By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A long-lasting tradition in St. Joseph will celebrate its final year when the Bishop Leblond Carnival begins.
The Leblond Carnival has taken over the parking lot of Bishop Leblond for 49 years and will celebrate its 50th year with this year's carnival,
President of the St. Joseph Catholic Academy Ann Lachowitzer says this year's carnival will be bittersweet with it being the last one.
"I think that it once started out as a really beautiful community event and it slowly kind of turned into a little bit of a fundraiser for Bishop Leblond," Lachowitzer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "But I think it always had that same feel that we wanted our families in the community to be a part of something a little bit bigger."
The carnival first opened up in 1972 and has only missed one year in its time during the COVID pandemic.
Lachowitzer says a lot of discussion went into this being the final carnival at the high school.
"The carnival itself while terrific and it's a lot of fun, number one it's a lot of work, a lot of volunteer hours, we don't often recognize the amount of return as far as the amount of investment that's put into it," Lachowitzer says. "But then on top of it it is a bit of wear and tear on our parking lot."
Lachowitzer says one other big point of discussion was the number of other carnivals popping up around St. Joseph, including one at East Hills Mall just down the street from the high school.
Lachowitzer points out what made the carnival so special and long lasting was the connection it helped bring.
"It was a place to connect with friends and neighbors from other parishes, friends and neighbors from other congregations, and so it offered that in the fall as the basketball tournament offered that in the winter," Lachowitzer explains. "And so, just like Friday night football games, always popular because it brings people together, and I think that's what it really comes down to is the carnival brought people together."
Lachowitzer says discussions are still ongoing about what the school will do next to help bring that same connection that the carnival helped bring.
The Leblond carnival will run September 16th through the 18th in the Leblond parking lot. You can contact the Leblond offices to purchase tickets.