The Visitation Parish of Stacyville, Iowa is having their annual Fall Festival and Bazaar on Sunday, Sept. 15. People come to savor the annual Beef and Ham Dinner that is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the school cafeteria. The cost for the dinner is adults $6, children $3 and preschool and younger are $1. The Fall Festival and Bazaar evolved when the Commercial Club decided to quit holding its fall gathering in the Visitation School gym.

Gene Wagner, a parishioner of Visitation said, "The parish decided to take over the festival from the town. We have had it for years. There is an annual auction that starts at 2 p.m. We have some nice items that were donated. All proceeds from the festival go to the parish."

There are approximately 200 families in Visitation Parish. Former parishioners and family members that have moved away come back to the Fall Festival every year. The parishioners of this small parish and rural Catholic school all pull their weight to make this event successful.

Marge Weiss donates jars of her famous pickles to the auction every year. The Fall Festival and Bazaar auction is well known for the home-sewn quilts that residents donate each year. Marcella Hullback has donated a quilt to the auction every year. She made this year's quilt from scraps on the order of a log cabin design. She got a blue ribbon for this quilt when she exhibited it at the Mitchell County Fair in Osage earlier this summer. Doc Walters, a retired veterinarian from Stacyville, also is donating a quilt he made and he won a blue ribbon for it at the Mitchell County Fair.

"Doc Walter's quilt is called a Trip Around the World. He has done embroidery and quilting for years to keep his fingers nimble for when he used to sew up animals. The judges at the Mitchell County fair were so impressed with his quilt as he doesn't do a running stitch when he sews. He brings the needle down through the quilt layers and up again. His stitches are very even," Hullback said.

Other items to be auctioned off are a new gas range, a pair of newly cleaned feather pillows, a rustic bench, collectible coins, bicycles, furniture, crafts, sports memorabilia, a 1,000, BTU Kerosene heater, a Terry Redlin Print and Frame "Winter Haven", plus many more items. Besides the auction, there will be four drawings for beef and other merchandise. There is a country store and candy booth on site.

Sheila Donnelly can be reached at 434-2233 or by e-mail at :mailto:newsroom@austindailyherald.com