St. Ambrose to put on its annual Summer Festival

BRUNSWICK — St. Ambrose Catholic Parish will host its annual free to enter summer festival this Thursday through Sunday, which will be filled with food, games, live music and more. Guests can walk around the church campus to go on rides, play carnival games or visit the kids area. The casino will be open starting on Friday for card games, and the festival will also have games of chance and bingo. Local tribute bands that will perform songs by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Neil Diamond and others will be featured throughout the festival. Fair food and drinks such as funnel cakes, lemonade, fries, root beer floats, Italian sausage, cotton candy and snow cones will be sold at the festival. Alcohol will also be served at the margarita booth and the beer garden. "There really is something for everybody," said St. Ambrose's pastor, the Rev. Bob Stec. "Most importantly, all of it is designed just to be a very comfortable, joyful opportunity for the community to gather together." This year, five prizes will be given away in a raffle. Local businesses sponsored the prizes, which range from $2,500 worth of Home Depot gift cards, a new home entryway door worth $4,500, a Disney vacation for up to four people, a custom bathroom remodel or a new 2023 Toyota Corolla or Volkswagen Jetta. About 850 volunteers help to put on the event. Stec said the summer festival is the largest event the parish puts on, and it provides members the opportunity to work together to do something for the community. "It's really just an opportunity to create a time and place where literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of us can gather together to enjoy great food, to enjoy a wonderful meal, to enjoy friendship and to enjoy the beauty of the summer season," he said. There will be on-site parking at the church's fields as well as the local side streets, Stec said. Shuttle buses will also be running to transport people to the event. "We are so blessed with a wonderful community, a wonderful region," he said. "The blessing is for people to come together." St. Ambrose is at 929 Pearl Road, Brunswick. To purchase tickets for food or games in advance or for more information, visit bit.ly/42Mbj2b. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.