By David Karas | Correspondent

In the popular Star Trek series, the “Vulcan salute” hand gesture was typically extended as a wish that the receiver “live long and prosper.”

And thanks to the annual parish carnival in St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson, clergy and laypersons alike hope their parish and school will do just that.

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For the past 46 years, the Burlington County parish community has hosted the event, which this year bore the Star Trek theme of the “carnival in the final frontier.” The moniker is appropriate, given that the carnival has grown to be the largest and one of the longest-running in the Diocese of Trenton and generates upwards of $250,000 in revenue for the parish and school there.

Father Peter James R. Alindogan, pastor of the St. Charles Borromeo Parish, said that the carnival has become a critical part of the parish’s efforts to sustain its various activities, most notably the parish school.

“It has been working for 46 years,” he said. “The zeal for St. Charles Borromeo is there.”

“It is not only for St. Charles; it is more for Cinnaminson,” he continued. “It is a community event, even (including) people from other faiths.”

Following along with the theme of the Star Trek series, this year’s ambiance included life-sized replicas of characters in the show along with plenty of the popular badges worn by the series’ characters.

This year’s chair, “Captain” Tim Weir, has been involved in the operation for some 13 years.

“I was very excited to be asked to be carnival chair,” he said, adding that as an alumni of the St. Charles Borromeo School, that the “mission” was even more rewarding on a personal level.

For Weir, the efforts he has put into the carnival, and the efforts of his fellow volunteers, all revolve around the importance of stewardship.

“If we don’t take care of the Church, we won’t have it,” he said.

Each year’s program takes about three months of intense work - which is surrounded by year-long planning and strategizing. The weeklong event itself draws some 100,000 guests, and necessitates more than 1,300 volunteers for the task.

“It really is the only event in the parish that reaches into all of the other ministries,” he said. “We are drawing from our talent pool.”

Weir explained the three-year progression for a carnival chairperson. The first year involves shadowing the current chair, the second involves running it, and the third is dedicated to training and supporting the newest chairperson - as well as throwing an after party to celebrate the accomplishment of another successful year.

That trajectory was evident during a conversation that involved Weir, as well as his predecessor, Dan Walsh, and the next in the line of succession, Walter Fox.

Fox is a 14-year veteran of the parish event, and was hard at work learning the ropes for next year, when he takes the reigns. But while next year’s leader has been made public, the theme was under lock-and-key until after this year’s carnival came to a close.

Among the challenges that are encountered when organizing such a large event  is managing the limited space on the parish and school grounds, and recruiting younger volunteers as the core group of leaders and organizers grows older.

Father Alindogan marveled at the well-oiled machine that is the carnival operation - a business in many senses - and the dedication of the volunteers,.

“They take a week off work to be here,” he said.

Parishioner Joseph Jankowski began volunteering 41 years ago, when it first was expanded from a small fair to the large-scale carnival that draws so many guests today. He also served as the event’s chairman in 1984.