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Girard’s Mount Carmel Fest embraces tradition, community
GIRARD
The frantic clack ing of a spinning money wheel and the wafting scents of marinara sauce and fried foods on Wilson Avenue can mean only one thing: the annual Italian Fraternal Home Mount Carmel Festival has once again arrived.
Though drivers passing through Girard could easily miss the festival if they didn’t know where to look, tens of thousands will find their way to the gathering through Tuesday.
The festival, which opened Friday, has all the staples of an ethnic neighborhood celebration: food vendors selling everything from bracciole to rolled ice cream, live music, games and beer.
In addition, Girard’s Mount Carmel Festival closes its celebration with a parade to St. Rose Church and a fireworks show by Zambelli later that night.
The festival in its current form began in 1977, when Ray Ragozzine Sr. restarted the celebration. Over time, he handed the reins over to his children, who are now training their own adult children to run the event.
Renee Esposito, the daughter of Ragozzine, was pushing her young grandchild around in a stroller Friday night. Her daughters were busy running the family’s “build-your-own” fried bologna sandwich stand – one of the many tasks they’ll eventually take over in full from their parents.
“The fried bologna stand was actually my father’s idea,” Esposito said. “It’s just one of those things that’s become tradition. Tradition is why my father brought the festival back in the first place.”
Esposito described her father marching alongside the Blue Coat Band to St. Rose Church during prior celebrations, a tradition they still observe today.
The Espositos aren’t the only ones who’ve dedicated decades to the event; Lou Lemmo, who runs Luigi’s Italian food stand, was one of the festival’s first vendors, attending for 38 years.
“It’s a family thing,” Lemmo said. “I’ve been here so long I might as well move here.”
Esposito said Lemmo not only watched her own children grow up, but is now watching her children’s children grow up as well.
Beyond the tradition and warm, familial environment offered by the festival, attendees can also play bingo and Texas Hold ’Em poker and listen to live music every night between 7 and 8 p.m.