New parish celebrates first festival

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

Rain couldn’t stop local festival goers from having a good time at the Mary, Mother of God Parish Festival.

The festival kicked off Thursday night in White Oak with The East End Kids performing.

Those who didn’t make it out to enjoy music, games, a bite to eat, bingo, a basket auction, the festival raffle and the flea market will have more chances as the festival continues from 6 to 10 p.m. tonight and Saturday. It’s taking place at St. Angela Merici Church, which is located in a mostly residential area at the top of Kelly Street.

Parish Business Manager Cathy Nola said the festival has been held annually at St. Angela’s since the late 1950s.

However, this year is the first time the festival is being held under the Mary, Mother of God Parish moniker. The parish was newly formed just before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

Mary, Mother of God Parish is part of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Mary of Nazareth Catholic School, which sits next to Saint Angela’s, is affiliated with the parish.

In January 2020, Mary, Mother of God Parish was formed as a result of the merger of Saint Angela Merici (White Oak), Corpus Christi (McKeesport), Saint Patrick (Christy Park, Versailles) and Saint Robert Bellarmine (East McKeesport/North Versailles) churches.

Soon after, the pandemic created restrictions and precautions that resulted in worshipers not being able to gather in person.

Fr. Terry O’Connor said the restrictions also meant the parish couldn’t hold the festival in its inaugural year as a grouping.

He’s glad the event came back to life with a large crowd Thursday and that members of each of the four churches volunteered to run games, serve and cook food, give out information and directions, sell raffle tickets and more.

“It’s been great,” O’Connor said. “We’re excited post-COVID. We didn’t have a festival last year, so people were chomping at the bit to come out and be together.

“This is really the first big event that we’re having as a parish in a long time. And it’s not just the parish, but the community. We see a lot of people that come from all over for this festival.”

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