When Thank You Is Not Enough

Oct 18

Within the past four weekends we have seen the power and force of Mother Nature unleased on LBI. But even the remnants of Hurricane Isaias didn’t stop the power and force of the human spirit of our community here at St. Francis Parish and Center.

Three major events, The Spaghetti Dinner, our Annual Car Raffle, and The 18-Mile Run all happened within less than 24 hours. We started Saturday evening and ended midday on Sunday. All went off perfectly despite the two inches of rain.

Having been at the finish line of the 18-Mile Run countless times, I was always impressed by the perseverance and determination of the runners who finished the race. This year, when offering the blessing at the beginning of the run, I was equally impressed that almost 1500 people gathered in the pouring rain determined to conquer the 18 miles of rain and windswept pavement. When most of us would rather stay in our warm comfortable homes, they were ready to go.

That is why I say that Thank You is simply not enough. The number of people that came together to make sure that the Spaghetti Dinner, Car Raffle, and 18-Mile Run were successful is overwhelming.

For the Spaghetti Dinner, thank you to Joe and Lorri D’Orsi for once again accepting the invitation to cook for 300 people! I mean, what is it to make a little sauce and some meatballs? Well, it takes a lot. Thank you to the kitchen crew: Robert Sattler, Leon Slezak, Frank Duplak, Marlene Volaric, and David and Kay Hedrick. A unique thanks to Kay Hedrick who made over 300 desserts, each individually packaged and labeled. And a special thanks to Joe and Lorri for also donating all of the food for the Spaghetti Dinner as well as all the handmade decorative crafts items in the raffles.

Thank you to those who also volunteered to wait on the tables: Sydney Marks, Pat and Jim Heimlich, Marlene Volaric, Nancy and Tony Schiano, Stephanie Garafalo, Kathy Reinbold, Kathy Bailey, Barbara Formichella, Jean Romeo, Al and Anne D’Souza, Joe and Gerri Hummel, John and Susan Lapilusa, Lisa and Bill Tyson, and Alena and Rick Sabatelli.

Thank you to Fr. Kevin Daly for setting up the water, soda, and drinks for the dinner.

Thanks to the Craft Committee for the raffle: Joanne Pivinski, Kathy Devitt, and Roni Ettinger.

Thanks to our DJ, Avery DiBella Lentini. Thank you for stepping in at the last minute. The DJ we had originally booked could not be with us after we rescheduled due to the nor’easter. Thank you, Avery. You were great!

Thank you Pietro’s Restaurant in Manahawkin for the bread and butter and The Olive Garden for the salad and dressing, and thank you to BJ’s and Costco for their donations in support of our Annual Spaghetti Dinner.

To our Special Events Office, thank you Michelle DiBella and Astrid Befumo and to Chris Miller and our Maintenance Team for not only for turning our gym into an Italian Restaurant but for all of your help and assistance with all three events.

The Car Raffle is our largest fundraiser of the year. By raffling four Jeeps, over $200,000 is added to our parish income. A number of people have asked if the dealers give us the cars or if they give us a special price because we are a church. Although each dealership that we have worked with does offer us some discounts and rebates, the parish purchase the cars each year.

Like the Spaghetti Dinner and the 18-Mile Run, a large number of people contribute to this great effort. Thank you to our dedicated parishioners who fill out the tickets sold online and then fold all 16,000 tickets! Thank you Rosemarie Kunz, Stephanie Garofalo, Ann Rodier, Marlene Siegle, Peg Talbot, Marlene Volaric, Diane Demeo, Beverly Pawlowski, Patrice Pottichen, Bernadette Raguseo, Sue Zabita, Paula Weigl, Maureen Esposito, Pat Heimlich, and Cheryl and Richard Krzaczyk.

Thank you, Arian Selmani of Keel Agency for organizing all of our marketing and online sales. Thank you, Richard Engebretsen for your photography/video of the Jeeps. Thank you, Sydney Marks for data entry, and all the behind the scenes work that you do so well and thank you, Amy Marks for coordinating the entire Car Raffle and allowing us to have another very successful drawing!

This year we hosted the 54th Annual LBI Commemorative 18 Mile and 12K run. It is always an exciting event but everyone on the island knows that we take over the boulevard for the day. This year we had 1,226 runners taking on the full 18-mile and 283 runners participating in the 12K.

One of those 283 runners was Bill Fitzpatrick who founded the race in 1973. On Sunday, he sounded the starting horn and then went on to walk the entire 12K course. Bill reminded us that the first run had 78 participants. With only four blocks to go, Bill moved over to the sidewalk so he could cross the finish line when the police closed down the 12K run due to flooding. Thank you Bill, for your inspiration 54 years ago and thank you for your inspiration today.

Thanks also to Don Myers and The Interact Club from Southern Regional for their support and help at the finish line. Don has been greeting those that cross the finish line for 45 years. Thank you Don for your dedication and all the good works that you do.

Thank you to our Long Beach Township Beach Patrol and the Beach Haven, Surf City, and Barnegat Light First Aid Squads who will be ready to help, just in case.

As always, I am grateful for the assistance, help, and guidance of the all of the Police Departments on Long Beach Island. They are always a great support to the parish and center throughout the year.

Thank you to everyone on the 18-Mile Run committee and to all the folks at the water stations along the route. Thank you Kevin Walsh, the Executive Director of the St. Francis Community Center and a tremendous thanks to Emily Smith, the Director of Recreation and the Aquatic’s Center whose leadership truly was shining even amidst the constant rain. Thank you, Emily for your wonderful energy and positive nature. You are a great addition to our parish and community center.

As you can see, these three events could never happen without the dedication and support of so many.

Here at St. Francis Parish and Center we are blessed by the good will of countless supporter.

The question is, do they make us the wonderful place that we are or are we a wonderful place because of them? One could argue both but I tend to land on the latter.

On behalf of the entire St. Francis Parish and Center, I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who made last weekend happen. Thank you for your perseverance, for your determination, and your commitment to making St. Francis Parish and Center such the fantastic place.

We know Mother Nature is strong, but this past weekend proved that the human spirit is also amazingly strong and when called upon, is nearly unstoppable.