St. Anthony’s Catholic Church raised over $10,158 this year during its annual fair parking fundraiser.
The church, located on North Broad St., raised the money by parking cars in its lot south of the fairgrounds during fair week, Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, at $3 a car. The money raised has been divided among the church’s men’s club and cemetery.
Because the fundraiser is a parish project, the money raised will go to different areas. According to Tom Osbourne, a St. Anthony’s parishioner of 42 years, the funds have very specific purposes.
“Until about three years ago, we split it 50-50 between the men’s club and the cemetery. Two years ago, we split it a third to the men’s club; a third to the church; and a third to the cemetery. We split it 50-50 this year because the cemetery is putting up new wrought iron fencing,” Osbourne said.
The cemetery used to be maintained through a collection at the parish, but now, through this fundraiser, it is completely self-supporting. As for the men’s club portion, Osbourne explained they use the money for things around the parish, such as new vestments and maintenance equipment. They also support the medical center, run by the Episcopal church next door.
Pat Flynn, president of the men’s club, said a portion of this money will also go to benefit some of the college students.
“In the last few years, we’ve given some money to the college kids who go to Washington D.C. for the March for Life. We’ve given them $1,000 for the past several years,” Osbourne said.
This money is given to the Catholic Society to help alleviate the cost for students, according to Flynn.
“Someone asked us for help in going to D.C., and I said that I’ve always asked for two hours of your time to help make this money, so if you can do that we can give you some,” Flynn said.
Flynn said the weather definitely affected fundraising at the fair this year.
“It affected us very badly this year,” Flynn said. “We actually had to shut our lot down on Saturday. We shut half of it down Saturday morning because of standing water, and then shut it down completely at 4:30 p.m. We have had cars stuck in there before.”
Concerning profits, Flynn said they have been considerably higher in past years, recalling one year when it was sunny the whole week and they raised over $12,000.
Even with this year’s wet weather, the average number of cars parked was over 3500, and, though the parish has raised significantly more money in the past, Osbourne said Oct. 25 was by far the best turn out the church has seen in years.
The fundraiser relies solely on volunteer support from parishioners, students, and community members, with upwards of 150 volunteers turning out this year. Sophomore Nick DeCleene, a first time volunteer, was part of the Tuesday night shift.
“My favorite aspect of fair parking was seeing the amount of people who came from different states for the fair. Hillsdale is a small town and I was not expecting to see license plates from states like Nebraska and Tennessee,” DeCleene said in an email.
People have been attending the fair for many years, making it an important part of the community. According to Osbourne, two parishioners began helping with fair parking in the 50s or 60s to raise money for themselves.
“It’s been going on for a long time… somewhere in the 50s or 60s. Two parishioners started doing it, and in the first year or two they did it to raise money for themselves. It’s been going on for a long time,” Osbourne said.
About 35 years ago, Osbourne, now 77, stepped in to help with fair parking and has been doing it ever since.
“Bob Hays and I were co-chairs for a long time, but now he’s not able to, so Pat Flynn and I have been doing it the last couple years,” Osbourne said.
The parking lot used by the parish is owned by the diocese of Lansing, Michigan, and has been used for this purpose since the 1960s.
While the cost is $3 a car now, it used to be even cheaper. According to Osbourne, the cost was 50 cents in the 60s, rising incrementally through the years from $1.50 in 1983 to $2 in 1993. For the last 15 years it has been at $3.
This fundraiser relies solely on volunteer support from parishioners, students, and community members. 150 such volunteers turned out this year.
Sophomore Nick DeCleene, a first time volunteer, was part of the Tuesday night shift, and said
This fair is a major part of the culture here in Hillsdale, and its popularity has spread over the years.
“The distance many traveled is pretty remarkable. I could definitely tell that those we did help were very appreciative. St. Anthony’s offers cheap parking close to the fair events and many seemed to choose to park in our parking lot in order to help support the church,” DeCleene said.
