St. Spyridon draws huge crowd to enjoy the ‘flavors of Greece’
The annual celebration features a wide variety of Greek cuisine, along with entertainment.
By MICHAEL VINSICK
mvinsick@yourmvi.com
St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of Monessen drew large crowds Friday for its annual “Savor the Flavors of Greece” food festival.
Customers lined up in front of indoor and outdoor food stands, waiting to try out new foods or get their favorite dishes.
Brielle Galis carries a Greek flag while Joe DeMarco carries a U.S. flag Friday evening during a performance by the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Dance Troupe at the St. Spyridon Greek Festival outside the Hellenic Center in Monessen. The annual event featured traditional Greek food, music and dancing. Jeff Helsel / MVI
There were multiple options in the Hellenic Center, as well as gyros, baklava sundaes and pork shish kebabs available at outdoor stands.
The festival also included entertainment from Yiamas Music and Thansis Vasilakis, a live performance from a Greek band at 5 p.m. and the St. Spyridon Greek Dancers at 7 p.m.
St. Spyridon Church President Ronalyn Apodiakos said volunteers were greeted with non-stop customers from the time the festival opened at 11 a.m. to its close at 9 p.m.
“We run two food lines to expedite the process, but we are completely full from open to close, especially outside when the entertainment comes,” Apodiakos said.
The festival had more than 60 sponsors — at Gold, Silver and Bronze tiers — including newfound support from
The Rev. Meletios Gianniodis smiles as he joins members of the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Dance Troupe during a performance Friday evening at the St. Spyridon Greek Festival outside the Hellenic Center in Monessen. Jeff Helsel / MVI
Valley First Federal Credit Union in Monessen. The credit union had several employees volunteer to help the church serve food at the event.
“They were a blessing for me because when you first open up so many areas at once, there’s going to be a kink or two,” Apodiakos said. “I had them positioned in places where they were able to help me have an easy start.”
Proceeds from the festival go directly to the maintenance and ministerial efforts of the church.
Baldwin resident Jaime Staver came to the event with her uncle, Dave Tresch. Because it was her first visit, Staver wasn’t sure what to try first, so she settled on pastichio, a Greek-style lasagna with layers of ziti, seasoned ground beef and grated cheese, topped with a creamy béchamel sauce.
“It was really good,” Staver said. “Just the way that it tasted, the texture and everything, it was really good.”
Staver later tried the chicken breast and the spanakopita, layers of filo dough stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. She hoped to have the baklava sundae as a final dessert before leaving.
Gyros and shish kebabs were the most popular choices among customers, as well as the dessert dish baklava sundae.
A featured item brought back due to high demand was yemista, a ripened tomato traditionally stuffed with beef, rice and fresh Greek herbs and spices.
“Our volunteer base is very small. We are a very small church,” Apodiakos said. “We are blessed that we have churches from Pittsburgh that come out to help us, besides our own parishioners, and we spare no age,” she said. “We have our youth working all the way up to two 90-year-olds.”
One of the 90-year-olds was Nicolas Lagos, who’s been helping serve the church for more than 50 years.
“I love these people here, it’s beautiful,” Lagos said.
Many years ago, Lagos was working at another church in Brooklyn, N.Y., before coming to Monessen.
Preparations for the festival start several months in advance, as Apodiakos and the church’s small group of volunteers prepare and cook every item by hand, ensuring the menu is entirely home-made.
Saint Spyridon, a humble shepherd from the island of Cyprus, performed many miracles, including the explanation of the trinity, according to Greek Orthodox tradition. The church currently holds Spyridon’s slippers, which are considered to be a holy relic, inside a box that’s supposedly impossible to open without Spyridon.
The festival is both a celebration of the church and Spyridon’s miraculous works to help Christians.
