The carnival at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel R.C. Church, West Brighton, was a local highlight at the end of every summer in my youth. That ended after a fire brought down the church on Dec. 8, 1966.

According to the church website, in 1913, Father Campbell and Father Poole decided there was a need for another parish. Father Louis Riccio, then an assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception R.C. Church in Stapleton, volunteered to carry the responsibility for the Italian immigrants on the North Shore.