that puts on this bazaar.”
Now, the organizing committee, with the full support of Rev. John LaPointe, priest at St. Robert Bellarmine, hosts the annual bazaar for the sole purposes of keeping the Food Shelf that’s housed at the Roman Catholic Parish well stocked.
“All our proceeds are given to the Food Shelf,” Cerel wanted it known. “It’s based here at Saint Robert’s and also services the entire town of Johnston.”
Saturday’s Bazaar was perhaps the best ever.
“Over the years we have constantly reevaluate to enhance the experience for our patrons,” Cerel explained. “We have learned how best to utilize the individual strengths and talents of our team members and Father John supports us throughout the entire planning process and is also on hand like he is today.”
Father LaPointe, in fact, pulled the winning ticket for the first prize in Saturday’s raffle, which was a 43-inch Smart TV.
The food concession, manned by Chef Bob Ferretti who made special squash soup and was assisted by Michael LaTour and Nancy DaPonte, and featured meatballs sandwiches, hot dogs and more, was bustling with business.
However, the busiest of all volunteers was probably Bonnie Phillips and helpers Rachel Zarrella, Emily Arruda and Sophia DaCosta who worked the high Straw Game area. There were so many prizes they had to be displayed on five table tops.
“People love this [Straw] game,” Phillips said. “They pay one dollar then reach into the big box to get their tickets and see what prizes they’ve won that coincide with the prizes on the table.”
As one point, someone asked Phillips just how many items are in the box and she quickly responded, while adding to the prize list, “Nine thousand chances. People pay $1 to get 10 chances and if the player finds his or her number inside a (rolled) straw, they win the corresponding prize. People love this game.”
In the end, as Phillips pointed out, “all our straws were gone and people won all of the 100 prizes.”
To which Cerel added: “Because of the generosity of local businesses and people in the community, this was our most profitable year for income from the raffle and silent auction.”
All of which will go a long way to keep the Food Shelf well stocked for people in and around Johnston, just as it has done for many years and especially at this time of year.
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