BELVIDERE—“I’m just really thrilled about how many are showing up,” said Cathy Vendemia as a steady flow of people continued to come across the lawn to the St. James Church picnic on Saturday, July 26.

Along with Mass the night before on the feast of St. James, the picnic helped kick-off the parish’s 150th anniversary year.

Held at Spencer Park, here,  the afternoon featured brats, hot dogs and plenty of potluck salads, desserts, chips and more. The line stretching through the pavilion had people of all ages relaxing and visiting on their way to the food.

Kids and adults got their faces or hands painted by parishioner Dave Worrell, who is the town’s fire chief.

Worrell also designed a medallion for the anniversary, which will be cast and given to first communicants, at weddings and other special events during the year, Vendemia said.

Games for the children and a tug-of-war were planned for after the picnic meal, she added.

For several members of the parish building committee, the success of the parish family picnic was extra sweet. The picnic, Vendemia said, “is a way to bring people back together — we’re calling it a family reunion. We’re trying to unify and bring our parish (back) together.”

St. James Parish is emerging from a challenging time. After many months of sometime-sharp disagreement on whether to build a new church in a new location or remodel the old, most St. James parishioners are now happily in favor of the addition being built onto the old church in downtown Belvidere. Walls are up and hopes are high for a December completion.

It was “such a tough beginning,” said Josette DeBruyne, a building committee member who has been a parishioner at St. James for 10 years. The timing of the 150th anniversary is good, she added, noting that “the history (of the old church) is going to be there, and we’ll still have a new, bigger and better space.”

The addition will greatly expand the church capacity.

“We can have one Mass instead of two,” Vendemia said of the closing Mass planned for the parish patron’s feast on July 25, 2015. On the weekends, she adds, “We can have four Masses instead of eight.”

The list of events for the 150th year includes several that are happening soon: an Aug. 15 bus trip to the Marian shrine in LaCrosse, Wisconsin; an Aug. 16 bus trip to Milwaukee for the Irish Fest; a Sept. 13 golf outing; a Sept. 20 dinner; and an Oct. 24 Chili Cook-off and Trunk-or-Treat event.

“It’s an exciting time,” Vendemia concludes. “It’s going to be a wonderful year.”