It’s hard to estimate the number of people who attended Saturday’s Parish Food Festival at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic church. Hundreds and hundreds for sure. Maybe thousands. People of all ages. Grandparents and grandchildren. Entire families. All walks of life.
It was the 19th Annual Food Festival at the church. The church’s parking lot was an ocean of international delicacies, cooking stations, music, dance, laughter, chatter, old friends, new friends, tents, inflatable playgrounds and happy faces.
Samplings from Poland, France, El Salvador, Guatemala, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Nederland, Lebanon, Ivory Coast, Ireland, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines were sold under tents in the parking lot and in Murray Hall.
Smoke from tented cooking sites rose and commingled in an unusually flawless, cloudless, bright blue November sky. The smell of delicious specialty dishes from around the world washed over everyone. People lined up three, five, 12 deep in lines at the food tents.
In the warm sunshine diners shed jackets and sweaters and ate at stand-up tables outside, lounged in the grass lawn, or sat at tables in Murray Hall.
The side streets in the neighborhood (Walton Road, Silver Creek Road, W. Park Drive, W. Union Street) were wall-to-wall cars. Shuttle vans brought people throughout the day from remote parking lots.
Most people arrived on foot to eat. Some walked nearly a mile. Many people left with to-go boxes. Travel was slow moving.
First Baptist Church’s lots were full. Signs out front informed passers-by that there was shuttle service to the Catholic church. Same scene at Morganton’s First Presbyterian Church.
Access cost $1. Food costs between $2 and $12. Funds went to various church and community outreach needs, including the Church Food Pantry and the Hope Fund, which assists parishioners in need.
Gail Watson, Faith Formation Director with the church, said that more than a thousand people attended the food festival. The church, she said, raised at least $30,000.
The festival is an annual event to raise funds for various church and community outreach needs, including the Church Food Pantry and support of the Hope Fund.
The event included a silent auction and a baking contest titled All Things Chocolate.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.