As Saint Francis of Assisi week came to a close, the Saint Mary’s sustainable farm, alongside the Center for Faith, Action and Ministry (CFAM), held its third annual Saint Francis Fest.
The community came together to commemorate the closing of the harvest season with a celebratory picnic, hot pepper eating contest and blessing of the Saint Mary’s chickens. The festivities were led by junior farmer Mary O’Connell and senior farmer Abby Kawalec as well as staff and volunteers at the sustainable farm.
The attendees joined together in praise as they gathered for a shortened service and blessing of the chickens and farm’s tools. The service promoted the protection and admiration of God's creation through the Saint Mary’s community, chickens and work of cultivating God’s land.
O’Connell first got involved with the farm as a volunteer during her freshman year.
“I’ve been to all three Saint Francis Fests that we have ever had, and it has been really fun for me to see the event grow every year, especially because it is usually the end of our growing season,” O'Connell said. “It’s a great way to celebrate all the hard work our volunteers and staff have done.”
Students relished in everything the farm had to offer as flower picking, pumpkin painting, s’mores making and hot pepper eating filled up the event’s itinerary. When she was not in charge of running the flaming hot pepper contest, Kawalec emphasized the true celebration at hand.
“The farm is housed under the mission division emphasis of sustainability, so I think what this means to CFAM and the farm is just bringing these values and Catholic teachings into real life and applying them to directly help people of our community,” Kawalec said.
As the event’s leaders credited the people that made the harvest season and celebration possible, students mingled, took selfies with chickens and observed the fierce competition of the pepper contest in which the winner was awarded a surprise shirt.
Senior Ruby Meza expressed her excitement and gratitude for the event.
“I always look forward to celebrating the work that my friends and my coworkers do, and you know really seeing the fruits of their labor,” Meza said. “They’re really amazing people who work really hard to protect the earth and help the people in our community who are in need. I was also really excited for the s'mores and hot dogs.”
The farm will host a service from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday to mark the end of the growing season.
