Community Corner
[PHOTOS] St. Rocco Church Feast 2012
On Aug. 19, the church held its annual procession to bless the infirm, and formally installed Fr. Angelo Carusi as the new parish priest.
After months of preparation — all done by dedicated volunteers who come back year after year — the annual Italian tradition of the Feast and Festival took place Aug. 16 through 19.
On Sunday, St. Rocco's new parish priest, Fr. Angelo Carusi, was officially installed at the 11 am Mass, serving as homilist as Auxiliary Bishop the Most Rev. Robert C. Evans served as the main celebrant.
Church members then held a procession of the statue of St. Rocco, saint of the sick and infirm, on Atwood Avenue and surrounding streets, as Fr. Carusi and Deacon Bob Troia blessed the elderly and people with illnesses.
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Following the procession, the fourth and final day of the annual St. Rocco Feast and Festival kicked off at 1 pm.
Among the festival favorites are the doughboys. For the past six years, Don DePetrillo, owner of the Original Italian Bakery right next door to St. Rocco Church, has donated all the dough.
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Russell Bernier, a volunteer for 20 years at the Feast, explained that "4,000 doughboys are sold in a good year," adding it usually takes about four minutes to fry one doughboy.
Other Italian favorities were also offered on the menu: peppers and sausage, pasta and meatballs, fried eggplant, and rabe.
The church also hosted games and rides, a beer garden, a "straw draw" run by the women's guild, and a raffle with prizes of up to $5,000.
