OXFORD – Approximately 50 people attended St. Joseph’s 165-year celebration held Sunday morning, the celebration beginning with a mass of thanksgiving in honor of the parish’s patron, St. Joseph, followed by the annual Italian festival Festa di San Giuseppe and a breakfast brunch.

Although St. Joseph’s spiritual needs have as of late been attended to by Reverend Gerald Lupa of St. Malachy’s in Sherburne, the Sunday service was conducted by visiting priest Father Paul Machira. Father Machira, orignally from Kenya, is now residing at St. Patrick’s in Binghamton and is currently pursuing a Masters Degree. When the St. Joseph’s parish in Oxford was in the process of being conceived in the 1830s, priests from St. Patrick’s in Binghamton would hop in a wagon and cart their way to what is now Chenango County. Once there, the visiting priests would conduct the Oxford parish’s services thus making it all the more fitting in parish members’ eyes for Father Machira to have led Sunday’s 165-year celebration.

During the service, children brought food to the alter where it was blessed by Father Machira. After the ceremony, the food on the alter was distributed to attendees to take home with them to share with other people who could not be present. Bundled in care packages, the food was intended for shut-ins or others unable to attend as part of the church’s outreach program.