Expression of faith in a rainbow of colors continues with ‘sawdust carpets’ at new site in Springdale

A local Catholic church’s decades-old tradition of celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi by creating temporary visual expressions of faith using a rainbow of colored sawdust marked its 80th year on Sunday at a new location.

While the venue has changed, the cooperative weather did not.

Nobody on site could recall a time when rain washed out the event, and Sunday was no different. The day was warm and sunny with little to no wind. But, most important, there was no rain in sight to wash away the colorful creations.

The tradition of creating “sawdust carpets” for the Feast of Corpus Christi — Latin for “body of Christ” — started centuries ago in the Black Forest region of Germany.

The practice was picked up in 1943 by the former Holy Martyrs Church in West Tarentum, which was known as Sacred Heart Parish at the time, at the suggestion of the Rev. James MacNamara, the assistant pastor.

The celebration was moved to Our Lady of Victory Church in Springdale Township after Holy Martyrs and four other church buildings in the Guardian Angels Parish were closed last year.

David Blake, 27, who lives in the Altoona area, joined his girlfriend, Stephanie Copcheck, 28, to create a sawdust carpet depicting the legend of St. Francis of Assisi taming the Wolf of Gubbio.

“I came up with the idea in honor of the college I graduated from, St. Francis University in Loretto (Pa.),” Blake said. “I knew what sawdust carpets were, but I’ve never seen anything like this at any of the churches where I grew up. This is great.”

Blake joined Copcheck, who participated in creating the sawdust carpets while growing up and attending Holy Martyrs Church.

“I’ve helped other people with their carpets for years,” she said. “This is the first we’re doing one of our own.”

Tarentum native Mary Beth deRibeaux drove from Maryland with her son Martin, 25, to help what has become a tradition for her family.

“My parents and aunt and uncle worked on them starting in the 1980s, and I was always part of it while growing up in Tarentum,” deRibeaux said. “Keeping family traditions is important, and this is one of the ways we can do that for our family.”

The deRibeauxs joined relatives from the Scanga family, which has been involved with the annual celebration since the beginning.

DeRibeaux noted that when the church began doing the carpets in the 1940s, women were not invited to participate.

“Now the guys are asking me for guidance, so times really have changed,” she said.

Material for the project starts with 1,000 pounds of sawdust that is dyed earlier in the week and separated into burlap sacks.

Participants transfer their carpet design onto the asphalt using chalk and then begin filling in the sections with colored sawdust.

Seraphina Grevas, 5, said that filling in the chalk lines with the brightly tinted sawdust to create an image of St. Joan of Arc that her family was working on is a lot like using a coloring book.

“It’s fun!” she said.

Sally Hurley of Cheswick was recruited by her friend Erik Frantz to dye sawdust for his 32-by-12-foot sawdust carpet depicting the last supper using a geometric design.

“This is my first time doing this,” Hurley said. “After working on coloring the sawdust earlier in the week I wanted to come out and help create the carpet. I love that they are keeping this tradition going after the church in Tarentum closed.”

The Rev. John Lendvai agreed.

“This is a great way for the community to gather and for the people in our new parish to get together,” he said.

Lendvai said there are always difficulties when churches merge, but it’s important to accentuate the positives.

“People really stepped up to make this happen,” he said. “It’s a positive sign, and we’re excited. I think it’s a nice expression of what’s to come in the future of our parish. It demonstrates what can be done when we work together.”