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Ethnic fair in Poland intertwines food, entertainment, merchandise
Photo
Joe Roscoe serves stuffed cabbage Sunday afternoon in Poland.
By Sean Barron
POLAND
The foods varied widely — everything from baklava to four-cheese ravioli.
Perhaps the largest menu item, though, was a generous helping of diversity.
That was a sampling of the offerings at Sunday’s first ethnic fair in Holy Family Church’s Parish Center, 2729 Center Road.
The six-hour event appropriately was called “Celebrating Our Valley’s Traditions and Cultures.”
Inescapable aromas — as well as plenty of entertainment — filled the 6,000-square-foot hall as hundreds of people browsed and bought from the estimated 25 vendors items and foods representing numerous cultures.
People with Irish in their blood — or those considering gift ideas for someone who’s Irish — needed to look no further than Shawn Mulhall.
“I started this to share my heritage and as a hobby,” Mulhall said of Finnegan’s Cottage, a Poland business he opened 18 years ago. “It began as a hobby, then I decided that maybe I could make a living out of it.”
Merchandise Mulhall had for sale included coffee mugs with Celtic crosses and other Irish symbols, crosses on tile, framed Irish prayers and sayings, green bracelets and T-shirts.
Finnegan’s was named after Mulhall’s paternal grandmother, he added.
Mulhall also owns S&T Engraving, which specializes in designing and embroidering company logos and school mascots. The 18-year-old business designs school shirts and uniforms, he said.
The gathering featured foods such as wedding and tomato-basil soups, chicken and beef chili, pirogis, gnocchi, biscotti, kielbasi and sauerkraut, sausage, pepperoni and spinach rolls and numerous types of cakes and cookies.
Providing entertainment were the Krakowiaki Polish Folk Dancers, the Burke School of Irish Dance and the Csillagok Hungarian Folk Ensemble, all local groups.
Other items for sale were key chains, homemade liquid and solid soaps and jewelry, figurines, cloths from Germany, Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic, and coffee pots. Also available and sold by Lauren Fox were antique dolls, ornaments and holiday cards with string art from Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Fox, president of the National Slovak Society’s Region 7, Assembly 731 chapter in Poland, said she’s trying to get her children and grandchildren to better understand their heritage. Her great-grandparents came from the former Czechoslovakia, she recalled.
“I’ve met a lot of people [at the festival] who have studied their ethnicity and backgrounds,” Fox said, adding that her NSS chapter is a fraternal organization that plans Easter-egg hunts, summer picnics, Christmas parties and other activities.
Performing community-service projects and giving back are always important, regardless of culture or country. That’s a mantra members of the 3-year-old Acts of Random Kindness group have adopted.
ARK, based at Holy Family, has about 30 girls in grades four and six who perform community service and learn skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and baby sitting. An emphasis also is on education, noted Melanie Jones, president.
Examples of the girls’ efforts are collecting backpacks for Easter Seals, donating food to Angels for Animals Inc. and making blankets for those at Akron Children’s and Walter Reed Army hospitals. Next month, the girls will sing Christmas carols for people at a local soup kitchen, Jones continued.
Sixth-graders Nadine Jones, Alena Argiro and Courtney Marki have been members of ARK since its inception. In addition, all are certified to perform CPR.
“I wanted to basically earn money for our group and learn about other nationalities,” said Nadine, daughter of Melanie Jones, referring to why she wanted to take part in Sunday‘s event.
An important part of the two-day baby-sitting class was learning what’s safe and unsafe in a youngster’s environment, said Alena.
“I like going to Easter Seals and playing with the kids,” Courtney said.