History is Amazing

Awhile ago I came across this very old picture of our Church here, as it looked almost 100 years ago in 1917. That’s during the time of WWI, the Russian Revolution, and all of the amazing things that happened in that year so long ago.

Here it is…

SMM 1917
St. Mary Magdalen Church, Metairie - 1917

Then just the other day I decided to check out the very same view as it looks now…

SMM Today
St. Mary Magdalen Church, Metairie - 2012

Fascinating I tell you.

Our Fair

Fair

We had a great fair this weekend.

Fair

The best Parish Fair I’ve ever been to, as a matter of fact. (WIth all due respect to the many great Parish fairs I’ve been to!)

Fair

It was a perfect confluence of weather events, televised sporting events, other civic events, all combined with the lousy economy so that people just wanted to go out and have fun.

I guess. Really, what do I know?

All I know is that people come for miles around to go to our fair, and fly in from out of state to help set up and work.

And, it was so crowded at some points I couldn’t even walk around with my camera!

Fair

It was downright charming at times.

Fair - Top Cats

And the Top Cats closed us out last night.

Fair

This tall ride fascinated me. I have a thousand pictures of it, in some way shape or form.

Well not literally a thousand. Probably closer to ten thousand. Although actually I’m moving on my initial ‘take as many photos as possible and see what works’ phase. Who has time to go through a lot of lousy photos? So I’m trying to get better photos right off the bat. This is a step in the right direction!

Fair

The rides were great…

Fair

…and provided lots of opportunities for quasi artsy shots.

Fair

And Fr. Bob Massset closed out the Fair with a rousing thank you, thank you thank you!

Fair Setup

Our School

We have a great school here.

Our Field

And in back of it is a huge field where we host our annual Parish Fair.

Why, here’s a part of the field now… maybe half of it.

Our Parishioners Setting Up Our Fair

And here are some of our dedicated Parishioners helping with the immense task of Fair Setup.

I helped a lot by walking around taking pictures. It’s hard work, and someone’s got to do it you know! (Although one of our Parishioners is a photographer for the Times Picayune and takes phenomenal photos… but we’re not going to talk about that.)

Crazed

Things get a little crazed at times…

the Sky

… and then people start running across the roof.

The Roof of the Beer Booth

Interestingly, the most sturdily built booth is the beer booth. But that’s because it houses several large screen TV’s which will be showcasing various football games and sporting events throughout the duration of the fair.

Foods Booths

But I am really looking forward to all of the great food. In fact I’m not eating anything but oatmeal and Cheerios all week long before the fair starts.

With everything else going on in the world, I often consider that I should blog about the important events happening daily. But, our fair is a very important event you know, and it takes a lot of effort on everyone’s part to make it the huge success that it always is.

Hope to see you there!

Fr. Kenneth Allen