"Spirit of America" Shone Through at Annual OLPH Church Event

The sound of kids screaming emanated from the parking lot of Or Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Lakeside. It was a good scream, the kind that spells F-U-N. They were having a grand time in the bounce house, part of the festivities at the annual fundraising event.

When they were done at the bounce house, they ran for the booths of crafts and games. They squeezed sandy candy into their own creations; next, they put a quarter down and waited for their number to be called out to win a stuffed animal.

There were balloon darts, and a Needle in a Haystack game. The boys particularly enjoyed the challenge of stacking Oreo cookies into a tower.

“The reward is you get to eat them,” said one winner.

At another booth, kids aimed their pennies into a jar for a chance to win a goldfish.

The adults had their own form of fun, gawking at the rows of .

“Now this is my car,” Rebecca Hudson said, admiring a toothy Cadillac gleaming under the lights. 

For Amanda Gately and Tawnee Hopper, both currently 8th graders at the church school, the best car was a toss-up between a dune buggy and a lime-green pick-up.

Parents and grandparents played along with kids in some Irish Bingo. Afterwards, the adults went off to the rummage sale where they could browse through stacks of books and handmade crafts.

In the beer garden, anyone over age 21 could kick off their shoes and enjoy a Bud Light or a glass of chardonnay. People ate burgers and tacos and caught up on conversation with their friends.

Jim Dominique, a long-time parishioner of the church, and current chairman of the event, was constantly in motion this weekend. He wore a bright yellow hat so that the festival workers could easily find him. He never stopped smiling or shaking hands.

“The whole reason we do this is for outreach,” Dominique said. “It’s not just for the Catholic community. But it is a great time for all of us to get together, parents with their children, time to relax and have fun together.”

Debi Barrett, also a parishioner of OLPH, said that was exactly what she has come to look forward to over the years with each event. 

“To us, it’s always been about the fellowship,” she said.

Barrett used to run the corn-on-the-cob booth, and when it was time for her break, she’d hang out with her friends in the beer garden.

“The festival has always been a place where the adults could sit and talk, knowing their kids were having fun in a safe environment,” she said

“Plus, the festival is like a rite of passage, the official beginning of summer,” said Barrett, whose girls graduated from OLPH 8th grade in 2000 and 2002. Now they both are recent college graduates.

The enrollment at OLPH has been coming up in the last couple of years.

“It was bad for about five years because of the economy,” Dominique said.

“We expect more parents will opt for our school with all the budget crises going on,” said Dominique, who has had two of his children graduate from the school, the other two currently attending.

A big draw for everyone to the festival was the music. A local favorite band, Fossil Fuel, got a few brave souls up to dance for awhile to the tune of Eagles hits and other favorite country rock songs.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help church noted on Monday, May 16, 2011 that “Spirit of America” had raised over $50K. The money will go directly to operations of its school. The funds raised were solid proof that good old-fashioned fun never goes out of style for anyone.