Catholic Community festival canceled

From staff reports

The Oil City Catholic Community festival that was scheduled July 23-25 during the Oil Heritage Festival has been canceled.

This year’s event was to have been held at the Knights of Columbus and would have combined the St. Joseph and St. Stephen festivals into one celebration.

Natalie Toscano and McKenzie Healy, the festival co-chairs, said in a letter sent to parishioners that “due to the current government regulations and recommendations and the evolving situation locally, it is neither safe nor prudent to move forward with our July dates.”

The letter says the festival committee tried to find other dates for the festival, “but due to a myriad of planning and logistical issues, we have concluded that there are no sufficient options available to us.”

The committee is pushing ahead and jumping into plans for 2021, according to the letter.

“While we are disappointed that we are unable to hold our festival this year, we know this is the right decision for the health and safety of our volunteers, guests and the larger community,” the letter says. “We are committed to keeping this tradition going strong and look forward to your continued support.”

The letter to the parishioners includes tickets for a raffle designed to help the Catholic Community recoup some of the funds that will be lost by not having a festival.