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Crowd Turns Out For International Festival
SISTERS
Among the performers at Sundays International Festival hosted at St. Marys Catholic Church in Oakdale were the singing nuns from Sister Act and their performance was a crowd pleaser.

By MARG JACKSON

mjackson@oakdaleleader.com

The near triple digit heat didn’t seem to deter too many people from heading out to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oakdale on Sunday, as the church hosted its International Festival.

With a variety of food, games, entertainment and the chance for prizes, the crowd enjoyed the day and helped the church raise money at the same time.

“We do it once a year,” said Chairperson Debbie Santillanes. “We are trying to build a new Family Life Center.”

Proceeds of the day benefit that effort and Santillanes said all the booths came from among the church parishioners, family and friends.

Food offered ranged from Portuguese to Italian, German to Mexican. There were also cold drinks, sweet treats and lots of activities for kids from a rock climbing wall to train rides and more.

“It’s a great turnout,” agreed Tina Lucas, Youth Minister. “Lots of games, lots of kids and families, we really try to make it family-oriented, they can come and play games, have food and enjoy themselves. We also had a lot of different churches in town that donated.”

Wristbands available for purchase allowed the kids to take part in all the activities and get some kid-friendly food, while there were also tickets for the different food booths more tailored to the adult palates.

 

On stage, emcee Pete Simoncini introduced a variety of acts, from the fan-favorite ‘Sister Act’ tribute to Elvis.