Sunday, June 27, was not the day we expected, but with God's grace it turned out better than expected!  It started off as a very welcome day for rain for the area but carried with it uncertaintiy of how well a Food Truck Festival would work with the colder tempatures and rainy weather.  I told our parishioners at Mass that I requested sunny and 75 degree weather for the St. Laurence O'Toole Food Truck festival happening that afternoon at Undine park, but God gave us, instead, rainy and 60 degrees.  Instead of the splash pad being operational, we got a unviersal splash pad as it rained on everyone right up until our 4pm official start time, at which point the clouds opened up and the sun came out for a very enjoyable festival with just the right temperature prevailing!

The turnout was astounding with hundreds of people coming through during the event.  I like to say that food is the universal connector and bringing a bunch of food trucks to one location allows us to connect as community in a way like no other!  God created us as humans in His image, which means he created us out of love for love.  In a broader sense, He made us to be in relationship with Himself and with one another; we are relational beings are not meant to be alone.  An event like this pulls people in across the community, not just our Catholic parish, but the wider community and helps cultivate that aspect of our humanity: relationship (fueled by good food too!).  Plus it allowed those who were not Catholic to meet us and perhaps discover why we have an inner joy (because of our relationship with Jesus) and begin a search of their own for Jesus Christ.  On a human level, I love events like these because I was able to talk to a lot of people as I meandered my way through the various lines to stop to chat with people along the way, deepening my relationship with others and forming new ones too!    To bring the community together in this was was truly awesome!

We had an awesome line-up of Food trucks: Wyo Philly Wagon, Mile High Fries, Laramie Kettle Korn, Michael's Curbside Kitchen, Nick's Food Rednezvous, Noam's Table, and Los Conejos all participated with most of them selling out.  The food was spectactular and food trucks in general have been increasing in popularity and are a very fun way of trying new cuisine in today's world.  A wonderful couple also volunteered their tractors and trailers and offered hayrides for all who wanted to partake throughout the event.  The playground at the park also got lots of activity.  All in all fun was seen all the way around as children laughed and the adults talked and ate their way through the various cuisines.  This was defintiely a successfully event and I'm so thankful for how it all turned out!  


If you missed this event, don't worry, we have another one planned for later on this summer: Sunday, August 8 from 4-8pm at Undine Park as well (we also hope to have more food trucks with even greater variety of food!).  Hope to see you then for another great afternoon of fun, fellowship, and food!