Festive and filling

Mahoning Valley Slovak Fest serves up food, entertainment

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Mallory Vaclav didn’t need an expensive airline ticket to Florida to see a palm tree.

The only necessities were a mirror — and some colorful help from Patty Cervello.

“I didn’t care what she did, so she surprised me,” said Mallory, 9, of Canfield, referring to the palm tree painted on the left side of her face that was courtesy of Cervello.

Mallory and Cervello added an array of color to Sunday‘s fifth annual Mahoning Valley Slovak Fest on the St. Matthias Church grounds, 2800 Shady Run Road on the city’s South Side.

Face-painting is something of a tradition for Mallory, who’s had it done all four years she’s attended the event, said her mother, Cherie. Mother and daughter also took part in a Chinese auction and partook of several ethnic dishes, Mallory said, adding that four of her siblings worked at or attended the gathering.

In addition to festivals, Cervello, also known as “The Facepainting Lady,” makes her artistic flair seen at family reunions, bazaars, cultural and charity events, picnics and birthday parties, she explained.

Mallory said she hopes Cervello will be part of her 10th birthday get- together Oct. 27.

The 8 Ω-hour festival offered a variety of ethnic foods such as holubky (beef hand-rolled in a blanket of cabbage), lamb, barbecued chicken and piroji (potato-filled dough in butter). Prices were $1 to $13.

Attendees enjoyed the combination of ideal weather, food and entertainment, as well as the towel sets, minibanners, soccer shirts, compact discs and other items for sale that tapped into Slovak culture.

In the early 20th century, many Slovaks immigrated to the Valley from Europe in search of a better life. Many worked in the steel mills, opened businesses, started fraternal organizations and built churches.

Numerous couples couldn’t sit still and found themselves dancing shortly after the Del Sinchak Band began filling a tent with its brand of polka tunes and waltzes. Entertaining the crowd in the church before Sinchak was the Eddie Vallus Band, which played a variety of polkas and music from the 1950s and 1960s.

The main purposes of the annual festival were to bring Slovakian people together and promote their culture, noted Jim Danko, event chairman.

To that end, St. Matthias was one of four Slovak churches that participated in the festival, he said. A goal is to bring all of the local Slovak parishes and dioceses together, Danko explained, adding that the event continues to grow each year.

“It’s a nice outpouring of people who come together for it,” he added.