St. Ann Catholic Church of Janesville began the first weekend of September with its annual Fall Festival on Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7. Although the typical September weather is more summerlike, this year’s weather, especially on Sunday, featured the perfect taste of fall: sunny and warm enough to be comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.
The festival always kicks off with a golf tournament at Prairie Ridge Golf Course on Saturday, and this year was no different. This time, Jim Schultz was in charge of running the tournament. Although there were some rain showers in the area, the event proceeded as planned.
Sunday was more of the usual stuff, but with a bit of a twist in Mass times again. Traditionally, St. Ann held Mass at 10 a.m., a perfect segue to the festivities. With St. Ann switching to a parish cluster with Waldorf and New Richland, and joining St. Clair and Madison Lake, things became complicated. While Father Rob Schneider took over, they switched the times in 2023, but not in the previous year.
For this year’s fall festival, St. Ann decided to host both Masses that usually take place on Sunday morning, holding service at 8:30 and 10 a.m. All Saints in Madison Lake didn’t hold Mass due to this, meaning that several members of that church had the opportunity to visit Janesville and attend the festival.
Despite the church pews not being as filled as they’d typically be at Mass, many came in droves for the lunch following the service. It was a choice of a pulled pork sandwich, a bratwurst, or a Polish sausage. While attendants filled their bellies with food, kids had the chance to play in bounce houses or get their faces painted while the adults looked at the items up for auction in the silent auction.
With the silent auction closing at 12:30 p.m., the cash raffle followed with bingo starting at 1 p.m. Many also vied for the two special items up for auction, both of which were baked goods: chocolate chip cookies by Barb Ahlman and the Belgian waffle cookies by Mary Jo Pohlen. I, the editor, slightly regret not placing a bid on the Belgian waffle cookies, as I do love a good stroopwafel.
It was another fantastic weekend of good food, great fellowship, and terrific fun for everyone involved. We hope to get the final figures on how much money was raised from the event soon.
