Tropical oasis to be theme of Epiphany of our Lord festival

The two-day event will end with an outdoor Mass Saturday night.

Volunteers help prepare halupki for the Epiphany of Our Lord Summer Festival, which will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Submitted

Those who stop by the Epiphany of our Lord Summer Festival in Monessen will be on island time this weekend.

The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, transforming church grounds into a tropical oasis for a weekend of live entertainment, games and craveable homemade food.

Organizers work hard for months to plan the festival, putting in many hours to plan and prep for the one of the church’s largest fundraisers.

Committee chair Robert Sassak said they are expecting about 2,000 people to attend if the weather cooperates.

It will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. each day, as people stop by for the food and stay for entertainment and fellowship with their friends and family.

Uptown Classics will perform throughout the duration of the evening Friday.

On Saturday, a full lineup of entertainment will include a performance by Mon Valley Push from 5 to 9 p.m. and a balloon artist from 5 to 7 p.m. The festival will conclude with outdoor Mass at 9:30 p.m.

There will also be children’s games and a basket raffle, with more than 20 baskets donated by the community.

While there is plenty of fun to be had, the festival’s biggest draw is the food, featuring the parish’s award-winning pierogis and other authentic ethnic favorites.

Longtime volunteer Kathy Imbrescia took the lead in the kitchen this year, but she’s not in it alone as dozens of hands have worked tirelessly for the past week peeling, cutting and prepping.

Outside the church hall, traditional picnic food will be served, including pizza, pizza burgers, hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, Philly cheese steaks, corn on the cob and fried dough.

Inside, traditional ethnic food is on the menu. Items will be served a la carte, and dinner platters will be offered in two varieties.

The ethnic dinner plate will in- clude halupki, pierogis and haluski. An Italian dinner will include cheese-stuffed shells, meatballs and a piece of hot or sweet sausage.

All items can be purchased a la carte style to make a perfect plate, with choices of cheesestuffed shells, meatballs, hot or sweet sausage, halupki, haluski, pierogis, pulled pork and coleslaw.

All the food is home made, and fresh, with Imbrescia and her team preparing since last Friday.

“Our menu doesn’t change much year to year because people really like what we have,” she said. “We like to keep it simple and stick to what we know.”

A variety of homemade desserts will be available for guests to snag a sweet treat to finish their meal or to take home for later.

“We have so many people pitch in, it’s not the kind of thing you can do by yourself, so we really depend on each other, and it comes together,” Imbrescia said. “We even have people from other churches who are helping us this year.”

Guests will see a new face in the crowd this year as Father Anthony Onoko experiences his first festival.

Onoko has been with the church for about a month, coming from Saint Raymond of the Mountains Parish in Donegal.

Originally from Nigeria, he serves as the pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord in Monessen and Saint Sebastian in North Belle Vernon.

“He is really excited and has already brought so much energy to our church,” Sassak said. “So we’re excited for him to experience his first festival with us. He’s been very happy to be a part of it.”

There will not be a fireworks display this year as the church had an unexpected expense due to the cost of replacing one of its roofs.

“A lot of people are disappointed, and we are too, but the repair was necessary,” Sassak said.

He hopes the fireworks can return next year.

“We had a really good crowd last year, and as long as the weather holds off, we hope people will come out and enjoy it,” Sassak said. “Every year I say it, but putting this together makes you very thankful. I’m so grateful for all the help given to us by people in our parish, from making food and peeling potatoes for thousands of pierogis, to those who help set up, sell tickets, count money, serve food, it’s a real team effort that we’re very proud of.”

The church is always looking for volunteers to help set up, tear down or lend a hand during the festival.

“There’s no such thing as too much help, so if anyone did want to help us out, they can just stop by and ask for someone in charge and we will find a job for them,” Sassak said.

The Epiphany of Our Lord festival committee includes Imbrescia, Cindy Pawelec, Sassak, Sara Stein, George Pesi, Onoko, Pastella, Rita Lucas, Mary Dzurik, Kathryn Dzurik, Pat Godla, Lisa Blatnik, Flo Petrosky, Susan Polomoscanik and Doreen Smith.

More details are available at the parish’s website at eolparish. com.