12 June 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: A revision to item number 1 of the 31 May 2023 update ("Minutes of Feast Committee Meeting") was made to clarify the St. Roch 2023 raffle. The revised text is in red.

31 May 2023 (Update)

Minutes of Feast Committee Meeting

Attendees, Frank Cortese, Marianne Andersen, Cathy Brunetti, Mr. Pecora, Annie McGuire, Paul Cappiali, Drew Castellon, Vincent DeMartis, Teresa Espinoza-Nieto, Cley Mera

The committee to order and it was held on May 31, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. in the church basement. The following items were discussed.

1. Raffle – Paul gave an update as to the process for the raffle.  St. Roch will be sponsoring one diocesan-wide raffle, with a drawing to be held on Saturday, August 12th at 11:00 p.m. We will once again engage Abilis to help roll the tickets. 
2. Volunteers – Vinny suggested that we get the ad in the bulletin as soon as possible.  Also put the Veritus website in the bulletin and on St. Roch’s website. so that new volunteers can take the course.   The suggestion was made to have a volunteer meeting on June 21^st.
3. Permits – Cathy and Frank gave an update on permits – all permits are in the process of getting done.
4. Ride and Game Company – The company that will be supplying the rides and games is Cummerford.
5. Bands – Marianne gave an update on the bands. She is pursuing a DJ for Wednesday night, Street Life for Thursday evening, Sun keys for Friday and seeing who is available for Saturday night.
6. Food – Drew gave an update on food.  Everything seemed to go smoothly last year with food ordering.  Drew said that we will have to increase our prices since food costs have gone up.
7. Drinks – Mr. Pecora let us know that we returned some soda last year and that this year we may want to keep the same as the carnival will be better since we have a new ride company.
8. Latino Booth – Teresa and Cley gave an update on the booth.  The Committee asked what is proper for the booth to be called which is Latino.  Teresa and Cley will add something else to the booth this year.
9. Ad Journal – Annie will start working on this and get the information to the people who took ads last year.
10. Overall preparation/setup – will try to have the tents up on Friday. Everything seemed to go smoothly last year.
11. Letters to tenants – the letters will be going out something early June to all tenants.  Annie will send them like last year.
12. New Items to discuss – Police – should we give the police food while working.  Some agreed we should, and some did not since we already have to pay them.  Do we need to hire a security company for the feast.

Next committee meeting will be June 14^th in the church basement. The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.

15 May 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: Risk managment and permits are underway.

26 April 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: I asked Paul Cappiali to begin a conversation with the Town of Greenwich Director of Risk Management so that we best understand our requirements.

25 April 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: St. Roch received the contract from R W Commerford & Sons. It is being reviewed by Feast chairman Frank Cortese.  R W Commerford & Sons also provided St. Roch with the insurance documentation for the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Town of Greenwich.

21 April 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: The Town of Greenwich Board of Education voted, unanimously, to permit the use of the Hamilton Avenue School field, basketball court, and parking facilities (deck & underground parking) for the St. Roch Feast (9 August- 12 August 2023). The community of St. Roch is grateful and appreciative to the Board of Education members, administration, and staff for recognizing "the value of the St Roch annual Feast for the Hamilton Avenue School Community".

17 March 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: All feast activities and planning have been placed on hold in an effort to give the Town of Greenwich Board of Education time to deliberate without the possibility of influence or disruption.

16 March 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: The application for the use of the Hamilton Avenue School Field, Basketball Court, and Parking Deck for the St. Roch Feast went in front of The Board of Education for a vote. After some deliberation, it was mutually agreed that the vote would be postponed until the April meeting. The feeling was that the result would be better for St. Roch and the community and would allow for more time for Board Members to better study the policies, procedures and processes.

15 March 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: Official request for use of the field was submitted to Dr. Toni Jones.  (click here for copy).

1 March 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: Last night (28 February 2023) was our Parish Council Meeting. Frank Cortese was invited and came to brief the council on progress and updates related to the 2023 St. Roch Feast. The Feast committee is an extension of the Parish Council. Mr. Cortese reported that The St. Roch Feast would be hosted by a new amusement ride vendor, Commerford & Sons. Commerford & Sons is a highly respected vendor that has been operating in Connecticut for over 40 years, it was founded by Robert W. Commerford and is now run by his son Tim. Robert is 91 years old and remains as active as possible. Commerford & Sons are known for their family-based business and are respected throughout the industry. The committee has been investigating potential vendors since August 2022. Commerford & Sons were identified as our most desired vendor from the start and follow-up conversations with references have only supported our original opinion of the quality of this organization. We are both proud and excited to have contracted with Commerford & Sons.

Another significant update was security related. The 2023 Feast committee has contracted a security company that was recommended to us and is used by St. Leo in Stamford at their annual Fair. The security company will not replace the Greenwich Police Officers that we normally have on-site but will supplement them and will assure continuity of coverage and increased presence which we expect will translate to the safe environment that our community, parishioners and guests expect.

7 February 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: 
The 2023 Feast Committee:

3 February 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: Frank Cortese has accepted my offer for him to be the 2023 feast chairman. I have provided Frank with the names of the people from the 2022 committee who have contacted me and offered to participate on the 2023 feast committee. At my request, Frank will put together a list of these members and their primary roles on the committee. That list, once approved, will be posted here.

2 February 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: There were no emails sent to Elsa by anyone requesting to participate in the 2023 Feast Committee except for Parishioner Fred Camillo. Fortunately, the majority of last year's committee contacted me and offered to participate again. I have discussed feast committee leadership with some of the members and have decided to offer Frank Cortese the Chairman position.
 

29 January 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: The weekly bulletin (January 29, 2023) announced to parishioners opportunities to participate in the Feast Committee and announced the purpose of this blog (transparency and inclusion). 
Link to bulletin

22 January 2023 (Update)
Father McIntosh: The weekly bulletin (January 22, 2023) announced to parishioners opportunities to participate in the Feast Committee and announced the purpose of this blog (transparency and inclusion). Father McIntosh also made an announcement inviting parishioners to participate in the Feast Committee and provided instructions on how to make themselves known.
Link to bulletin      Link to announcement

16 January 2023 (Announcement)
Planning by Father McIntosh has begun. Feast Committee and leadership positions are being considered. The weekly bulletins for January 22 and 26 will announce to parishioners opportunities to participate and will announce intentions of maintaining this public blog for the purpose of transparency and inclusion.