It’s the oldest, continuous religious feast of its kind in the proud history of the Diocese of Providence, celebrating its 124th anniversary this year. And, there are those who contend from a food standpoint, there is no rival. Indeed, the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church Feast has been in a class by itself.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is pleased to announce that its 16th of July Feast in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel will be led by Chief Marshals Oliver and Donna Poissant. The announcement was made by the Rev. Henry P. Zinno Jr., pastor of Mt. Carmel Church.

According to Father Zinno, the Poissants were a natural choice this year.

“They have been wonderful life long parishioners of our parish and have tremendously helped out at our feast for so many years, helping with set up, take down, running the water and soda booth, cooking sauce for multiple events, and now in our new way of running the feast, they have been kitchen cooks and helpers at a number of our take out feast food events,” he said. “Congratulations to Ollie and Donna. We know you will lead us well in giving honor and praise this July to the Blessed Mother of God, Queen of Carmel.”

In addition to the Chief Marshals announcement, Father Zinno said that this year’s Thomas Vendituoli “Faith in Action” Award recipient is Colt S. Dean.

“The Thomas Vendituoli Faith in Action award is given in conjunction with our parish feast to a young person 30 years of age or younger who displays the qualities of putting faith into action that were so much a part of Tom Vendituoli’s life,” Father Zinno explained.

Colt is a graduate of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Bishop Stang High School, and CCRI. He also received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from URI.

“In addition, Colt was an Altar Server, MC, and one of our longest serving Sacristans,” noted Father Zinno. “He taught religious education in our faith formation program and went on our youth mission trip to the Mustard Seed Community in Nicaragua. Recently he got engaged to a former Vendituoli Award winner, Catherine Orszulek (2018).”

Ironically, Ollie Poissant’s mother, the late Theresa Poissant, was a former Mt. Carmel Feast Chief Marshal in 1990, as was his late aunt, Annie Sousa, that same year.

Ollie and Donna Poissant is a very special couple. They have worked diligently to make the annual Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church Feast one of the most revered and successful events throughout the diocese.

“We’re very excited about being this year’s Chief Marshals,” said Donna. “We’ve worked at the feast for a number of years. It’s a lot of hard work, but we’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

You could tell in Ollie Poissant’s voice that he was excited about earning his parish’s highest honor.

He didn’t come right out and say it, but Ollie knew deep down he was thinking of his mother and the fact that had she still been alive, she would have been most proud of her son.

“I’ve been involved with this feast since 1991and have enjoyed it all,” he said. “I love this church so much.”

Past Mt. Carmel Church Feast Chief Marshal Ron Armillotto put it in proper perspective on his Facebook page: “Ollie and Donna are two of the best. They tirelessly donate much of their time to OLMC.”