St. Brigid's bazaar has big heart

The 2017 St. Brigid’s Bazaar will long be remembered for its creativity, caloric creations and classic camaraderie.

In fact, many of the vendors who set up shop inside St. Brigid’s ageless auditorium were amazed with just how much of a close-knit parish the Roman Catholic Church has come to be in recent years.

“Many of our vendors enjoyed displaying their wares and enjoyed their interaction with our parishioners,” said Cindy Pagliaro, a member of St. Brigid’s who helped make the annual affair an overwhelming success. “For a small parish we all have a big heart.”

That may be an understatement, given the people who volunteer year-in and year-out and present the annual bazaar. Take Carol Marrocco, who may have set a record Saturday for serving meatballs sandwiches and was ably assisted by Cathy Ibbetson and Joe DePasquale.

Add to that some new looks, in addition to the highly-popular wine corking, home made pastries, theme gift baskets, silent auction items, knitted items, jewelry, holiday items, and you’d be amazed with just how everything was arranged inside the multi-use space at St. Brigid’s.

One area that was new to this year’s bazaar was a Kissing Booth manned by Angela Pecchia, who sat at a table backed by several signs that were affixed to a wall that read “Kissing Booth – Two chances $1.”

“Kissing Booth?” several people asked to which the always-smiling Pecchia replied: “Chocolate candy kisses … there in that huge jar!”

Pecchia also anchored the lottery booth where people could win cash.

“The repeated theme amongst people that attended this year’s bazaar was how nice it is to experience such a warm and friendly atmosphere of the St. Brigid’s community,” Pagliaro noted. “We received so many positive comments and that makes the hours of hard work and preparation worthwhile.”