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Altar servers picnic in Reston

Dave Borowski | Catholic Herald

A disappointed altar server looks at his ticket at the altar server picnic Aug. 10.

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The stream at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston is a magnet at the annual altar server picnic.

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Altar servers from St. John Bosco Church in Woodstock Mark Ostrand (left) and Paul Roberts sit on a tree stump to eat lunch.

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Altar servers from St. Joseph Church in Herndon (from left), Alexandra Geho, Meagan Hosker, Ava Zelensky and Laura Evans, talk before lunch.

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Knights Art Gamotis (left) and Bob Canter grill hamburgers for hungry altar servers.

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Fr. Joel D. Jaffe, Arlington diocesan vocations director, makes an emergency repair to a grill at the annual altar server picnic Aug. 10 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston.

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Aug. 10, the day of the annual Arlington Diocese altar server
picnic, started out with gray skies and a threat of rain.
That gloomy forecast didn’t stop more than 280 people,
including altar servers, seminarians, priests, families and
chaperones from coming to Lake Fairfax Park in Reston to
honor boys and girls who serve their parishes.

The picnic is organized by Father Joel D. Jaffe, Arlington
diocesan vocations director. Father Jaffe said it’s a job
that he couldn’t do without the help of local Knights of
Columbus councils and parish chaperones.

Bob Canter, a Knight from the St. Joseph the Worker Council
No. 14516 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Arlington, sees
his volunteering at the picnic as a ministry.

Parish chaperones are key to the event’s success. Many have
volunteered for years.

Deacon Steve Clifford from St. John Bosco Church in Woodstock
has chaperoned for four years and brought 11 altar servers.
He said the boys love the picnic, and he and the other
chaperones enjoy the time spent with other parish leaders.

And the altar servers are enthusiastic about socializing with
fellow servers.

Mark Ostrand from St. John Bosco Church in Woodstock said he
enjoyed meeting other diocesan altar servers.

Paul Roberts, also from St. John Bosco, said, “I’ve just
recently become an altar server. I came to be with other
servers from the diocese.”

Larry Cerruti, a Knight from Cathedral Council No. 6790, has
been managing the picnic logistics for many years. He knows
the numbers – 240 hot dogs, 364 hamburgers and about 600 soft
drinks were bought for this year’s event. And the food is a
big draw.

“This is fun,” said altar server James Murray from St. John
the Beloved Church in McLean. “I’m looking forward to lunch.”

But the biggest attraction was Arlington Bishop Paul S.
Loverde. When he arrived, servers and their families gathered
to shake his hand and have their picture taken with him.

His arrival also signals the start of lunch, and after the
bishop’s blessing, and his usual “buon appetito,” servers
rushed to load their plates with food.

This year, Cerruti added a new communications device – a
whistle – and he blew it with impunity at appropriate
attention-grabbing times. When the servers heard the whistle
and Cerruti’s booming voice, they knew something was up.

The final whistle came after lunch to signal the door prizes.
The contest is open only to servers, and they rushed to the
table where Bishop Loverde was stationed with a plastic jug
of tickets held by Father Jaffe.

Cerruti held up each prize – baseballs, footballs,
basketballs and fishing poles – as the bishop reached deep
into the bucket, swirled the red tickets and picked a lucky
winner. The altar servers ran to the front and took their
prize and the congratulations of the bishop.

The grand prize was a $100 gift card. This year’s winner was
Bobby Annunziato, 13, from St. William of York Church in
Stafford.

After the drawing, altar servers and their families left Lake
Fairfax Park fortified by food and inspired by the bishop to
serve their parishes in the coming year.

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