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The idea of a parish pilgrimage to Rome can be traced to a previous
pilgrimage by the Diocese of Metuchen Festival Choir in 1989. On that
pilgrimage, Fr. Gall served as spiritual director and also sang with
the choir while Thom DeLessio was tenor soloist and member of the choir.
Thom's future wife, the then Christine Krasovec, participated in the
pilgrimage as a guest. Thom and Christine were engaged in February of
1990, one of three couples from that pilgrimage who later married!
The parish pilgrimage seed was planted and it would be nearly seven more
years before the timing would be right to promote the idea. At that
time, plans for a parish pilgrimage to Poland to coincide with the parish
75th anniversary were being made. The Rome pilgrimage was placed onto the
schedule for the fall of 1999. The exact dates of November 15-22, 1999
were eventually set.
Some initial concerns were:
1) Will there be enough choir members to offer a respectable
presentation?
2) If there are, will there be enough basses?
3) Will other parishioners become interested?
4) Who will handle the overall management of the pilgrimage?
5) Will there be scheduling problems in Rome on the eve of the
year 2000?
While other choir sponsored pilgrimages are often managed by the choir
director, our preference was with the two-person approach whereby the
choir director could concentrate more on music without the distraction
of management. Concern four (4), manager, was resolved effectively when
Robert Nonni accepted the challenge. Rob's vast experience in management
was welcomed wholeheartedly.
Concern five (5), scheduling problems, was circumvented by the decision
to travel after the very busy fall months in 1999 but before the days in
the immediate vicinity of 1/1/2000. The chosen dates would prove to be a
good balance between slightly colder temperatures but reduced crowds in
Rome. A large conference was then scheduled to take place in Rome however
and hotel space would be at a premium.
Concern one (1), enough choir members, and concern three(3), enough
parishioners, seemed to be non-issues after the pilgrimage was formalized.
The choir was taking shape nicely and parishioners and other guests began
signing up. Charles Jones, director of music for St. Peter the Apostle
parish, Parsippany, and longtime friend of Thom, accepted the invitation to
accompany the choir, which would require participation at many rehearsals
and would see just a few precious moments once in Rome to learn the
instruments prior to performance. Much praise for Charles!
Only concern two (2), enough choir basses, remained. The choir needed these
men and this concern would linger, but the choir persisted in faith with
its rehearsals. Over time, several guest basses expressed an interest in
joining the choir. Among them were Fr. Gall and Chris Bishop, a former
parishioner now living in the Chicago area. The bass section blossomed through
the grace of God and it was fabulous. The choir then had a solid foundation on
which to place its house of harmony!
The choir had undertaken some fund raising efforts in an attempt to make
scholarship money available for those choir members who might request
some assistance as well as to cover any miscellaneous pilgrimage expenses
that might evolve. Some events had included:
November, 1998 - recording and CD sale of the November 1
pipe organ dedication
January, 1999 - concert by world renowned guitarist Peppino
D'Agostino
April 1999 - concert by the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea
May, 1999 - raffle of one pilgrimage to Rome
August, 1999 - organ recital by J. Christopher Pardini,
former parishioner and organist of the Crystal Cathedral
October, 1999 - Auction of a pilgrimage ticket that had been earned due to the
higher number of pilgrims Participating.
November, 1999 - Pre-Pilgrimage concert
The net profit was quite respectable, albeit with a few scares scattered
in! Many thanks to a few donors as well; in particular, the Lourdes
Players who were very generous with their funds.
The choir had intensified its rehearsal schedule, meeting during the summer
of 1999 and twice per week in the fall. Details were diligently being
handled behind the scenes. The Rome pilgrimage Whitehouse Station concert
was set for Sunday, November 7 and a Rite of Blessing of Pilgrims was
scheduled for Sunday, November 14. At that mass, the choir sang a setting
of the American Spiritual ‘Soon and Very Soon' by Andre Crouch during
which the entire congregation spontaneously joined in with rhythmic
clapping of their own. Parishioners really seemed excited for their choir!
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