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Thursday, August 24, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 3 “Come to the fair”: Fun fundraising in the Savannah Diocese in times past Harriet Gaudry, Ann Lowery, joan Glenn and Frances Fogarty prepare to raise money for the Blessed Sacrament Home and School Association, Savannah, in 1973. W ant to raise money for a parish project? Need funds f° r church repair? Well, how about selling tickets for an m*. 1M| excursion to the beach? Or, mk , % Wm maybe, to a parish “hop”? ’ Don’t overlook raffles and - } spirited voting for “most pop- ; ular priest” or for “outstanding girl or boy” attending your parish Rita H. school. DeLorme I n period following the Civil War, Catholics of the area were both innovative and resourceful in devising such ways to fund their local churches. Popular in the Savannah portion of our diocese, periodic fairs, raffles and excursions provided both funds and fun for those involved. In the 1870s-1880s era, when the local economy was bouncing back from Civil War and Reconstruction, members of Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s Parishes in Savannah were evi dently determined to “do their bit.” Church news in local papers featured details of “Fairs” sponsored by both parishes, often in tan dem. In January, 1878, the Savannah Morning News reported that a “magnificent officer’s sword” was on display at a Mr. Jno. B. Fernandez’s store, comer of Bull and Broughton Streets. This impres sive sword was to be among “attractive articles” offered at the Cathedral Fair which would open on February 18th in the basement of the Cathedral. The sword, it was said, would be given to the most popular commissioned officer of a local volunteer military group. The lucky winner would be deter mined by votes registered for a fee. Further entice ments appeared in local newspapers as time neared for the fair: an Irish pike used in the Rebellion of 1858, an “elegant tapestry,” a crayon drawing by A. Zielinsk, professor of arts at Pio Nono College; and other appealing items. The Fair lasted a week or so and newspaper accounts stressed that there was no abatement of interest in this event promoted for the benefit of the Cathedral Fund. “Sale of various articles was large, the securing of votes progressed finely, the supper booths did a grand business and prospects of yet another prosperous week were most encour aging,” an article said. For more venturesome parishioners of Saint Patrick’s parish, a “grand excursion to Tybee Island” was offered on May 29, 1878, for the bene fit of that church. With a large number of tickets sold, the steamer Katie was chartered for two trips; one, at 7:30 and the other at noon. The ever- resourceful ladies of Saint Patrick’s parish were providing dinner for hungry travelers for a modest twenty-five cents. A newspaper account following this Tybee excursion estimated that over a thou sand persons had traveled on the Katie and that “quite a sum” had been raised for a “nest egg” for the building of the new church needed by the parish. Toward the end of summer, Saint Patrick’s launched yet another “grand excursion” to Tybee; this time, aboard the steamer Dictator. Another innovative fundraiser was the Straw berry Festival, offered in the spring of 1878, for the benefit of Saint Joseph’s Male Orphanage in Washington, Georgia. This festival, held at the Cathedral Hall, lasted three days, with twenty-five- cent tickets admitting strawberry-craving cus tomers all three days. Other fundraising efforts followed. The “Jno. T. Ford Amateur Association” provided a benefit per formance, probably dramatic, on Nov. 4, 1878, to benefit Saint Joseph’s Infirmary. The Catholic Library Association (formerly Saint Vincent de Paul Society, it was noted) proposed to give a “hop” at Metropolitan Hall in late November. The following day, newspaper accounts declared that even the inclement weather of the night before had not affected attendance at the hop and that the hall was “well-filled and the evening passed most enjoy ably.” A Christmas Tree was placed for raffle purposes in the Cathedral basement and proceeds were to be donated for an organ for the Sunday School children of the Cathedral parish. Again, a “mammoth fair” was in the works by late December, 1878, as a means of enabling the Cathedral parish to rough-cast and plaster the out side of the church for a more “finished appear ance.” Saint Patrick’s would also be in on this fair, hoping to provide funds for a new church to replace the one to be tom down within two weeks. It appears that different groups within the parish es sponsored tables at the fairs and vied with each other in raffling off donated objects such as a handsome cane to be given the “most popular” local priest, depending on how many tickets were bought in his name. Early in 1880, fairs were still providing entertainment and funds for Savannah churches and various charities. At this time, a fair and bazaar took place in the basement of the Masonic Temple for the benefit of Saint Joseph’s Church, colored, on Drayton Street. Saint Patrick’s held a fair—again, in Cathedral Hall—in April, 1880, thanks to the efforts of ladies of both Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s parishes. Another Saint Patrick’s Fair later that year saw objects such as silver castor sets, paintings, vases, bookcases and baked goods go to lucky raffle winners. Outstanding students were recognized on the basis of tickets sold and a “handsome, gold-headed cane” went to the most popular master machinist, D.D. Arden who—it was said—could hardly hold back tears when it was presented to him Musical events studded fundraising efforts of the day, with the Cathedral Choir giving a sacred con cert on the Thursday after Easter that year (1880) for the benefit of the White Bluff Orphanage under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy. Two years pre vious, Miss Rosa D’Erina had sung in concert for the benefit of Saint Patrick’s Church. These talents and others were the rough ore devoted parishioners transformed into “gold” through fairs, concerts and excursions. Whether they were providing meals, dolls or outings, Catholics of the Savannah Diocese left an example of generosity and caring for generations of Catholics to come. Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the Diocesan Archives. Correction: The law offices of Joseph B. and Frederick S. Bergen now occupy the site of the Marist School for Boys at 123 Charlton Street, Savannah. Another company was mentioned by mistake in Mrs. DeLorme’s article of July 20.