Basilica slates spaghetti dinner for new roof

Staff Report

A spaghetti dinner to benefit the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Assumption and its new roofing project will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. April 21 at St. Mary's Catholic School in Marietta.

The dinner will feature a three-meat spaghetti sauce using the recipe of Father Lawrence Luciana of Huntington, said Teresa Domico, vice president of the Catholic Women's Club at the basilica and an organizer of the spaghetti dinner.

Luciana's homemade spaghetti sauce is popular, but the ingredients are not disclosed, according to Domico.

"It's a secret," she said.

Any sauce that's left over from the dinner also will be sold, Domico said.

Dinners are $15 for adults, $12 for children under 12 and free for children 3 and younger, she said. Tickets will be sold at the door. Pre-orders are being taken by calling Matt Miller at 330-243-5500, she said.

St. Mary's School is the venue because it can hold more people, Domico said. The dinner is dine in or take out with a drive-through service available from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., she said.

The dinner will include a bouncy house and children's games and raffles for canned goods including homemade jellies and jams, jewelry and quilts, Domico said.

The budget for the roofing project is $1.825 million, according to the basilica. The contractor is Tri-State Roofing and Sheet Metal from Parkersburg.

Construction could start at the end of April, Domico said.

The basilica has started a campaign to raise money for the new roof. About $500,000 was raised through the monthly Sunday building maintenance collections and pre-drive donations.

Organizers hope to raise $16,000 from the dinner, Domico said.

According to the church, the existing asphalt shingle roof was installed in 1992.

Shingles are missing and leaks have been repaired in recent years at a cost of more than $70,000.

The congregation spent $4.5 million in 2016 on renovations to the basilica.