Dishing Up Election Day Tradition

November 4, 2008

It's Election Day, but many local candidates are taking part of the afternoon off from last minute campaigning. Politicians met with all kinds of people today on the North Side of Syracuse for a homestyle Italian meal. The "Spaghetti Supper" at the Cathedral Academy at Pompei is an Election Day tradition that has been around since 1949.

Dale Sweetland, Republican candidate for the 25th Congressional District of New York, has been going to the event for 15 years. "We've done a lot of hard work campaigning, and this is a time to relax and celebrate," he said.

Back in the kitchen, a man with a sauce-stained apron wiped streams of sweat from his forehead as he stirred an enormous pot of tomato sauce. "We've made 640 pounds of noodles, 350 gallons of sauce, and get this, 7,000 hand-rolled meatballs," said Tino Porrino of Liverpool. Porrino grew up in Syracuse's North Side and volunteers for the supper every year because he says the event is important to the community. "Locals and politicians come back year after year because it's nice to have a friendly, non-partisan gathering on Election Day," he said.

The "Spaghetti Supper" is also a significant fundraiser for the Cathedral Academy at Pompei. Meal tickets cost seven dollars per person, and each supper typically raises 15,000 dollars for the academy. But this year, Carmen Cesta from the "Spaghetti Supper" planning committee, said this number will be much higher. "This is the best turnout we've ever had," he said. "This election is historic and is really bringing people out."