---

On Palm Sunday weekend, hundreds of hungry people brought their money and their appetites to St. Anthony's Church in Schenectady to take part in an annual tradition: a bake sale to support parish projects.

The event is no ordinary brownie-and-cupcake sale. As proof, this year's version raised $12,652.80. The sale ran all weekend at St. Anthony's, lasting from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Sister Maria Rosa Querini, MPV, pastoral associate, is in charge of the mammoth effort that involves dozens of volunteer cooks and bakers.

"We sold Easter breads, all kinds of cookies, pizza dough, dry pasta, cannolis, biscotti, chocolate bunnies and cavatelli," she said. "We've been doing this for more than 30 years. We needed funds, so I got a group of retired women together. It started small and grew."

Teamwork
One of those retired women, Mary Visco, has been involved in the bake sale for 26 years, joining the volunteers when she retired from General Electric.

"I roll hundreds of cookies," she said of her contributions. She noted that the women get together several times a year to prepare for three bake sales - around Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day and Palm Sunday - and the annual parish Festa in the summer.

"The crew of women helps with everything," Mrs. Visco added. "We work from September, when the vegetables come in to can, to the end of June. I enjoy working here. We work hard - and laugh all the time."

The Palm Sunday event attracts "people from all over," Sister Maria Rosa told The Evangelist. "We prepare everything a little bit at a time. The pepper cookies take a long time because we make a lot of them."

She couldn't guess the exact number, but noted that "we start with 500 pounds of flour."

Sharing secrets
A teacher in the parish for 25 years, Sister Maria Rosa turned into a student when the bake sales began. "I bake the bread and pizza. I learned from the ladies in the parish," she said.

The secret to the success of the bake sale, Mrs. Visco believes, is "making the goods everybody likes. People look forward to it."

Sister Maria Rosa believes the secret is actually not a secret, but simply the hard work that leads to success: "You have to prepare," she explained. "You organize and do the work."

The enormous undertaking is worth the effort, she noted: "It's a lot of work, but $12,000 doesn't come just like that."[[In-content Ad]]

---