Fr. Stephen Adrian; parish priest and then pastor, 1968-1978

When Fr. Adrian came to Incarnation in 1968 there were 3,000 households registered in the parish and nine Masses each Sunday:  six upstairs and three downstairs.  One of these was at 5:00 pm.  But the day the Super Bowl started, virtually no one showed up for this Mass.  So they changed the Mass time for Super Bowl Sunday to 15 minutes after the game ended. Attendance went back up in subsequent years.

There used to be several rose gardens in the backyard of the rectory.  In fact the church had a contract with Bachman’s to take care of the roses, covering them each fall and uncovering them in the spring.

In the 1940s, 25% of the adult males in the parish were either medical doctors or university professors.  So when Fr. John O’Sullivan greeted men after Mass, if he didn’t know the person he would say “Good morning, Doctor,” figuring he’d be right at least 25% of the time.

Oktoberfest Beginnings

Margaret (Muggs) and Joe (President, Holy Name Society) Hanna;
Bea Kent, President, Women’s Club

Joe suggested to Fr. Robert Packard that there be one big festival for fund-raising instead of many smaller events.  Joe prevailed upon Bea to ask Muggs to be one
of the chair-people because he didn’t want to ask her.  Muggs agreed and asked
Audrey Palen, who she knew was a good organizer, to also be on the committee.

When getting a beer permit proved to be difficult, the committee went to parishioner and police officer Murph Cashman.  He found they could get a permit for beer on the premises, but could not charge for it.  Therefore, large signs were posted around the beer garden with suggestions for donations for a glass or pitcher of beer.

Sue Kenney

For the first few Oktoberfests, picnic tables from homes in the area were picked up and taken to the basement game room in Moynihan Hall to use for the beer garden, since there were no tables there at the time.
We Come to Share Our Story                page 3
Matt Rieger

Growing up in the mid-sixties at Incarnation there were always multiple masses to choose from on Sunday. An unwritten rule, at least in my mind, amongst the kids was that if you lived south of 38th street then you always sat on the south side on the main aisle and if you lived on the north side of 38th then you always sat on the north side of the main aisle. Now it probably had more to do with what door you entered into, but in my 53 years at Incarnation living on hte south side of 38th street, I have always sat on the south side of the main aisle and I would not dare cross over.