PARIS – Catholic youths from around the state filled the gym at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School for a closing Mass on Sunday at the end of a weekend winter carnival.

The 500 to 550 youths were joined by their host families from local churches and parishioners from the church that hosted the carnival, St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Norway.

Carnival organizer Melissa Guerrette estimated the attendance at the closing Mass at more than 700 people.

“It was a really neat thing to be in an environment where it is typically not used for religious services,” she said of the gym.

The carnival weekend, which blended church-based workshops with recreational activities, went very smoothly, she said.

“It went far better than we hoped it would,” Guerrette said. She said she is grateful to community members for opening their homes to the youths, who registered for the weekend carnival through their parishes.

The teenagers had a choice of recreational activities, including movies, roller skating, swimming, skiing, scrapbooking and board games, Guerrette said. Some of the youths went to an area nursing home and played beano with the residents.

“I had a lot of good people helping me out,” she said.