BY ROBERT SANCHEZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Small church festivals have become big business in Hamilton County.
Instead of talking funnel cakes and bingo, festival organizers talk marketing strategies -- and more important -- profits.
"There are so many charities and parishes to give money to," said Jodi Weiser, public relations coordinator for St. Rita School for the Deaf. "We're competing with other fairs and organizations for that money. It's a business."
St. Rita boasts one of the largest and most profitable fairs in the Tristate. Nearly $250,000 is raised during its July St. Rita Fest, which accounts for almost 10 percent of the school's annual budget.
St. Simon Church of Delhi Township is expecting almost $40,000 from last week's two-day festival; St. Mary Church in Hyde Park will earn about 5 percent of its budget this festival season; and Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Middletown will see an almost $60,000 profit.
"The money we bring in is what keeps our church going," said Georgia Comminos, president of the church council for Sts. Constantine and Helen church. "We live on one festival to another. This is our lifeline, and we hope it doesn't dry up."
Even after money is spent on ploys to attract festival-goers, attractions must be added for a special touch. St. Rita Fest has its turtle soup, which is sold by the bowl or the gallon, and St. Simon sells more than 2,000 ears of roasted corn each year.
"People just love that kind of stuff," said Ralph Bauer, one of the organizers of St. Simon's festival. "They can't get enough, and they keep coming back."
Churches are beginning to share ideas, and established festivals are the guiding lights for organizers who are not used to immense amounts of planning. But some of the trade secrets won't be given away any time soon.
"We're not going to give them any recipes," said Ms. Weiser about the turtle soup. "We'll help them with everything else, though."
St. Rita's administrators spent $5,000 on billboard advertising outside downtown Cincinnati, while others shell out hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for ads in local media.
Ms. Comminos has been involved with the church's events for 31 years. Not every festival has people who know what they're doing, she said.
"Our church is fortunate, because we've been at this for so many years," Ms. Comminos said. "Some churches don't know where to start, but we've proved that we know how to make enough money to keep going."
Most festivals are like an extra month's income, said Dan Andriacco, director of the office of communications for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
"People in our churches have the experience it takes to make them profitable," he said. "It would be pretty unusual not to see a church trying to get money this way."
Non-Catholic churches also are trying their hands in the festival business. Blue Ash Presbyterian Church is having its first Family Fun Fair in September, which will put money into the church's community. Organizers paid attention to how events at other churches drew customers and made sure they scheduled their fair later in the year. "We didn't want the competition that established fairs would have brought us," said Nancy Hennel, one of the fair's coordinators. "In mid-summer, there are so many things that could have thrown us off.
"We're not sure how much we're going to get out of it, so we have to try and get every dollar we can."
The money is key.
"In the past, if it wasn't a good year, it would be hard to make payroll," said Angie Pfaller, business manager for St. Mary's. "If we didn't have this, it would make a noticeable dent in our budget." Organizers concede some festivals are better than others and some covet what the competition has.
St. Rita's, for example, would like a couple of those lifelong parishioners who handle church fairs, said Ms. Weiser. "All these churches can fall back on their parishes to bring family and friends. We don't have that, and sometimes I wish we did."
