On Saturday 6/7/25; after 4 PM Mass, Our Lady of Mercy (OLM) had a very special event.
The Narthex was decorated with Flags of many Countries.
Upon approaching the Parish Life Center (PLC); Parishioner’s were greeted in many languages.
Our North American (NA) Team decorated with the Ontario, Sugar Skull (Dia de los Muertos), Illinois and American flags.
Our Brother Knight and fellow NA Team Lead; Glenn Hoorman, was busy handing out hotdogs, he had the perfect NA shirt.
Our other NA Team members were encourage to wear “Baseball” themed outfits; and of course, they chose the Cubs.
Our NA Team also had some help from the Marmion Band Alumni and Color Guard Instructor.
As a NA Team Lead; I also wore a Baseball Jersey, for my favorite “International Team”, Samurai Japan. On 11/15/14 I was at the Tokyo Dome and watched the Samurai Japan “No-Hit” the MLB All Star Team.
“On November 15, 2014, Samurai Japan defeated the MLB All-Stars 4-0 in a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome. This game was part of the 2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series. It was a notable game because Samurai Japan’s pitchers combined for a no-hitter against the MLB All-Stars.”
The Head of the OLM Social Committee; Carmen Summers, did a great job organizing this event.
Let’s visit the best part; the food. Let’s start with: Filipino food.
We have annual Simbang Gabi celebrations, so OLM has annual Filipino food.
We also had Chinese Food.
The English and Irish food had help from Italians; my Irish Mother-in-Law still made the best Italian Food.
Of course there was Italian Food; in front of our KOC Pro-Life posters!
The German food was served by St. Annes Pastors parents, the Eickhoff’s and my favorite Aurora Fire Department Fireman.
Father Michael personally tried the Indian Food.
I promised to get an “Indian Flag” for next year’s event (On Order already).
We had food from Brazil too.
Of course Columbian Food is great; since so many Italians went to Columbia.
We had a lot of Mexican Food!
What a great team serving Mexican Food!!
Carmen provided Puerto Rican Food; she was disappointed that I had two Texas flags and no flag for Puerto Rico, so ordered one for next years event.
Our cooks were awesome; but I did not try any Filipino food and only had a little Chinese.
With all that great Food; who was my favorite? Africa I never had African Food before and I loved it; these lovely Ladies, filled my plates.
I also enjoyed Haitian Food.
The African Team was awesome! We will be ready for Seminarian Christopher Otieno’s Ordination; I have the flag of “Kenya”, on order too. The next time my CRHP Brother; Doug Kieffer, goes to Africa, I am going too.
The key to a successful event is “Leadership”. We all enjoyed supporting Carmen and are already planning our next event (Details TBD).
Now the tough part; loosing weight, after over eating. No problem; my favorite Zumba Partner from LA Fitness who also provided Filipino food, will make sure I shed pounds dancing.
