By Steve Svetovich
It’s been a tradition in the Bunker Hill section of Dunmore since 1906, making it 117 years old..
SS. Anthony and Rocco Parish will hold its annual Italian Festival Aug. 11, 12 and 13 at 122 Kurtz Street in the Bunker Hill section of Dunmore.
The annual event is noted for its delicious Italian foods and pastries and musical entertainment, but the highlight is always the annual Feast Day Mass to be held this year Saturday, Aug. 12, at noon, followed by the annual Procession with Statues of the Saints at 1 p.m.
Started in 1906 in the Bunker Hill section of Dunmore, the procession has taken place every year, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was broadcast on social media in the first year of the pandemic.
The actual Feast Day is Aug. 16, so the procession is always held the closest weekend prior to the Feast unless it falls on Sunday.
Many families participate in the procession together. It symbolizes the strength of their parish family.
Rev. David Cappelloni, pastor of SS. Anthony and Rocco Parish, who blesses the people with a relic of Saint Rocco at a special Mass before the procession, said the event helps the parish have an identity.
“We carry the statues of St.Rocco, St.Anthony, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph through the neighborhood to remind people of who we are and who we are called to be,” Rev. Cappelloni said. “The procession of our patron saints are carried throughout the Bunker Hill section to show and signify that we, ourselves, are also striving to become saints.”
After leaving the church, the procession travels throughout the streets of the Bunker Hill section of Dunmore with the patron saints carried on beams by the men of the parish. The parish priest accompanies the procession and blesses bystanders with a relic of Saint Rocco. A band usually follows the procession.
In addition to the special Mass and procession, the Dunmore community always celebrates its annual three-day festival the same weekend.
Those who walk in the procession of faith often pray for others or someone in remembrance. The tradition also carries on with few changes each year. It’s all about family, tradition, and mostly faith.
Saint Rocco, the protector against deadly plagues, is considered the patron saint of Guardia de Lombardi. Veneration to this Saint dates back to 1656 when a deadly plague and drought swept through the Italian town, killing 1,110 of its 1,475 residents. Guardia’s first procession in honor of St. Rocco took place that year when the remaining townspeople prayed to him to bring rain and to end the aggressive plague.
By the time the Guardiese immigrants arrived in Dunmore, the procession to Saint Rocco had been an integral part of life in their Italian community for more than 250 years.When Italian immigrants settled in the Bunker Hill section of Dunmore, they continued many of the same traditions. The annual procession is one of them
.In the early 1900’s the Guardiese community in Dunmore had become so large that members decided to found their own church. About 40 families banded together and called themselves the Society for Congregation of Saint Rocco’s Church. They traveled door to door within the community to solicit funds to purchase a church building from a Presbyterian congregation in the neighborhood.
The first Mass at Saint Rocco’s Church was held in October, 1905. The first procession to honor Saint Rocco took place the following August.
The annual festival was added to the procession in 1922. Initially, members prepared food at the stoves of the church basement and carried it outside in bowls to sell on the grounds.
Father Cappelloni said SS. Anthony and Rocco are now linked to Our Lady of Mount Carmel where he also serves as pastor. The three-day festival will run 5 to 9:30 p.m. the first two nights and noon to 9:30 the final day.
The Dunmore High School marching band and cheerleaders will perform the first night at 6 p.m, followed by the band, Picture Perfect, at 7 p.m. The band, Popstar Drive, will perform Saturday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m.
Following the Feast Day Mass at noon and Procession of Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, Vinsko Entertainment with provide music at 2:30 p.m. followed by the Scranton Prep cheerleaders at 5:30 p.m, and the Luongo Brothers Band at 6 p.m. There will be fireworks at dusk.
Then there is the delicious Italian food, pastries, and desserts to fill and satisfy the palate. That includes sausage and peppers, pasta fagioli, porketta, shells, tripe, delicious pizza, Italian pastries, cookies, cakes and desserts ,ice cream, snow cones, pizza fritta, cannolis and anything else Italian. Oh, the pasta fagioli! And let’s not forget the beer tent, wine, coffee, cappuccino, crispy potato pancakes and french fries, lemonade and root beer floats. A new desert item, Gelato, has been added this year.
It’s an event in Dunmore not to be missed and a tradition that is sure to go on forever.