Amusement park Masses draw international crowd |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 05 June 2009 01:00 |
SANDUSKY—For decades, one of the largest amusement parks in the world has also been home to a small but diverse Catholic community in the summer.
Every Sunday morning, several hundred employees and visitors find their way to one of two Masses celebrated on the grounds of Cedar Point in Sandusky, a 364-acre amusement park that attracts more than 3 million guests annually.
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| Deacon Jack Busam, left, and Father James Say, a retired priest of the Diocese of Toledo, process out after celebrating Mass at Cedar Point last August. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens Bertke) |
"I think it’s a real testimony that here in the middle of an amusement park, we can get upwards of 200 people here for Sunday Mass," says Deacon Jack Busam of Huron St. Peter, who coordinates the summer ministry with help from a small group of retired priests from the Diocese of Toledo.
Masses are celebrated in Breakers East Conference Center, a facility located in one of the four resort hotels operated by Cedar Point, which also has a campground and two marinas. They are currently the only religious services celebrated on park grounds.
While the Masses are convenient for guests staying at the park, they are also an important service to employees.
Last summer, Cedar Point housed about 3,200 of its 5,000 employees in dorms on and around the property. Nearly 1,000 of those individuals were international employees, and many lacked transportation to attend Mass at one of the churches in Sandusky.
"For international students, it’s great to have," says Edith Ngai, a native of Klang, Malaysia, who served as a lector when she was working at Cedar Point last summer. "By having it in the park itself, we can conveniently come to Masses."
Ms. Ngai, 22, was hired through the Work & Travel USA program, which allows international students to spend up to four months of summer vacation in the United States. The experience gave her time to travel around the country before she returned home to continue her studies in psychology at HELP University College.
Deacon Busam says it is a testimony to the strength of the Catholic Church to see young people from around the world attending Mass each week at the park.
College students are not the only employees present, either — Richard Kinzel, chief executive of Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., the company that owns Cedar Point, has also been a regular since 1972.
Deacon Busam estimates the total weekly attendance at the Masses, which are held at 8 and 10 a.m., averages between 200 and 300 people.
"Parishes are fairly consistent, but here you don’t know which is going to be your bigger of two Masses," he adds.
Frank Vargo, a member of St. Albert the Great Parish in North Royalton, Ohio, says it is nice to get up early and walk over to Mass on Sunday mornings from his boat docked in the marina.
"Once Jack sees you come a couple times, he puts you to work," jokes Mr. Vargo, who has helped with the Masses as an usher, lector and eucharistic minister.
Mark Clifford of Sandusky St. Mary says his family also attends regularly since they spend the summer living on their boat at Cedar Point. He and his wife, Rose, and teenage daughter, Caitlin, usually help by taking up the collection, which supports the summer ministry.
Cedar Point provides missalettes for the congregation and sets up the chairs for Mass each week, and Deacon Busam has permission to leave a portable altar in the conference room year round.
Priests of the Diocese of Toledo, most of whom are retired, take turns presiding, and Masses last summer were accompanied by music played on a keyboard by Morgan Noon of Sandusky SS. Peter & Paul.
Deacon Busam says Masses at the park date back to the days of George Boeckling, the man credited with turning Cedar Point into an amusement park and resort in the beginning of the 20th century. No written record exists to document when the services began, but he has traced them back as far as the 1930s through verbal accounts from others who have been involved in the ministry.
He discovered the Masses in 1973 when he started working at Cedar Point in arcades and games maintenance, a job he still holds today. He has attended and helped with the Masses ever since, and was ordained to the diaconate in 1994. He became the coordinator in 1997.
"I’ve really been blessed both by the people that come out for it and the priests who come," says Deacon Busam.
"To me, the real witness is the young families in the middle of an amusement park that come every Sunday," he adds.
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Masses are celebrated at 8 and 10 a.m. on Sundays from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend with the exception of June 28.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 June 2010 18:51 |
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