Election Day Tradition- Spaghetti Dinner

Local Election Tradition Keeps Candidates and Voters Happy, but Not Hungry

By: Akiko Matsumoto
November 6, 2008

The dish of the day was Italian spaghetti and meatballs, but it was the good ole' spirit of Americana that brought the hungry. At Our Lady of Pompei in Syracuse, local candidates and residents united to continue the nearly sixty-year-old tradition at the Annual Election Day Spaghetti.

"12 or 15 years since we've been coming to this spaghetti lunch," said Congressional candidate Dale Sweetland. "It's a place for everyone. All parties and all candidates." Many diners, like Sweetland, said though the spaghetti is delicious, it is the camaraderie and tradition of the event that keep them coming back. Here, there is no room for political talk at the table. "We kind of get to the point on Election Day." Sweetland said. "We run into each other here, and we visit and we say, 'Hey, things are done.' It's all we can do and let's get on with it and say let's see who wins."

Organizers started weeks in advance to prepare for this event. Ingredients included 7,000 meatballs, 300 gallons of sauce, and 640 pounds of pasta. At the end of the night, the empty plates and full banks proved the time and effort put into this event had paid off.

Parishioner Lucy Paris is still calculating the numbers, but has said that funds raised at are at a record high this year. Earlier in the day, she had suggested the presidential election may increase the success of the event.

She was right.

The national voter turnout was high and the banks were flush.

Profits raised for this event benefit Our Lady of Pompei Church and the Cathedral Academy at Pompei, where the money is spent on much-needed items for students.

*photo courtesy of News 10 Now, Syracuse Cable News