2013 Past Events

2013 PAST EVENTS

Christmas Reception – Cookie Walk Festival
St. Emery Feast Day Luncheon
Szekely Gulyas Dinner
Ladies Tea and Vintage Fashion Show
First Annual Guest Artist Day
Luncheon and Cabaret Afternoon

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Christmas Reception – Cookie Walk Festival
December 22 – 23, 2013

The annual Cookie Walk Festival was held in St. Emery’s Church Hall. It is an outreach event and fundraiser where parishioners supply a very large assortment of cookies for the holidays.  The event is available to the public and donations are accepted for the cookies.

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St. Emery’s Feast Day Luncheon
November 3, 2013

Saint Emery’s Feast Day luncheon was held on Sunday, November 3 in the church hall.  The large crowd of parishioners and friends filled the church hall on a beautiful afternoon for a delightful and traditional Hungarian luncheon.
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Saint Emery’s Feast Day celebrates the canonization of Saint Emery, which occurred on November 5, 1083, 52 years after his short life (1007 – 1031). He was canonized by Pope Gregory VII, presided by King of Hungary St. Ladislaus, who is portrayed in one of the original 1932 frescos in the sanctuary of the church.

St. Emery is often pictured with a crown and lily, which symbolizes virtue.
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The Luncheon

An absolutely delicious, full course, home cooked traditional Hungarian stuffed cabbage and kobas meal was served.  It is a popular Hungarian dish that never fails to please.

In addition to the main entree, a fruit cup appetizer, side dish, salad, two varieties of crepe desserts, and a large selection of beverages.

Barbara Chuga chaired the Social Committee for this event. Numerous volunteers participated (see Volunteers).

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Our Priests

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Father Balint, our Hungarian priest, presided this day of celebration giving a blessed and thoughtful invocation both in the Hungarian and English languages.  Father Balint celebrates the only mass spoken in the Hungarian language in Connecticut.

Father Montanaro stopped by to thank all for coming but but was unable to attend the entire luncheon.

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Our Guests

Enjoy the following photo gallery of guests who attended this affair. The photography is the fine work of our parishioner Kimberly Scinto (see Volunteers).

We have also included photographs in the gallery from a St. Emery Feast Day held in the St. Emery school in the 1980’s. Can you recognize anyone?

We thank everyone for coming and enjoying this pleasant afternoon luncheon.

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Volunteers

Barbara Chuga planned the luncheon in coordination with three other Social Committee members; Marie Kassay, Mary Ann Corcoran and Kathy Sherwood, who is also President of the Parish Advisory Council.  Many thanks to this group of volunteers for planning and leading this successful event and to the other numerous and dedicated volunteers.

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The photography is the skilled work of parishioner Kimberly Scinto and we thank her for her volunteer work as well.

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The Social Committee

Barbara Chuga
Mary Ann Corcoran
Marie Kassay
Kathy Sherwood

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The Numerous Volunteers – Thank you

Karen Adams
Theresa Bell
Gregg Chuga
Maureen Chuga
Art Corcoran
Gary and Pat Dicso
Veronica Dicso
Barbara and Carroll Fencil
Noel Fisco
Maggie Gagyi
Carol Gladstone
Mae Kassay
Henry Kutash
Sandy McCarthy
Marianne Morehouse
Helen Norton
Irene Olah
Laureen Pekar
Ildiko Sedenszki
Kim Scinto
Marianne Scinto
Susan Felner
Kathy Sherwood

A special thanks to Paul Foytho who donated the beautiful Hungarian tablecloth, table runner and napkins and to the numerous others who donated so many wonderful raffle prizes. Your generosity was greatly appreciated. .

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SZEKELY GULYAS DINNER
September 21, 2013 

A Szekely Gulyas Hungarian dinner was held on Saturday September 21, 2013 in St. Emery’s church hall for the enjoyment of our parishioners and friends.  The main entree and a traditional Hungarian culinary dish, featured Szekely Gulyas, which has pork as one of its special ingredients.
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It was a delicious full course home cooked dinner complete with a wide selection of beverages.  Our master chef was parishioner Henry Kutash.

All the table settings included beautiful floral arrangements and it was a well attended event.
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The St. Emery’s Parish Council sponsored this social and successful fundraising dinner.

Enjoy the following gallery of photographic colleges covering the dinner event.  The photography (click on images to enlarge), compliments of Anthony Procaccini, our parish Director of Music.
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The Dinner Guests

Several door prize gifts from generous donors and a 50/50 money raffle was also included.

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The Volunteers – A Thank You

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LADIES TEA and VINTAGE FASHION SHOW
Sunday, June 30, 2013

Once again this years Ladies (Victorian) Tea and Vintage Fashion Show proved to be a wonderful affair.  The delightful luncheon, tea and the church hall decorations provided a beautiful ambience for all the ladies attending the event. Attendance filled the church hall.

The vintage fashion show, modeling clothing and accessories showing how women’s fashions evolved from 1910 through the present, was presented by Vintage Vertuosa of Westport.

Nine beautiful lady parishioners modeled vintage fashion styles where each style represented a different decade in time.

Enjoy the following gallery of photographs covering in order the Victorian Tea, Vintage Fashion Show, Fashion Models and our Volunteers. The photography (click on images to enlarge) is a collection of photographs taken by several ladies attending the event.
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Ladies Victorian Tea Menu and Prizes

A serving and choice of delicate sandwiches, a variety of tea selections and an assortment of desserts graced the Victorian style luncheon.

All the table settings included beautiful floral arrangements.

All the sandwiches were hand prepared by a group of parishioner volunteers.

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The large selection of deserts was also provided by parishioners.

A thank you to the Bigelow Tea Company for their donation sponsored by parishioner Ethel Evan.

Several door prizes were also donated.

The Victorian Tea — Church Hall

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The Vintage Fashion Show

The Ladies Fashion Show was an enjoyable and a very well done affair. It presented the evolution of women’s fashions from 1910 to present. Vintage Virtuosa of Westport, Connecticut produced the show.

Karen Ellman (left), who is the owner of Vintage Virtuosa, narrated the show.  All nine beautiful models were St. Emery parish parishioners.

Karen has been selling Vintage Clothing, Jewelry and Accessories at her store over 10 years. Karen’s niece Amanda Burns, Curator of Virtuosa, and staff pulled together the clothing and accessories for the fashions presented.

The Fashion Models

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Fashions from Vintage 1910s

Jaclyn Bahr

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Fashions from Vintage 1920s

Laureen Pekar

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Fashions from Vintage 1930s

Barbara Fencil

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Fashions from Vintage 1940s

Nikki Bleggi

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Fashions from Vintage 1950s

Veronica Dicso

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Fashions from Vintage 1960s

Wendy Bleggi

Wendy and Nikki Bleggi

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Fashions from Vintage 1970s

Patricia Dicso

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Fashions from Vintage 1980s

Sandra McCarthy

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Fashions from Vintage 1990s

Karen Adams

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Our Volunteers

Kathy Sherwood (left photo and on right) is President of the St. Emery Parish Advisor Council.

Kathy was involved in the planning and organizing of the Ladies Vintage Tea and Fashion Show.

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Social Committee:

Barbara Chuga
Mary Ann Corcoran
Betty Hasek
Marie Kassay

Volunteers (Preparations):
Karen Adams
Rita Bailie
Wendy Bleggi
Nikki Bleggi
Maureen Chuga
Pat Dicso
Veronica Dicso
Ethel Evans – Sponsor of Bigelow Tea Donations
Barbara Fencil
Carol Gladstone
Mae Kassay
Sandy McCarthy
Marianne Morehouse
Helen Norton
Irene Olah
Laureen Pekar
Marianne Scinto
IIdiko Sedenszki
Photographers:
Judy Bahr
Cindy Carroll
Alycia Carroll
Maureen Chuga
Dodi Hesse
Karolina Szabo
Flowers – Provided by Ganin’s Florist of Fairfield, CT

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FIRST ANNUAL GUEST ARTIST DAY
Sunday, June 23 at 9:00 AM Mass

The Parish Choir ended its formal season on this day.  Guest artist soprano Elizabeth Knauer performed (see flyer-left) with the choir at the Sunday mass. It was a wonderful performance by the soloist, choir and our Director of Music, Tony Procaccini.

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Coffee and a large assortment of pastries were served in the Church Hall following mass and all thanked the choir for their efforts.

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Choir members (photo insert upper-right) from left to right are Bob Rouse, Elizabeth Knauer (Guest Artist), Niki Bleggi, Louise Miller, Claudette Apple, Veronica Dicso, Phyllis Simon (Bells), Marie Warren, Barbara Fencil, Mark Halstead, Sandy McCarthy, Anthony Procaccini (Music Director) and Gary Dicso.

The choir will formally resume in September.

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LUNCHEON and CABARET AFTERNOON
Sunday April 14, 2013

St. Emery’s parish hosted a first-ever Luncheon and Cabaret Afternoon on April 14, 2013 in the church hall.  The delightful and very well attended event included a ziti luncheon, assortment of beverages, live entertainment, and a raffle.

Music was preformed by soprano Krista Adams Santilli, Anthony Procaccini, who is Director of Music at St. Emery’s, the Hungarian singers and the St. Emery’s Festival Choir.

Kathy Sherwood, President of the Church Advisory Council, conceived of the idea earlier in the year and Director of Music Anthony Procaccini and a cadre of volunteers moved ahead with the planning and preparations.  In some ways the Cabaret affair was reminiscent of the popular St. Emery Minstrel-Dance shows held in the 1950’s.

Enjoy the following gallery of candid photographs covering in chronological order the plated Luncheon, the excellent Entertainment cast and finally the staff of Volunteers.  The photography (click-on images to enlarge) is the work of photographer and parishioner Mr. Henry Kutash.

The Luncheon

The luncheon included ziti, special recipe meatballs, sausage, fresh garden salads, deserts and a wide selection of beverages.

The luncheon was a wonderful home-cooked. sit-down restaurant style plated affair.

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The Entertainment

Following the luncheon and under the direction of St. Emery’s Director of Music Anthony Procaccini, parishioners and friends were entertained by soprano Krista Adams Santilli, the Hungarian Choir and the Saint Emery Festival Choir.

The  performances by Krista and the choirs were very well done much to the delight of a very appreciative crowd.

Anthony Procaccini also served as emcee during the musical performances including English translations of the native language Hungarian songs.

As shown in the guest program, the performance was divided into three parts. Part I featured soprano Krista Adams Santilli, Part II the Hungarian Choir and Part III the Saint Emery Festival Choir.

Krista performed an eclectic array of  musical numbers including music from liturgical sources, opera, popular music and Broadway tunes. Selections were derived from Mozart, Puccini, Rogers and Hammerstein, ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Sweeny Todd’ and Etta James ‘At Last’ as an encore.

Interwoven among the musical renditions were personal and very entertaining stories from Krista’s background and experiences in the world of music.

Members of the Hungarian Choir include from left, Helen Kautzner, Lajos Kautzner, A’gnes Fazekas, Sa’ndor Szedlmayer and Margit Viola.

The Hungarian Choir had a selection of 6 songs which were all in Hungarian.  The audience fully enjoyed.

Members of the Saint Emery Festival Choir include from left, Bob Rouse, Anthony Procaccini (Choir Director), Gary Dicso, Marie Warren (guest), Barbara Fencil, Veronica Dicso, Krista Adams Santilli (guest) , Claudette Apple (guest) and Louise Miller.  Not shown in the back row are Sandra McCarthy and Phyllis Simon.

The final and closing act of the Cabaret was a beautiful coral arrangement sung by the Saint Emery Festival Choir titled ‘One Step He Leads.’

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The Volunteers

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Following St. Emery’s extensive restoration in 2000, artistic handwoven tapestries from St. Stephen of Hungary Church in Bridgeport were discovered in storage a few years later by Father Pintye.

The tapestries were meticulously handcrafted to commemorate St. Elizabeth’s Altar Society (1917-1937) and to present the Monstrance, which displays the consecrated Eucharistic host. The letters IHS are the monogram of Jesus Christ.

(Click on tapestries and Crucifix to enlarge)

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This Crucifix located on the wall between the two tapestries was refurbished and remounted during the 2000 restoration..