The annual Labor Day picnic that has taken place at St. Mary of
Sorrows Church in Fairfax for more than a century was converted to a drive-thru
carry-out event this year due to health and safety precautions related to
COVID-19.
While many festivities were canceled, including games for kids,
crafts, a baked-goods sale and the traditional Labor Day blessing of tools, the
151-year-old event still provided hundreds of participants with hot meals of
BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans and cookies.
Members of the Knights of Columbus Council 8600 and Boy Scout
Troop 697 started work early Sept. 7, firing up the grill pits, shucking corn
and preparing 480 dinners for the drive-thru crowd of parishioners and guests,
some of whom have attended the annual event for years. The dinners sold out by
noon.
