Phantom Fireworks, Texas Roadhouse-Oak Creek, Apple Holler, Oak Creek Automotive, Heritage Funeral Home, Les’s Home Improvement, Erv’s Mug, Cave of the Mounds, Racine Zoological Society, Hitters, Jellystone, Scores, ROC Foundation and Milwaukee Wave, Piggly Wiggly-Erie, Judy Joerndt, Daniel Uciechowski, Tony & Laura Stevens, Kingfish Baseball, Tin Can Roadhouse, Milwaukee Admirals, Wayne Palmer-Ball, Racine Theatre Guild, Treebusters, Kelly’s Bleachers II, Bristol Oakes Golf Club, Brossman’s Meat Market, Lorry Venturi, Dorothy Acker, Buy Rite Auto Parts, Michel’s Garage, Inc., South Shore Flooring, Brat Stop, 7 Mile Fair, Maresh-Meredith Funeral Home, Top Nails, RAM-Racine Art Museum, Steren McDonalds, Randy Maller, Aspen Property Care, O&H Bakery, Breezy Hill Nursery, Detour Marketing, Larson Motorsports, Bob Klinkhammer, Marilyn Lewandowski, Teriyaki House, Sal’s Beer & Wine, Jeff Braun Realty, JM Brennan, Lehmann’s Bakery, Borzynski’s Farm & Floral Market, Bernie Strueder Family, Blue Ridge Farms, Health-E Vend, LLC, Malicki’s Piggly Wiggly

2023 Festival Memories

Enjoy a few pictures from our 2023 St. Louis Parish Festival!

St. Louis Parish 2023 Festival Photo Gallery

Click the photo above to see full gallery - Over 200 photos total.


Festival Shout-Outs & Thank You

Well, another wonderful festival in the books!! It was a warm one, but God sent a bit of a breeze and our tents provided us with a lot of appreciated shade! “Thank you” is a phrase we often hear, but I hope you can feel the overwhelming gratitude this committee feels for EVERYONE that helped make this festival a success. We needed each of you: the bakers, the dinner help, the basket makers, the sausage sellers, the bartenders, the ticket sellers, the musicians that help make our outdoor mass so beautiful along with Prayer and Worship, the bands, the gardeners that donated plants and produce, those of you that donated a hog or something to the auction, our corn roasters, grillers, and food servers, our office people that you never get to see because they’re in the office all day, the crafters and blacksmith, our personal “ice cream man”, those of you that brought your cars to the car show or drove your tractor in the parade, the Boy Scouts, those that kept all of the ‘littles’ entertained, and our set-up and take down crew. (I know I made extra work for you this year with our Cans for K-9 Cops. That was a lot of cans to clean up at the end. I “extra appreciate” you!) A special thanks to Officer Muller for security, Level Up Racine and Vibe-Vector the Dancing Robot (he was a huge hit!) Matt and crew from Chay’s Tae Kwon Do, Diane Maller, our Infusino’s connection, Sweet Melody Strings, our Caledonia K-9 Officers Radke and “Louie”, Bob our auctioneer, and all of you that came and spent your hard-earned money and spent time with family and friends, both old and new.

On a personal note, you get to see my name in all of the Best of the Fest articles because I’m the contact person for most things involving the festival. But you need to know who our other team members are. They each have their own area, but we all work together to make the festival the best it can be.

Auction-Ann Hedrington
Food Court-Jodi Celeste
Finance-Mary Kay Ehleiter & Debby Willms
Kids Area-Tracy Lutterman
50/50 Raffle-Mark & Pam Mano
Beverage Tent-Jesse and Teri James
Raffle Baskets-Mary Jo Schimanski
Grounds-set up/take down/electric-Marc Lovdahl
Website/Social Media/Photographer- Dave Mudry
Resource and Creative Director/meat raffle-Karen Peterson
Italian Dinner/Bakers-Jacque Strueder
Craft Area-Jamie Flick
Car Show-Mallory Dam
Wayne Palmer-Ball and Dave (the blacksmith) Chvilicek aren’t in charge of a particular area, but serve as consultants and provide much needed wisdom as well as time, talent, and treasure to our committee.

When you see them, please thank them! These are the hardest working people I know. Each one is a VERY important part of this team. Two days of fun is the result of months and months of planning and working. If you have ideas on how to improve the festival, please consider joining our committee next year.

Barb Maller- Communications and Bakery/Farmer’s Mkt


Classic Car & Antique Tractor Show Winners

Here are the results from the 2023 St. Louis Parish Festival Classic Car & Antique Tractor Show:

1st Place: 1963 Chevy Corvette, Dennis W.
2nd Place: 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1, Dave P.
3rd Place: 1968 Dodge Charger, Nick S.
Best of Show Car: 1973 Plymouth Cuda, Jack & Mary W.
Honorable Mention for Cars: 1979 Ford Mustang, Jason W.
Best of Show Tractor: 1948 Ford 8N, Amy P.

Thank you to everyone that participated, we hope to see you next year!


50/50 Raffle Winners

Here is an update from our 50/50 Raffle volunteers in case you were looking for the winning numbers. There were three 50/50 Raffles held during our 2023 festival.

Thanks to all that participated.

Saturday nights winner:
Colleen H.
Ticket # 0793969 - Pink ticket
Prize: $310
Sunday winners:
First drawing winner:
Joanne L.
Ticket # 0758463 - Yellow ticket
Prize: $305
Second drawing winner:
Robert J L.
Ticket # 0602039 - Green Ticket
Prize: $430


Classic Car & Antique Tractor Show

Our classic car & antique tractor show is back this year and runs from 12-3pm on Sunday Aug. 20th with awards at 3pm!

An entry fee of $10 includes a raffle basket ticket and a drink ticket. Walk-in registration only. Select awards will be given for the most impressive vehicles! Youth participants ages 16-25 will be featured.

Any questions, please contact Mallory at 414-704-4256 or mal5d@icloud.com


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 14

“THIS AND THAT”: This announcement is just letting you know about some of the other things happening at the festival.

Sweet Melody Strings: This is a wonderful group of musicians that play the hammered dulcimer. They will be providing us with background music at our Taste of Italy dinner.

Dave Chvilicek-the Blacksmith: will be back with us once again to share his talent. It’s always so interesting to talk with him and see what he is creating.

Candy Clouds will be bringing us Cotton Candy. Who doesn’t love cotton candy?

“VibeVector” the Dancing Robot: He’s a bit like something you’ve seen on AGT. He’s 10 feet tall with a great personality, lights up, and dances. Come check him out.

The ground has been leveled off in the tent area of the festival. Hopefully this will make it a bit easier for those of you with walkers, wheelchairs, and strollers.

Cans for K-9 Cops: Just a reminder that we will have a collection receptacle for aluminum cans that will be donated to Cans for K-9 Cops. So bring yours to the festival and drop them off. Alter Trading matches whatever is raised and then the monies are dispersed between our Racine K-9 units.

Level Up Racine will be accepting our donations of new or used board games, video games, VCRs (even if they don’t work) old gaming systems (Nintendo, Atari, etc.-even if they don’t work). You can bring them to the festival for them. This is a wonderful Community Outreach.

Car and Tractor Show: The car and tractor show is always a hit. This year it runs Noon-3, with awards at 3:00. Select awards will be given for the most impressive vehicles! Youth participants ages 16-25 will be featured. Contact Mallory at 414-704-4256 or mal5d@icloud.com.

Meat Raffles will run both Saturday eve and Sunday featuring a variety of meat offerings.


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 13

The Raffle Basket team is very busy!

We, however, could use a little help. There are some things we could use to help fill in baskets we have started. We are working on a Campbell’s soup basket. If you’d like to donate a can or two of soup, or any item with the Campbell’s image, that would be helpful.

We can always use items for our Baby basket. Items can be hand made or store bought. Just think of the new mom or dad & how excited they would be to win this basket for that new little one.

St. Louis Parish 2023 Festival Basket Raffle Gallery

Click the photo above for a sneak peek at a few of our raffle baskets for the festival this year!



A favorite basket is “From Your Kitchen to Theirs”. Do you have spare jar of homemade canned goods? Veggies, fruit, jam, jellies, honey? Just think of the bountifully basket we could make with a little help from everyone.

Sports Team memorabilia. We would love to build a basket around your donations. SC Johnson products. Could you donate an item or two?

Of course we are always happy to accept Lottery Scratch Off Tickets or gift cards. These baskets are the biggest draw.

Not able to shop? We are happy to shop for you. Just place your donation in and envelope marked raffle basket items and drop in the offertory or at the parish office. Feel free to specify what you’d like us to purchase.

Questions? Please reach out to Mary Jo at 262-880-2489, or Mary Kay at 612-401-6141.


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 12

Here’s the part of festival for those of us who have a sweet tooth-the Bakery Booth. So “Calling All Bakers”!!! We have the best bakers in the area and we need you. There are actually 4 different areas where you can help.

1 - Friday August 18 - 9:00am - Jacquie will be making her ever popular turnovers and can use helpers filling and baking and frosting.

2 - Saturday August 19 - 9:00am - Barb will be in the kitchen wrapping those turnovers and much, much more. Please stop in.

3 - Baking at home. We’d love to have your family favorite homemade cookies, muffins, pies, breads, cakes, snacks or bars to share with our festival goers. Please label your desserts and specify if they have nuts or may be gluten free. We cannot accept any item that needs refrigeration. Also please put your name on the donation so we know who to thank. It would be helpful if you can wrap your bakery, but we would be happy to do that for you.

4 - Working the bakery booth at the festival. It’s a very busy area and will be open immediately after mass on Sunday even though the festival doesn’t start until 10.

If you are able to help in any of these areas, ( or even more than one) contact Barb Maller at 414-418-9577 or Email: bmaller98@aol.com with questions.

Inside the Best Fest - Feature 11

We will have 2 special visitors at our festival this year ... our very own Caledonia K-9 Unit, Officer Cory Radke and K-9 officer Louie. They will be joining us at 2pm on Sunday, right after the Voice Auction and the Tae Kwon Do lessons/demonstration. It will be a great time to come and ‘meet and greet’ them both.

We’re very lucky to have our own K-9 unit here in Caledonia. And don’t forget we will be collecting aluminum cans for the Cans for K-9 Cops at the festival as well. So please save your cans and bring them with you to the festival and look for the special receptacle.

The monies raised are matched by Alter Trading and divided among the 5 Racine County K-9 units. In an interview with Officer Radke on YouTube, he shared that all of the expenses for Louie are covered by donations. The only item in our village budget is for his food. Monies for other expenses/services have to be raised or donated. Officer Radke raised $35,000 to take Louie to Virginia for his training to become our K-9 officer.

So we need your help!


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 10

We can’t have a festival without food and beverages! So bring your appetite!
• Saturday 6:30-8:30 Timber’s Double B’s BBQ TRUCK
• Saturday 6:30-10 Our very own Food Court featuring picnic type foods: Burgers, Brats, Hot Dogs, Chips, Soda and Water. Cash only-no tickets
• Saturday 6:30-10 Beer Garden serving Miller products, Coors Lite, Pabst and a variety of wine coolers. Tickets only-no cash please.
• Sunday 10-6 Food Court serving picnic type foods as well as Hot Ham sandwiches - a reminder Cash only-no tickets.
• Sunday 10-6 Beer Garden - a reminder, tickets only-no cash please
• Sunday 10-6 Roasted Corn by Knights of Columbus 4831
• Sunday 11-2 A Taste of Italy dinner catered by Infusino’s. The menu includes Mostaccioli and Meatballs, Gnocchi with Alfredo Sauce, Lasagna, salad, bread, and beverage. Wine will be available to purchase. Cost of the dinner is $15.00. This will be served in the school basement-no carry outs.
• Sunday The Bakery Booth and Farmer’s Market will be open immediately following the 8:00 mass


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 9

Be sure to bring the kids and grandkids to the festival. They are sure to have a great time, there will be something for each of them to enjoy! We will have games, crafts, prizes, face painting, Jenga, Corn Hole, Kid’s Bingo, a Bounce House, and much more.

At 1:00 we will be having a demonstration and lessons for kids and teens from Chay’s Tae Kwon Do.

A NEW ADDITION to our festival this year is an area provided by Level Up Racine (formerly known as Gamestersbay). They are a video gaming store and lounge at 215 6th Street in downtown Racine. With the aim of catering to the youth in the community, they provide educational gaming opportunities, including card, table top, video games, and e-sports, as well as other classes in personal finance, art, and music.

They will be setting up a GAMING STATION at our festival on Sunday complete with video screens and consoles, games like Mario Bros., Super Smash, Mario Cart, and Wii games. There will also be a selection of board games to play. And maybe a surprise or two. THIS WILL BE A GREAT AREA FOR THE TEENS AND TWEENS OF THE PARISH! A ‘good will offering’ is encouraged, though not mandatory, to help support all the great work they do in their community outreach.

A bit about them-they’re much more than a video gaming lounge! Their mission started with the family of Officer Wilson Velazquez to keep his vision alive and keep kids off the streets. Getoffthestreets.org was born. Officer Wilson served for 20 years with the EMS and Fire Dept. of Cleveland, and then served for the New London Ohio Police Dept. for 14 years. His mission was to keep kids off the streets, keep them off of drugs and out of gangs, and to keep them engaged and active in a safe place. Officer Wilson has since passed away from a heart condition.

Some of the projects near and dear to their hearts are:

  • Reduce Reuse Recycle program. This program was created to rehome and repurpose PCs, TVs, Gaming Consoles, video games, board games, card games (Pokemon, Digimon, Magic) puzzles, toys, dolls, etc. When you donate, they are ftxed and placed at a community center, a cop house or a parks and rec area near you. Also, if you think it’s broken - don’t throw it away. You can drop it off at their location downtown.
  • Outfitting Community Centers and Cop Houses. It’s their mission to make sure these centers are armed with the tools they need to keep kids off the street.
  • They also partner with small businesses that want to employ teens who are interested in particular industries.

You can contact Ivette Camarano at levelupracine@gmail.com


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 8

One of the biggest draws at our festival is the Voice Auction.

People come to our festival especially to participate in (or sometimes just to watch) our Voice Auction. The bidding can get a bit crazy at times and be especially entertaining!

The Voice Auction this year will run from 1:00-2:00 with our favorite auctioneer, Bob Hagemann. Please plan on participating.

We are always on the lookout for donations for our auction. If you have items you would like to donate, please contact Ann at 414-397-9425 or ahedrington32@gmail.com. You can also leave them with Betty in the parish office.

Items should be new. We are also accepting vintage items. No large furniture pieces please.


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 7

Who doesn’t love a parade? A tractor parade, that is. Our tractor parade last year was such a hit, it’s back by popular demand.

Do you own a tractor and would like to be part of the parade? The exact route of the ‘ride’ is yet to be determined, but it will end with the parade entering the parish grounds at noon, with a blessing for our drivers, farmers, and crops immediately following.

The tractors will be available for viewing on the grounds after the blessing.

If you’d like more information, please contact Karen Peterson at 262-989-1730 or Email: kpcrayon1960@gmail.com


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 6

What’s a great festival without great music? So put on your dancing shoes and warm up your voices to sing along with some fabulous music.

Saturday 7-10 p.m. Larry Lynn (solo). Larry has a great musical history of more than 50 years and “still rocking”. He is sometimes known as the Godfather of Milwaukee Rock and Roll.

Sunday 10a.m.-1:00p.m. Cork ‘N Classics. A return of a St. Louis favorite to sing your favorite songs from the 60’s, 7O’s, 80’s, and beyond.

Sunday 2-6 p.m. North Cape Express. Back by popular demand (again), come and enjoy some fun lovin’ music in the afternoon and to close out our 2023 festival. In case you didn’t know, 2 of our very own parishioners are members of this exciting band.


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 5

This week we’re highlighting the ever-popular Basket Raffle. This is on of the favorite areas of our festival. In fact, we are becoming famous for our baskets. Our ‘worker bees’ are already collecting items for the baskets.

Some of the themes we have in mind are:

• Christmas
• Kitchen/baking
• Sports/sports teams
• Kids-games, books, Legos
• Pets
• Happy Hour-beer, wine, etc.
• Office/School supplies
• Pampering
• Gift cards
• Movie Night
• Fishing
• Home Healthcare supplies
• Ethnic (Italian, Mexican., etc.)
• Morning Eye Opener (coffee/tea)
• Sundae Fun Day
• Baby Basket

If you’d like to contribute to the baskets, please mark your NEW donations as “Basket Raffle” and drop them off at the office M-W or in the barrel in the back of church. Don’t have items you think we can use? Cash donations will also be accepted which allows us to fill in with items needed.

The new ticket system we used last year was a huge hit. It saves everyone time! So get ready! The baskets will be awesome, as always.

And stay tuned for next week’s feature.

Inside the Best Fest - Feature 4

If our Wisconsin weather ever decides to fully cooperate and allow us to enjoy Spring, our gardeners will be in full planting mode. We’ll not only be planting flowers to make our yards beautiful, but yummy vegetables to enjoy all summer and fall. There is nothing better than a ripe warm tomato picked right from the vine. That is, unless, we can share that with our friends and fellow parishioners at the Farmer’s Market section of our Festival. This area continues to be one of the most popular and appreciated of our festival. We get to enjoy delicious, fresh produce grown by our neighbors at very reasonable prices. So as you are planting your vegetable gardens this year, perhaps plant an extra tomato plant or two, or some extra peppers, tomatillos, potatoes, onions, cuks, or your favorite treat and donate them to our Farmer’s Market.

Contact Barb Maller at 414-418-9577 or Email: bmaller98@aol.com with questions.

Inside the Best Fest - Feature 3

Calling all of you with a ‘green thumb’. The plant sale at our festival brings gardeners young and old. It has always been an extremely popular feature. You’ll find a variety of perennials, house plants, succulents, small rock gardens, or even some established decorative pots. You can even expect to find a few rare surprises.

One highlight again this year will be some fabulous fused glass garden stakes created by one of our local artists. So be sure to stop by and check them out.

Of course we are always looking for plants. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a plant sale. So as you are dividing your perennials this spring, or thinning out your house plants, keep us in mind. It’s most helpful if you can place a tag on the plant letting us know what type it is and any special planting instructions: ie sun/shade, direct/indirect sunlight, etc.

Contact Barb Maller at 414-418-9577 or Email: bmaller98@aol.com with questions.

Do you have a previous festival sign?

If you have a St. Louis Festival sign, could you please drop it off at the parish office. We have a way to modify it for this year's festival. If the parish office isn't open, you can just leave it at the northwest entrance.

Thank you, the festival committee


Inside the Best Fest - Feature 2

Your festival committee is hard at work planning details for this year’s 'fest'. You may have noticed the donation barrel has been placed in the back of church. This would be for any donations you may wish to make as an addition to raffle baskets, items we could use as prizes for the Kid's area, or items for the auction. You can also drop larger items off in the parish office Monday through Wednesday. Below are just SOME of the features you will find at the festival this year.

You may send or drop off your donations to the parish office. PLEASE be sure to label it FESTIVAL. Our donation barrel will be available in the back of church after Easter.


  • A Kids Korner...an area set aside for the young ones to hang out. Books, puzzles, table games and activities will be free for their entertainment. There will be a couple other surprises as well. We’re still looking for someone who is willing to coordinate this with us.
  • Craft Booths...Independent crafters are invited to rent a spot and bring their hand-crafted specialties. The spots are 10 x 10 and can be rented for $25. Contact Jamie Flick at 262-883-7205 or jamie.tyw@outlook.com for details and sign up.
  • The Voice Auction …we’re looking for new items, services, or gift certificates. Contact Ann if pick up is needed. 414-397-9425
  • Tractor Ride and Show...We're inviting tractor owners to join in a ride together ‘around the block', ending at the Festival Grounds for a blessing. Contact Karen to sign up and get details. 262-989-1730
  • There will be an outdoor mass on Saturday at 5:30, with food, fun, live music and beverages immediately following.
  • Meat Raffle both Saturday and Sunday
  • Large Raffle
  • Farmer’s Market, Bakery Booth, and Plant Sale-SUNDAY ONLY
  • Raffle Baskets
  • Live Music

Stay tuned for additional details as they become confirmed.  Contact Barb Maller at 414-418-9577 or Email: bmaller98@aol.com with questions.


Now Accepting Festival Donations

You should have received your April Newsletter featuring a note from the Festival Committee.

We have started accepting donations for our raffle baskets, auction items, as well as cash donations to offset expenses. “Sponsorships” are available for donations of $200-$500 or more. You may designate your monetary donation for a specific item: Beer, Food, Band, Auction, or Meat Raffle. For your generosity as a sponsor, we will publicize you on the festival grounds and you will be listed in our post-festival bulletin. You may also remain anonymous, should you choose.

You may send or drop off your donations to the parish office. PLEASE be sure to label it FESTIVAL. Our donation barrel will be available in the back of church after Easter.

You may contact:
Karen Peterson at 262-989-1730 or Email: kpcrayon1960@gmail.com
Barb Maller at 414-418-9577 or Email: bmaller98@aol.com


St. Louis Parish Festival update

We have numerous festival meetings under our belts and we have a good direction for the upcoming festival.

Our festival will be two days this year, Saturday, August 19th & Sunday, August 20th.

The festival will feature three local bands, kids activities, tractor parade & blessing, farmer's market, bake sale and plant sale, craft booth area, food court and live voice auction. We will also have a vairety of raffles including our large raffle, meat raffle, raffle baskets, and 50/50 raffles.

We are in need of some additional help in areas listed below. Please email us to let us know if you would be generous enough to volunteer to make our Parish festival a success.


CALLING ALL CRAFTERS!

For our 2023 St. Louis Parish Festival, we are offering our Craft Booth area again.

Independent crafters are invited to rent a spot and bring their hand-crafted specialties.  The spots are 10 x 10 and can be rented for $25.

Please contact Jamie Flick at: 262-883-7205 or jamie.tyw@outlook.com for details and sign up.

We look forward to having you join us at our Festival!




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