Catholic Day at Lagoon summons thousands for fun and prayer

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Father James McHugh, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales of the Toledo-Detroit Providence, celebrates Mass during Catholic Day at Lagoon, July 12. IC photo by Priscilla Cabral

FARMINGTON — Generally people go to Lagoon, the amusement park in Farmington, to play games, have fun on the rides, and enjoy the daily entertainment shows, which for some time this summer include monkeys. Nestor Lozano was enjoying everything Lagoon has to offer with his wife and children, but his face changed from expressing joy to disappointment for a moment when he was told he had missed Mass. "That’s what I had come for," he said. Lozano then resolved to keep enjoying the day with his family and go to Mass later during the day.

The thing is… you cannot go to an outdoor Mass and then ride a rollercoaster every day. Even less likely than that is getting a free entry and a great discount off a ride passport for the mere fact of being a Catholic. This only happens during Catholic Day at Lagoon in July of every year.

And despite all the distractions and all the attractions, Mass was still the center of the celebration of the 101st anniversary of Catholic Day this July 12. Hundreds of Catholics who took part in this event gathered as a congregation at the different terraces reserved for them to attend Mass.

"I had not seen too many people here for Mass, but they showed up as we got closer to noon," said Father James McHugh, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales of the Toledo-Detroit Province. Fr. McHugh said he was happy to see people making "an effort to go to Mass and still have the day to play with their children," and that this year he was prepared lest he ran out of hosts like last year. He brought extra hosts from Judge Memorial Catholic High School, where he is a science and chemistry teacher.

Catholic Day at Lagoon is organized by the Knights of Columbus Council 602. The tradition started over a hundred years ago as a means to get the then small Catholic community together, but has now transformed into a huge family outing of thousands, making Catholic Day one of Lagoon’s busiest days.

"Last year we had a number of people in the neighborhood of 7,000," said Paul Yribar, Grand Knight of Council 602.

This year, the number of participants was expected to be lower due to the recession, but they were not that different. Jeff Itami, member of Council 602, said that Lagoon’s marketing director reported the event attracted over 6,000 people.

Catholic Day is the biggest fundraising event for Council 602, the oldest Knights of Columbus council west of the Rocky Mountains, raising anywhere from $3,400 to $7,300, said Yribar.

"Some proceeds will carry us to next year. We also contribute $50 a month to the seminarian fund." The funds also help pay for the rent of facilities at parishes, the sponsorship of an athlete for the Special Olympics, pay a head tax to the Supreme Council, and finance the "Keep Christ in Christmas" campaign, among other things.

Council 602 sold soda, beer, and the fast-selling Colosimo sausages. The day included a pie-eating contest, a nail-pounding contest, and games for kids such as the "infamous" egg toss, said Itami, game coordinator.

"My favorite thing is to watch the kids have fun and make sure they have fun. And to see the joy in the faces of mothers and fathers encouraging their kids," he said.