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Food and catching up with old acquaintances topped their to-do list camaraderie,
YOUNGSTOWN
Food, music, chatting with friends and renewing acquaintances ranked among the top draws for the thousands of people who flocked to Our Lady of Sorrows Parish’s 14th annual Mahoning Valley Slovak Fest.
The event took place Sunday at the Byzantine Center at the Grove, known as “the Grove,” off Shady Run Road on the South Side. That area is what one festival-goer, Dave Kuzma, of Youngstown said is known colloquially as the Lansingville area.
Kuzma, a mechanical engineering graduate of Youngstown State University, and his wife, Sue, both listed the food and the people they run into as among their reasons for attending the Slovak Fest.
“I grew up in this area. I see people I recognize from my youth,” said Kuzma.
Father John Jerek, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, estimated that 2,500 people had come through the door by 3 p.m. to the one-day Slovak Fest.
Proceeds from the event are used for improvements in the parish, which includes three churches in Youngstown serving 700 families, said the Rev. Mr. Jerek, 58.
Father Jerek also sees people he grew up with at the Slovak Fest.
“This is my home parish. Five generations of my family worshiped in Our Lady of Sorrows,” he said.
Rev. Jerek said he has noticed increased giving and caring for the disadvantaged in the community by the church in recent years, particularly support for the Dorothy Day House.
He also noted that Our Lady of Sorrows is the host church for the St. Vincent de Paul Society Dining Room.
Rev. Jerek said he likes the camaraderie and the teamwork.
“People from other parishes help us out,” he said.
One of the organizers of the Slovak Fest is Flora Schneider, who is a member of the parish council and headed the basket raffle, which this year featured 171 baskets.
Schneider was an educator for 42 years in the Mahoning Valley.
She taught for years in the Youngstown City Schools District, was a counselor and building principal in North Jackson schools; an administrator in Canfield schools and principal and director of the Jewish Community Center’s Akiva Academy.
“We started off bringing only Slovaks to the festival. That was the purpose of it, to bring Slovaks together,” said Schneider, 81.
She has also been active in the community, and formerly headed the Italian-American Festival in downtown Youngstown.
The Slovak Fest, in addition to food, offered polka music by the Jack Vasko and Del Sinchak bands.