Hillsdale students play with kids from St. Anthony’s. Anna Stirton | Collegian 

Local Catholic families joined Hillsdale students for an afternoon of prayer and yard games at the St. Anthony Catholic Church’s Family Fun Day in Hayden Park Sept. 28.

“The parish gives a lot to the students on campus, and this is an opportunity for the students to be more involved, and also just a really easy way to get to know families from the parish,” said senior Adeline Kaufman, event coordinator for Catholic Society.

The parish collaborated with the college’s Catholic Society to organize an event to foster the relationship between students and the church, according to Kaufman.

“This event is a really good way to show the families that we really appreciate them and that we want to have a connection with them, even though it’s hard sometimes because life gets busy and it’s difficult to prioritize during the year,” said junior Lucy Bachiochi, who volunteered at the event.

The day started at 1 p.m. with the Stations of the Cross led by Father David Reamsnyder, the pastor of St. Anthony’s, followed by games and snacks for the next three hours. 

“We wanted to have games the kids could play in a self-directed way with the college students,” Kaufman said. “So many of the games that we’re doing are just conducive to large groups, so we can just bring everyone in as they come in and out.”

Toddlers played in the sand, a group of middle schoolers passed a football, parents sat in the shade and chatted, and peals of laughter could be heard from a chaotic game of tag.

“Being able to just go out and have a fun time just hitting the volleyball around, playing a fun game of tag, or just doing the little things that families do in order to grow in the parish family is so wonderful,” said junior Elizabeth Schlueter, secretary of the Catholic Society. “All the kids ended up getting covered in sand, but they had smiles on their faces, so it was OK.”

Kaufman said she enjoyed watching not only the kids having fun, but also the students.

“It’s been great to see the college students just jump into it,” Kaufman said. “I think a lot of them have younger siblings or they grew up around kids, so they miss it.”

Schlueter said that the St. Anthony’s community came together over their shared faith at the event. 

“I think it is just a really beautiful testament to us just being part of the same parish family and part of the same body of Christ,” Schlueter said.