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We Need a LittLe Christmas
St. Michael’s will put on its eighth annual festival “The head of the festival planning comby Christopher Cornell mittee is George Petorak, who is also the
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There’s a term for this: it’s called “rushing the season.” But the parishioners at St. Michael’s in East Jermyn make no apologies. It’s never too early to get into the Christmas spirit and that’s just what they have in mind for this weekend. St. Michael’s Center, 403 Delaware St. in East Jermyn, will be the location for the church’s eighth annual, three-day Christmas in September event Friday, Sept. 22, 4-8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 23, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival will include live bands, homemade ethnic foods, more than 150 themed raffle baskets, a brand-name purse raffle, children’s activities, a car show on Sunday and more. Musical entertainment will include Mystic Rulers (Friday), a show by students of Faith Ann Liuzzo’s School of Performing Arts (2 p.m. Saturday), Billy Lee Michaels (4 p.m. Saturday) and the Jeffrey James Band (Sunday).
president of the church,” explains Rev. John Kowalczyk, the pastor of the church. “I’ll be giving spiritual direction to this monumental project. Each year it seems to be naturally growing and getting bigger and better.” Kowalczyk said the festival was the brainchild of another clergyman. “The idea came to us from Father John Perich, who is pastor of St. Herman’s Orthodox Church in Gradyville, a suburb in Philadelphia. He told us eight years ago that we have beautiful, sprawling property and a modern St. Michael’s Center facility with parking for hundreds of cars. In the past years we would have an annual parish picnic, but Father Perich told us to engage the greater community, come out of our comfort zone and be challenged by the possibilities, which are endless,” he said. One of the principal draws of the festival is the wide variety of food available. “The trademark of our festival is the excellent homemade food we continue to present to our visitors and friends and according to our head chef, Tom Liuzzo, in addition to our ethnic food items, which are extremely popular, including pierogies, stuffed cabbage
From left: Tom Liuzzo, Faith Liuzzo, Kay Fedirko, Rev. John Kowalczyk, Valerie Nidoh, George Petorak, Marilyn Petorak, Frank Hoehle, Debbie Bernosky, Barbara Paulubniak, Matushka Kathy Kowalczyk, Ruth Lasichak and Vladimir Kitchura.
and potato pancakes, we have expanded our menu to include, porketta, kielbasa, sopressata sandwiches, eggplant parmesan, pizza and halushki. There will also be homemade desserts including cupcakes, cakes, pies, Christmas cookies and holiday rolls.” Kowalczyk reported that Ruth Lasichak, who will be selling theme basket raffle tickets, isn’t exactly sure how many baskets there will be to choose from. “She says it’s hard to keep count. We have more than 100 gift cards from local businesses, which are partnering with us.” In addition to all this, we have more than 20 vendors coming from as far as Philadelphia, including many eastern European cultural and religious artifacts, seasonal wreaths, jewelry, homemade candles, seasonal crafts and much more. On Sunday, the big weekend concludes with a car show. “According to Dan Kitchura and his son Vlad, our car show consists of cars from 1920s and ’30s, and a range of cars from
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the ’50s and ’60s. We have more than 40 trophies to give away.” Kowalczyk said the proceeds from the event support the church and its many endeavors. “In addition to trying to meet our budget, we, like everyone, have to deal with escalating insurance costs, rising utilities, etc. The parish community is a very charitable church: at Christmas we include and help the poor, homeless and needy people of our community and try to make a difference in their lives.” Kowalczyk added that the church has recently partnered with the Special Olympics, allowing the athletes to use the St. Michael’s Center facilities and providing them with refreshments. “People are living in stressful and challenging times,” Kowalczyk said, “and the Christmas Festival is a time to come together, enjoy fellowship, good homemade food and go down memory lane with the classic cars.” 1313 Wyoming Ave., Exeter
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