Founded in 1935 as a mutual benefit society, St. Mary of Carmen Society has been hosting a five-day festival beginning on a Wednesday in nid-July at Pellegrini Park Hawthorne Park in Nonantum, and ending with a huge fireworks display on the following Sunday night at Our Lady Help of Christians Church. This year, it takes place July 13-17. Chuck Proia, a third-generation Nonantum resident, chairs the event, which attracts thousands of people from all over the region. In fact, people with ties to the neighborhood, but no longer living in Massachusetts, plan their vacations to include the event, known as Festa.
Generations of residents with roots in the San Donato region in Italy have been part of the event, organizing the entertainment, providing food, selling raffle tickets, and just enjoying the carnival rides. (Newton and San Donato are sister cities.) The festival culminates on Sunday, when the St. Mary of Carmen Society — mostly men whose families live or lived in Nonantum — place the statue, commissioned by the Society, on a truck and drive through the neighborhood, as people donate money, which Society members pin to sashes hanging from her shoulders. The donations support the work of the St. Mary of Carmen mutual benefit society.
In the late afternoon, the statue is brought to a special arch in Pellegrini Park, where people continue to donate money as they enjoy the music and the wide range of rides. In the last decade, the Society has distributed over $125,000 in college scholarships and charitable contributions, continuing the tradition of the original mutual benefit society, established to help neighborhood residents. “It’s in our blood that we do things for other people,” says Chuck Proia.
Just before 10:00 p.m., the Society distributes candles to people in the park, and all are invited to join the statue’s return to the Our Lady’s — and the legendary fireworks display announcing her arrival at the church.
