NORWICH – As a tradition that began in the basement of St. Bartholomew’s more than 60 years ago, the spaghetti supper is now a heavily anticipated event for the church and diners throughout the area. Hundreds more are expected to dine at the East Main Street Msg. Festa Parish Center tonight as the church hosts the second night of its annual pasta feast.

St. Bart’s and St. Paul’s are hosting the two-night event, gathering more than 100 volunteers to help prepare, cook, clean and serve at this year’s conventional Italian dinner. Teams of volunteers spent days of preparing food for the expected 1,000 guests. Nearly 1,700 meatballs, 60 gallons of sauce, 200 pounds of pasta and 16 cases of tomatoes were needed in the arrangement. According to Nan Magistro, member of St. Bart’s spaghetti supper committee, both St. Bart’s and St. Paul’s greatly benefit from this fundraiser and parishioners are working hard to show that long traditions have strong community ties.

The dinner at St. Bart’s has taken place every year since the 1940s, said Magistro. Despite past efforts to host a similar event in February, the church has found that more excitement stems from a fall feast as more people attend and more people are willing to help.

The spaghetti supper is such a lasting tradition, says Magistro, that there are rarely unexpected surprises to the workers – many of whom have been part of the tradition since it began.