If you wanted doughboys, a meatball sandwich or apple crisp, the annual four-day Our Lady of Grace Italian Feast and Festival was the place to be last weekend. Festival Field in Johnston played host to a smorgasbord of food offerings, carnival rides and games during an event with roots that go back roughly a century.

“As often was the case where Italian immigrants settled and began to celebrate a particular devotion, the development of Our Lady of Grace Church as a parish grew out of that devotion,” said the Rev. Peter J. Gower, pastor of Our Lady of Grace. “The Feast of the La Madonna della DiFesa is well known, not only in the Johnston area, but also statewide.”