Report & Pics by : Canet Roydon Vas
Melbourne, 06 Sep 2014: Monthi festh was celebrated with great pomp and grandeur in
Melbourne, Australia on Saturday, the 6th of September 2014 at Santa Maria College,Northcote under the leadership of MKC (Melbourne Konkan Community). People gathered
in great numbers, renewed the spirit of happiness and nostalgic memories of Mangalorean culture, custom and tradition.
The celebration commenced with the blessing of the new corn and offering of flowers to infant Mary followed by the Holy Eucharist in Konkani, presided over by Fr. Stany Tauro, PP of Our Lady of Health Parish, Shirva and concelebrated by Fr. Prakash Cutinha, PP of St. Joseph's Church, Northcote. In the wonderful homily, Fr. Stany stressed on the importance
of family life and sharing. The mellifluous Konkani choir headed by Dn. Prakash Menezes & Ramson D'Silva uplifted the spirit of the feast. The overall liturgy was systematically
organized and executed by Elias Mascarenhas
The Cultural competition that followed the mass, at the same venue was a great show.Team 'Porzallchim Neketram" led by Valerian Menezes were the overall winners of the
day, followed by the first runners up team "Godgodo" led by Sheba D'Souza and the second runners up team "Udenthichim Tharam" led by Jane D'Souza. Fr. Stany Tauro, Mrs. Clara
Menezes and Dn. Prakash were the judges for the competition. The program was hosted by the new budding M.C. of Melbourne Canet Vas.
Jossy Fernandes, the dynamic President of MKC, thanked the people gathered for their participation, the sponsors for supporting the event and the volunteers and MKC committee
members for their hard work in organizing this successful event.
Grace before meal was said by Dn. Prakash Menezes after which delicious traditional vegetarian meal including vorn, gulab jamoon and boondhi laddu was served. Dinner was followed by a game of housie conducted by Manoj D'Silva, where many people won good prizes including a 32 inch flat TV sponsored by Nikee Migration Services Pty ltd.
Throughout the evening, the host Canet Vas kept the gathering entertained by his hilarious The Platinum sponsors of the event Nikee Migration Services Pty ltd and Smartline Home
Loans, were felicitated by Jossy Fernandes and were awarded a memento and a certificate. The Gold sponsors SMS accounting, Richard and Philomena Fernandes, Jossy and Gretta Fernandes were also presented mementoes by Stanly Martis, the Vice President of MKC. The fantastic evening finally came to a close with the Baila dance.
MKC would like to take this opportunity to thank all its members and volunteers for their tireless efforts in organising this event and for all the people who attended, without which this
event would not have been successful.