Loading ...Lebanese festival bittersweet event - News - The Times-Tribune
Leaders at the St. Joseph Melkite Greek-Catholic Church saw this year’s Lebanese-American Food Festival as more than the usual mix of a celebration of the small congregation’s heritage, an anticipated social event and a critical fundraiser.
The two-day festival, which kicked off Saturday and drew people from all over the valley, was also a symbol of the West Scranton parish’s perseverance.
The approximately 60-family congregation hasn’t always traveled an easy road in recent years, whether the church needed costly renovations to its roof and steeple or the parish mourned the loss of its beloved spiritual leader when the Rev. Michael Jolly died this spring.
Father Jolly started out commuting to the church from New Jersey as a deacon about a quarter century ago and fell in love with the congregation.
The feeling was mutual, said Thesesa Patchoski, a volunteer who recalled the priest constantly visiting sick people in hospitals or nursing homes and keeping the church youth engaged.
Karen Kane, leader of the church ladies society, similarly described the pastor’s loss as devastating and spoke of the importance of continuing the festival that features traditional Lebanese foods like kibbe, stuffed grape leaves and hummus.
“We felt that we still needed to have the festival in memory or in honor of him, but also our church is a small church,” Mrs. Kane said.
While the parish waits for a new priest, the diocese has been sending a deacon and priest from New Jersey to give liturgy on Sundays, and the church community itself remains tightknit, active and resilient, Mrs. Kane said.
Volunteers continue to keep activities — like breakfasts, spaghetti dinners and the festival — going. When the only Melkite church in Pennsylvania has had financial problems, community donors have stepped up.
“My grandparents helped build the church,” Mrs. Kane said. “My mother was president of the ladies society for 50 years. My father was active in the men’s society. It’s just a natural feeling that I have, that my sister has, to continue working, continue doing what they started. My heart is in this church. This is where we belong.”
Tyler Milewski recalled the festival started when she was 9 years old. Now at age 22, she is chairwoman of the festival’s food and spoke of the importance of carrying on the tradition.
“I want this church to be around for future generations, including for my family and for other families,” the Jefferson Twp. resident said.
Source: thetimes-tribune.com