LAKE VILLAGE — Echoes of “Mangi!, mangi!,” the Italian invitation to “eat!, eat!” could be heard if hungry diners were to close their eyes and use their imagination upon entering the parish hall of Our Lady of the Lake Church March 6. The occasion was the 101st annual Spaghetti Dinner.
Met with the smell of Italian sauce and tables decorated with candles in wine bottles bearing the seal of the Our Lady of the Lake Altar Society, some 1,800 diners during a two-hour period sat down to a dinner of “from scratch” spaghetti, sauce and bread accompanied by salad and lemon cake for dessert.
“Families you see here today come from communities all around Lake Village and all over Arkansas but also you see folks from Shelby, Shaw and Sheldon, Miss.,” Suzanne Zieman, a former Lake Village resident who now lives in Monticello, said. She is a native of Benoit, Miss.
Suzanne’s husband Mike Zieman, whose mother Patty, an officer of the Altar Society, is a Forte, one of 32 of the original Italian families who immigrated from Italy in 1895 to the Sunnyside Plantation and who remain in Chicot County.
Zieman started Saturday, March 5 and worked into Sunday, March 6 making the sauce. One of his daughters, Meri Whitney, wore an Altar Society apron featuring the red, white and green of the Italian flag and bussed tables while the other daughter, McKenzie, ate with her mother and waited for a couple driving from Mississippi to arrive for dinner. Both girls and their father attended St. Mary School when the family lived in Lake Village.
Another table was filled with 20 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Mack and Marilyn Jo Borgognoni family. He is the son of Joe and Marcella Borgognoni, who out of 11 children still have eight who are living and range in age from 80 to 95 years of age. Mack and Marilyn’s family came from Texarkana, Cabot and Hot Springs to eat the traditional meal they have been attending since they were born.
“I don’t ever remember not setting this day aside for spaghetti with family and friends,” said granddaughter Sheila Borgognoni, 31, said as she held her daughter, Addison Beth, on her lap. “My dad, Charles, has never missed a dinner and the family tradition continues.”
What is the formula for success that has allowed Our Lady of the Lake Church to serve spaghetti dinner and all the trimmings for 101 years without interruption?
Altar Society president Sharon Ferri Henderson and church historian Libby Borgognoni would attribute this long-running event’s success to the parish women who are active in the Altar Society.
“These women work hard to serve the Lord and the people of our parish, and their commitment is an inspiration for others to follow,” Henderson said.
On the day of the event, it is easy to see the results of the women’s work as tables are set, waitresses bus tables, the kitchen is a flurry of activity and loaves of bread are piled on display for sale. It is clear, too, that men and children in the women’s families are drawn into the activities necessary to carry off the feeding of nearly 2,000. It’s evident that the success of the event is due also to it being a “family and church community affair.”
The pasta for the dinner is handmade according to a recipe and formula for preparing the dinner that has served generations.
“The week of the dinner we begin making the pasta to assure it is fresh in a process that takes two days to finish. It took longer when rolling pins were used to roll out the dough. A pound of spaghetti will serve six people,” Henderson noted.
One family, the Pierinis, uses 300 pounds of ground chuck to prepare 3,300 meatballs in January. In February crews come in and roll the meat into meatballs, fry them and place them in the freezer. The sauce was made by Michael and David Mencer, their families and a crew of helpers, according to Henderson.
An Altar Society president usually serves for two years but the last president did such a great job that no one wanted to replace her.
“I prayed over taking on the job for a year because it is such a huge responsibility and I do have health issues and a job in Dumas and worried I could not be here when needed,” Henderson. “They (the other officers) are always there for me to cover what I cannot when I am working and not in town … I am not sure that most of the people of our parish realize what all these women do and how much of their time they devote to the work of the church.”
Henderson admitted she is concerned that the Spaghetti Dinner and other Altar Society activities could be cancelled or curtailed if the next generation of women doesn’t step forward.
“I want to see more young women involved in the work of the Altar Society. These young, energetic women could be of great value attending meetings and adding their voices to the work of the church,” she said.
Serving in the Altar Society is more than cleaning the church once year or bringing a dish to a funeral on occasion, Henderson continued.
“It is the parish meatball making to the younger generation. It is honoring the people of Italian heritage who started Our Lady of the Lake Church. Extra help this year and a system that allowed both sit-down and take-out service on the same day probably made the 101st Spaghetti Dinner reach more diners than ever before. We just hope they will all come back and help us out next year and bring a friend,” Henderson said.
Such a long tradition of successful dinners makes Henderson introspective.
“Parishioners and families from neighboring communities look forward to being here, having a good meal and visiting with old friends. It would be incredibly sad for our generation to be the ones responsible for canceling this event,” Henderson said.
The oldest organization in the parish, the Altar Society was probably founded in the early 1900s. The society buys and maintains the altar linens, the priest and altar server vestments, the altar candles and wine, cleans the sanctuary and sacristy weekly and supplies the flowers for the church.
The dinner’s proceeds were estimated at $16,000 this year.
