Holy Family Catholic Parish Picnic organizers had their prayers answered last weekend.
One of those organizers, Wendy Haglin, said the strong storm that wreaked havoc in the St. Louis area on May 16 cleared out before the start of the two-day picnic held May 16-17 at the parish’s Church Road campus in Arnold.
She said other than having to set some chairs back up on the parish grounds, the storm did not affect the picnic, leaving beautiful weather for the rest of the weekend.
“We had the best weather we have ever had,” Haglin said. “We didn’t think it was going to be. We were careful not to put up too much (before the picnic started at 5 p.m. May 16).”
Haglin said approximately 3,500 people attended the picnic, which included carnival rides on both days, and numerous other activities over the two days.
Free activities on May 17 included kid’s karaoke, two bubble cannon sessions, a balloon artist handing out creations and a petting zoo.
“We have always had trouble with Saturday afternoon getting people in there,” Haglin said. “It is too hot. Kids have other things they are doing, and there are other reasons. We have continued to add (free activities) to keep parents there. With that free stuff, they seem to have hung around. The parking lot was full at about 2:30 p.m., and that is unusual (on a Saturday afternoon).”
Haglin said picnic organizers estimated that the picnic raised $32,000 for the parish.
She said a good chunk of those funds came from the raffle for large cash prizes that was held in conjunction with the picnic, adding that 285 raffle tickets, which cost $100 each, were sold. Drew Strange won the grand prize of $10,000; Stephen Faller won $2,500; and Chris Boyd won $1,500.
Haglin said the money raised during the event will help the parish, which plans to build a new church after closing the Immaculate Conception Church due to damage from a storm on March 14.
“With the new church on the horizon, all of these things are a prime source of income,” she said. “It will help a lot for helping fund the new church.”
Haglin said the parish held wiffle ball and corn hole tournaments on May 17, which helped attract people to the picnic.
“They add people who are not part of the parish, which ultimately has the potential of being an evangelization project,” she said. “The participants and their families often stay, have dinner and enjoy other aspects of the picnic.”
Haglin said the Instigators STL band, which performed on May 17, was a big hit.
“They were a new band,” she said. “At the end of the night, there were three times as many people under that tent listening to the music than in the past. We will be bringing them back next year.”
Haglin said the best part of the picnic for her is seeing people reconnect.
“For so many people, the picnic is like a reunion,” she said. “There are hugs and people laughing about their memories of past picnics, other parish events or school. If that is the only thing we get out of this – people seeing each other once a year and creating memories – it is worth it.”