The Feast of St. Joseph, on March 19, is a major celebration for Italian Catholics in Kansas City. Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Columbus Park lays claim to the city's original “St. Joseph Table," with volunteers spending weeks baking 30,000 homemade cookies. Ahead of St. Joseph’s Day, the pews at Holy Rosary Catholic Church are already filled — but not with people.

Instead, tens of thousands of cookies and decorations pack the parish in preparation for what’s supposedly the original St. Joseph Table in Kansas City. “It's friendship,” says 78-year-old Gloria Pizzichino, whose mother began the tradition at Holy Rosary over six decades ago. “It's all of our friendship and seeing the people that we grew up with because there's all ages that come. The young, the old — we all know each other and we get together this time of year and look forward to it.”