Croatian Pride Day to feature food, vendors and information

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The St. George Croatian Home, 3200 Vestal Road, will host Croatian Pride Day from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

The celebration will be patterned after typical open market and outdoor cafes found in towns and villages in Croatia. A large number of vendors and organizations will provide patrons with a wide variety of Croatian food, handmade products and information.

The doors will open at noon and admission is $3. An admission ticket will include a chance at the Croatian door prizes awarded every hour.

Inside, patrons can browse the various vendors offering a wide variety of Croatian products to take home, almost like they would if shopping in one of the open markets in the old country.

Cooks will prepare many Croatian foods for eating in or takeout. Food available for sale will include homemade egg noodles, kolbasi, chicken paprikash, chicken noodle and grah i zelje soup, cevapcici, sarma, palachinka, and apple or cheese strudel.

To place carryout orders of cevapcici, sarma, chicken paprikash, and/or soup, you must call in advance to 330-788-2154. Limited amounts of these items will be prepared, so to ensure that your order is filled you must order these items as soon as possible.

A bake sale will also be available and all the ladies of the lodge are being asked to bake something. A limited number of nut and apricot kolachi also will be available for Easter.

Other Croatian-related items available are embroidery, jewelry, Croatian art, Podravka products, music CDs & DVDs, and imported handcrafts from Croatia offered by Heart of Croatia and Darlane’s Gifts.

Several stations will provide information about the local Croatian community and its organizations, such as the Happy Hearts Junior Tamburitzans with their frozen strudels, and the Croatian Center & CFU Lodge 66 dispensing information about CFU membership and club key cards, as well as selling golf shirts with the club’s logo. Bacho’s Floral Arts and Candies will sell homemade candy for Easter.

Castlebrooke Winery of Napa Valley, Calif., owned and operated by Tony Butala, founder of the vocal group, The Lettermen, will feature wine from his premier Castlebrooke label to sample, as well as to purchase.

Butala’s wine-making experience goes back to his Croatian great-grandfather’s founding of the Butala Vineyards in 1875 in Skakavac, Croatia. Butala also will have available some of the most popular CDs recorded by The Lettermen.

Also featured will be a 50-50 raffle and a basket auction with Croatian gifts donated by the vendors.

Traditional Croatian tamburitza music will begin at 12:30 and continue until 5 p.m. First to provide entertainment will be Happy Hearts Tamburitzans from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Next will be Rose Husnick and the Veseli Tamburitzans.

For information call the Croatian Home at 330-799-0914.