When Pope Benedict celebrated Mass at Yankee Stadium recently, he walked across white carpet provided by Flemington Department Store of New Jersey. Now the store is giving away souvenir pieces of that carpet. (Photo by Chris Faytok)

FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Flemington Department Store co-owner Ted Resnick always thought the ultimate job would be working with the pope. After several meetings with the Archdiocese of New York, he got his wish.

His store provided 20,000 square feet of white and yellow carpet for the pope to walk on at two of his recent appearances in the United States.

And now he's giving it away.

Store workers are giving away 1-foot-by-1-foot sections of the carpet that Pope Benedict XVI walked on during his recent American visit. The white carpet sections are from his April 20 Mass at Yankee Stadium; the yellow pieces are from his April 19 visit to St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.

Resnick said he's receiving requests from all over the country. And people want the carpet sections for different reasons.

"There was one woman who wanted a piece for her son to kneel on when he got married," he said.

Resnick saved the carpet from under the pope's chair and said he plans to do something special and give it to a local church.

Resnick said putting down the white carpet at Yankee Stadium made quite an impact.

"When the light hit the white carpet, it was so bright that everybody was talking about it," he said.

People are interested in the carpet sections because having a memento from an American papal visit is rare. Benedict is just the third pope to come to the United States.

Pope Paul VI was the first to visit the United States in 1965 when he spoke at the United Nations. Pope John Paul II made public appearances twice, in 1979 and 1995 on the East Coast.

The Flemington Department Store has put down the carpeting for many high-profile events, including the tree lighting at New York's Rockefeller Center and the MTV Video Music Awards.

"That was fun because Fergie was singing while we were working," he said.

The store's carpets will be seen around the world again May 5 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's star-studded Costume Institute Gala. Hosts George Clooney and Julia Roberts along with dozens of A-list movie stars will walk down the store's carpets.

While Resnick likely will work on many more high-profile events, there probably won't be anything like the pope's visit.

"That will never be topped," he said.

For more information contact the department store at 1-888-877-2192.

(John A. Zukowski is assistant features editor for the Express-Times of Easton, Pa. He can be contacted at jaz(at)express-times.com.)