CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR co-chairs Nicole Coviello and Carrie Sepke meet with Santa before the arrival of the children on Sunday. (Neil Zolot Photo)
By NEIL ZOLOT
NORTH READING — This year’s St. Theresa Parish Christmas Spectacular was a successful as last year’s, if not more so.
Held in the church’s Parish Hall on both Saturday, Dec. 14 and Sunday, Dec. 15, event co-organizer Nicole Coviello said, “We had a great turnout both days.”
“It was very well attended,” added co-organizer and Parish Pastoral Council member Carrie Sepke. “There were a lot of kids there Sunday because Santa was there. I could feel the joy coming from families!”
Indeed, Santa was on the stage of the Parish Hall posing for pictures with youngsters and adults alike. She also said many people from outside the church attended the Christmas Spectacular.
“The spirit of Christmas is infectious,” Rev. Brian HcHugh, the church pastor, said. “The fair combines the secular and the sacred, and brings the community together.”
It was two long days for Coviello and Sepke, with the fair running from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to past the scheduled 2 p.m. end on Sunday.
They also spent the better part of the week setting things up and are already planning for the annual summer block party at the church. “Seeing everyone have a good time makes the lack of sleep worth it,” Coviello said.
This year’s fair was the second in its current form, conceived by Coviello and Sepke to succeed the Festival of Trees held in previous years. Sepke explained that the cost of the Christmas trees limited the number of people who might donate. The current format gives more people more opportunities to donate smaller items, like wreaths and candles, and also bake for the Cookie Walk. “We were looking for something in which more people could donate, regardless of income,” Sepke said.
“This will go on every year,” Parish Pastoral Council co-chairman Bill Barringer believes.
“Every year it gets better,” added Father Agustin Anda, the parochial vicar. Funds from the raffles and sales of various items will be used primarily to repair stained glass windows in the church, an expensive project given the specialized skills needed for the job. There are cracks in a few, but the main work to be done will involve the window frames and cleaning the stained glass. Barringer explained the stained glass windows date from the 1960s and the cost of this project is estimated to be $150,000.
An unusually large item being raffled off is a car, specifically a new 2025 Subaru Forester Premium (approximate value $33,500). The drawing will be held on April 6, 2025. Raffle tickets are $50 each and sales are limited to 4,000. Ten raffle winners will be drawn and each will pick a key fob, one of which will start the car. The nine runners-up will receive cash prizes of $500 each. Proceeds will go toward the final phase of the stained glass window repair and the first phase of parking lot repavement.
To facilitate the raffle, if enough tickets are sold, St. Theresa will buy the car, pay the mandated back up federal withholding tax and keep any excess proceeds to fund the ongoing projects. The winner will be responsible for insurance, excise tax, title, registration, docking fee and license plates, etc. You must be at least 18 to purchase a raffle ticket.
“The fair didn’t start as a fund raiser, but to bring the community together, although we do make some money,” Barringer said. “Our major fund raisers are the annual collections, a golf tournament and the car raffle.”
Among those attending the Christmas Spectacular were Luisa Antonopoulos and her sister and brother-in-law, Rita and Marco Gomes, and some of their children. ”It’s a beautiful event,” Antonopoulos said. “A lot of effort was put into it. Some of the kids are volunteers and in the Faith Formation program.” They were also taking part in crafts programs in classrooms flanking the Parish Hall. Rita Gomes enjoyed baking Greek butter cookies for the popular Cookie Walk.
