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I was there in 2000 when the 60k attendance doubled the previous year's due to the Millennium. They were prepared. Nobody in the world prepares for the crowds better than the monks at Carthage. And it helps that the people attending are neater than most folks. There was NO litter until the last day when it got to looking messy for an hour then the litter just disappeared. The portapots never got foul. There was sufficient electricity and water for all the campers on the grounds. Cameras left on car hoods and remembered two days later were still there. My wallet with several hundred dollars in it was still intact and very visible on the shelf in the shower a day and a half later when I finally remembered where I left it. There was beer around despite the signs forbidding it, but no one got rowdy or even noticeable. The only call for an emergency vehicle of any sort was due to a heart attack.The most interesting attendees, to me, were the old vets, who had been in SEA in the 50s and early 60s, and had brought back wives. They came with grandchildren.

This year several families went from my parish. I will try to go again next year. It helps that the celebration was moved to a week/10 days earlier because the schools here start in the middle of August now in the ongoing attempt of the NEA to get our kids away from us the whole year and families couldn't go for a couple of years.

The most interesting attendees, to me, were the old vets, who had been in SEA in the 50s and early 60s, and had brought back wives. They came with grandchildren.

This is how communities are built. It means the monks are doing an excellent job of holding families together. My Maronite pastor just returned from a mandatory clergy conference and retreat in VA. He told us about a parish in PA where, many years ago, the pastor built up the new community with a parish hall, outdoor sports facilities, etc. Today, the community numbers 150 children, all descended from that first group of parishioners.

In small immigrant parishes, it takes innovative methods such as those cited above, to keep the community together and grow it over the course of decades.