The annual Men of Marian Picnic that benefits Marian Catholic High School, Hometown, has special significance, according to one of its legendary members who has been at each one.

Now called the Blue and Gold Club, John P. “Jack” Malarkey, 88, continues to be part of the annual tradition that started back in 1970.

Malarkey will be among the volunteers serving ethnic food delicacies when the 50th picnic is held on Friday and Saturday from 5-9 p.m. on the grounds of the school. A food sale will round out the weekend festivities on Sunday from noon-3 p.m.

“The picnic was a combination of wanting to raise money for the school and wanting to get people together so they could enjoy time with each other and get to know one another,” said Malarkey, who first started teaching at Marian in 1960 and served as principal there from 1977 until retiring in 1998.

The event has had as much social value as it did financial worth, he said.

The first picnic was held in 1970 on the grounds of property in Hauto, moved to Jim Thorpe’s Memorial Park and finally on the grounds of the school in Hometown.

Hundreds of volunteers through the years helped make the picnic one of those “can’t miss it” events, Malarkey said.

“We had a tremendous amount of help; it was amazing,” he recalled.

Every year, he said, “People from around the region, the perimeter of Carbon and Schuylkill counties, and all of the towns within it, came together.”

Raised millions

Malarkey recalled the great role the Men of Marian played in the success of Marian’s new central school, opened in 1964 in Hometown after having been spread through the Panther Valley and Tamaqua towns for nearly a decade.

The organization was first started in 1964 as a brainchild of the Rev. Frederick Winkler, then principal. Winkler “called together” a group of men to ask them to help raise money for transportation needs of the newly established school in Hometown.

Hundreds of men stepped up to play roles in the legendary organization that through the years has raised “millions of dollars” for Marian.

The Men of Marian emerged as a financial backer of athletic teams, insurances, tuition assistance, the music department, and much more.

“The picnic (which started some years later) was crucial in not only the organization’s success in raising money, but in the unbelievable social value that made Marian,” Malarkey said.

A variety of food

The menu featured halupki, halushki, pierogies, sausage and peppers, meatball hoagies, bleenies, funnel cakes, pizza, French fries, corn on the cob and a variety of soups. “People came to eat all of the things we love and don’t have every day of the week,” Malarkey said, adding, “and to drink beer, too.”

Aside from the financial value, the social worth, he said, “is what I truly believe helped form the Marian family. It (the picnic) brought a lot of people together; people I got to know that I wouldn’t have without the picnic.”

He added, “A lot of men joined the Men of Marian … it seemed everyone wanted to help. Ultimately, it brought in people who fell in love with Marian. And all of a sudden, we found ourselves asking each other, ‘How’d we ever get so big?’?”

Malarkey said wives of the members were always in the line of fire preparing the food items.

Malarkey and his wife, Jane, have been steady volunteer workers, not missing one in all 50 years.

At the picnic’s 25th anniversary celebration he said the many women who have supported the organization deserve equal credit. “I thank God for all of you,” he said then.

Businesses that helped provide food also contributed to the success. “There are so many of them to this day that have been so good to us,” he said.

In the early years, the men built their own concession stands, erected them and took them down. Malarkey said member Jim Weber of Mahanoy City, one of the pioneers of the festival and a contractor, purchased the former Kaiser Brewery building in that town, and stored the stands in the second floor of the massive structure.

“But it was work,” he said. “We hauled the stands, and everything else we needed, from site to site, and the work in preparing the festival was labor-intensive. I remember lifting those stand boards up one by one to the second floor of that building.”

Preparing the food in the Marian cafeteria kitchen took a week, he said, with the men and their wives and friends steamed cabbage, rolled halupki, and made meatballs.

Activities too

When it came time for the festivities, the men made sure they had games and activities, with the “dunk tank” eventually becoming the most popular for children and adults. One year, Malarkey and the Rev. Joseph Kean, then pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Parish, Lehighton, dressed as a Mexican priest and Viking, respectively, and “egged on” long lines of enthusiasts wanting to dunk them.

“Fifty years is a long time to keep something running, but the devotion people had to Marian made it possible,” Malarkey said.

He mentioned Joseph L. Boyle of Jim Thorpe, who became the first president of the group, and his successor, Frank Flaim of Mahanoy City.

“They started a tremendously successful thing. They helped to not only meet the transportation needs, but collectively helped raise millions of dollars for Marian. They put in numerous hours and countless efforts to make Marian successful.”

The late Jack Cannon was a long-standing member, having served as president of the organization seven times.

While there literally were hundreds of volunteers that helped make the picnic successful, Malarkey recalled some of the other early leaders of the club included Stephen Lyba, Jim Sauka, Joe Thomas, Larry Furey, William Kennedy, Geno Nardini, Paul Kmetz, Bob Wargo, Andy Serina, Gene Mulligan, Al Yancoskie, Bob Dvorsky, Ray Boyer, Joe Kubert, Jay Gallagher, Joe Delpero, Al Heaney, Jack Fisher, Bill Gould, Pat Monaghan, John Shofran, George McIntyre, Joe Boyle (of Tamaqua), Bob Roche, Emmett McCall, Joe Geusic, Charles Budow, Joe DeAngelo, Fritz Spokas, John Angelo, Frank Hager, Frank Rutch, Frank Sebelin and Herman Agosti.