St. Joseph’s Family and Friends Fun Day will be held on Sunday, May 1 at Hasbrouck Park in New Paltz (right next to the church) from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event will feature food, games, fun activities for all ages, including kickball, a three-legged race, Bingo, a trivia game, face painting and more.
Abigail’s story will be shared during the event at 2:30 p.m. Her story: On July 1, 2018, the Dietz family was having an impromptu summer get-together in New Paltz by the pool. Three-year-old Abigail just slipped underneath the water without notice. Her cousins continued to play and splash, and the adults were all right there, but no one saw her fall to the bottom. It was her sister, six-year-old Emma, who noticed Abigail’s pigtails at the bottom of the pool and, without prompting or hesitation, instinctively dove to the bottom and dragged her sister up by her feet. Suddenly everything went silent. The air tightened; shadows froze. Abigail was not breathing. She was grey. Ann Dietz, a pediatric nurse, ran to her daughter and started doing CPR. She just kept pressing and pressing and checking her airway and pulse and pressing again. After almost five minutes of CPR by her own mother, Abigail choked and coughed up water. Abigail is 100% fine now, saved that day by many miracles.
Staff members of the New Paltz Rescue Squad and Moriello Pool will be on hand on May 1 to demonstrate life-saving techniques that are valuable around water. Organizers will be giving out Abigail’s story packets that contain the narrative and a lifeguard tag, whistle and lanyard. Refreshments will be served.
All are welcome. Volunteers are still needed for the Family and Friends Fun Day event. If interested, contact Fr. Salvatore at 255-5635.
Join the family! 
