Church invites community, animals to feast

By Frances Vanderploeg

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

When St. Francis of Assisi's Catholic Church celebrates its namesake's day, things can get noisy.

That's because in honor of the patron saint of animals, ecology and merchants, the church includes in its two-day community feast a blessing of the animals.

This year's feast is Oct. 4 and 5, with the blessing of the animals at 4 p.m. Oct. 5.

The church invites members of the community, Catholic or not, to join them for a boutique booth, sweets booth, gift shop, ice cream and snow cone booth, cotton candy and popcorn booth, face painting and pumpkin painting booths, five food booths featuring American, Filipino, German, Italian and Mexican food and activities for children, including pony rides.

Community members who would rather watch football but are forced out of the house by the spouse can still enjoy the games in the sports bar, which features college football on Saturday and NFL on Sunday.

The Rev. Clarence Savial will officiate the blessing of the animals.

"It's wonderful," Brenda Woodburn, office manager, said. "People bring birds, snakes, dogs, cats, rats … they bring a lot of animals."

The feast will culminate with a golf tournament Oct. 18 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, beginning at noon.

Jerry Bindner, tournament chairman, said he hopes to have 120 to 140 golfers at this year's tournament. Last year, there were 116.

Following the tournament will be a church banquet, open to non-golfers, for $40 per person and featuring a silent auction. The Rev. Gregory Gordon, founding priest at the church who now serves the church in Washington, D.C., will be appearing at the tournament, Bindner said.

For more information on the tournament, contact Bindner at 400-8387.

Funds raised at the Feast Day events will go toward the building fund for the church. Currently, services are held in the community center, where the offices and classrooms are located.

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or frances.vanderploeg@hbcpub.com.