By Fr. Mike Amesse, OMI, Superior / Director, St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Brother Richard Cote and Father Gene Tremblay set up a booth in front of St Joseph the Worker Shrine. July 26, 27, 28. Their efforts: to provide religious articles, statues, icons and images free of charge to people walking by the shrine. 

Picnic tables are set up for people to sit in the shade of the church.  The air conditioning is on in the building for comfort and prayer. Brother and Father work hard with lay volunteers to bring out the Jewel in downtown Lowell. 

The Lowell Folk Festival is the 2nd largest free-admission festival in the USA. During the festival, the city is closed to vehicular traffic and all center city streets become pedestrian walkways – festival events rotate at scattered venues throughout the city and merchants provide all sorts of amenities, not the least of which are ethnic food booths dispensing the cuisines of the varied ethnic communities that populate Lowell. Attendance at the festival is usually in excess of 100,000.

As in years past St. Joseph the Worker Shrine participated in the Festival by providing picnic tables outfitted with shade umbrellas arrayed along the area fronting the Shrine on Lee Street: an off-the-beaten-path gathering place where folks can cool down, relax and comfortably consume the delicacies they purchased at the many nearby food booths.  Such oases are few and far between during the Festival.

Shrine Director, Fr. Mike Amesse, observed Fr. Gene Tremblay’s expertise in setting up an “oasis” for festivalgoers outside and inside the Shrine, this year he was ably assisted by Bro. Richard Cote.

Here are a couple of photos of the festival from years past: