MONROE, CT — A long line of customers formed at the food tent on opening night of St. Jude Church’s annual Italian Festival Thursday. Inside, volunteers grilled links for its famous sausage and peppers grinders, as well as hot dogs and hamburgers. Food workers also served slices from Jennie’s Pizzeria.
Cashiers rang up purchases and handed order forms to runners, who hurried from station to station to fulfill people’s requests before carrying out styrofoam trays and containers filled with hot food, along with cold drinks chilled in refrigerators under the tent.
Among the runners was Theresa DiPasquale, who first moved to Monroe in 1968 and joined St. Jude Church when masses were still being held inside the school gymnasium.
“I was here from the beginning,” she said.
DiPasquale remembers when the Monsignor John Sabia started the St. Jude Italian Festival over 30 years ago.
“There was an objection at first. ‘Why does it have to be an Italian festival?'” she recalled. “No reason was given. They just did it and then it grew to this.”
Every year, the grounds behind St. Jude Catholic Church, 707 Monroe Turnpike, comes to life for a few days in late August, as families enjoy fun outings together before the start of the new school year.
The festival features popular foods, sweets, amusement rides for children, games, live music and gift shopping.
DiPasquale volunteers as a runner every year, working full shifts all four nights. This year, Wednesday was canceled due to rain. The festival will be held again on Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.
“I like food running, because you engage with the people and you get to be in on the action,” said DiPasquale, wearing a red and black plaid shirt over her white T-shirt on the cool evening.
On Thursday, DiPasquale’s great grandson, Joseph Alarcon, 13, of Monroe, worked with her as a food runner. DiPasquale has three grown daughters, eight grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.
She remembers when volunteers helped build St. Jude’s standalone church building in the late 1980s. “We had rock parties picking up rocks from the parking lot for the church,” she said of the stone facade sections of the building.
One grandson, Joey, got rides on a bulldozer that dug the building’s foundation when he was a little boy, DiPasquale recalled.
As a longtime member of St. Jude Church, DiPasquale said she looks forward to participating in the festival every year.
“You see generations of families coming back. Everybody has fun and camaraderie,” she said. “I love it. It gives you a good feeling in your heart.”
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