This past weekend, St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie celebrated the 14th annual Ukrainian Food Festival. The event’s visitors enjoyed a taste of Ukrainian cuisine and an insight into the importance of the country’s cultural practices and traditions. It allowed members of the church to share their Ukrainian lifestyle with the community around them.
The event celebrated all aspects of Ukrainian culture but focused on the country’s food. The main event took place in the church’s basement, where visitors formed a line out the door to get a sample of the hot food being prepared. The kitchen’s menu was limited but included the highlights of Ukrainian cuisine — perogies, kielbasa, halupchi, halushki and borscht. The food was prepared by the church’s parishioners in the days leading up to the event.
The festival’s offerings extended to the bake sale, which featured several Ukrainian baked goods such as nut rolls, apricot rolls and chocolate almond cake. Like the hot food, all of the treats were made and donated by the members of the church. Proceeds from the bake sale and hot food sale benefitted the church.
One of the festival’s co-chairmen, Michael Kapeluck, from Carnegie, has been a part of the event since its inception. Initially, Kapeluck and the other parishioners had a booth at the Carnegie Arts and Heritage Festival that was held in the area, where they sold a similar menu to today’s hot foods. After that festival’s final year, they began hosting their own at the church. Kapeluck believes it’s important to continue the tradition to preserve pieces of the culture he grew up in.
“I think everyone should celebrate their culture — it’s so easy to just forget it,” Kapeluck said. “Particularly now with the war in Ukraine, where they’re desperate just to survive, us doing a little bit, at least, just making sure the culture continues to be preserved is a really important thing.”
Beyond the food, the event also had a section dedicated to raffle baskets. There were around 20 baskets, each with a different theme like board games or baking. Like the food, the basket items were donated by parishioners starting in August.
The basket chair, Michele Kapeluck, wife to Michael Kapeluck, and fellow parishioner Tracey Sally have also been a part of the Ukrainian Food Festival since its creation. Michele Kapeluck loves the impact her work has on the church.
“We enjoyed setting up yesterday. [Tracey] and I spen[t] the day just setting up, which is fun,” Michele Kapeluck said. “And all proceeds go to church.”
Sally enjoys helping with the festival each year because of its importance to the parish and its connection to the community.
“It’s for the church, it’s for a good cause,” Sally said. “It’s nice to get to know members of the community — we have people that come all the time.”
Another feature of the event was the Ukrainian marketplace. The marketplace featured vendors selling various Ukrainian products with each table specializing in something different. Many showcased traditional Ukrainian blouses and authentically colored necklaces and earrings. Other tables included fun t-shirts, magnets and stickers featuring the Ukrainian flag.
One particular vendor was a part of the nonprofit organization Ukrainian Cultural and Humanitarian Institute. The secretary of UCHI, Nick Kotow, worked at the organization’s table and sold hand-painted wooden figures of animals, angels and crosses, created by children in Ukraine. These art pieces are created and distributed in partnership with an organization called Warm Hands, a Ukrainian art camp dedicated to helping children who are struggling with their mental health.
“They use a technique called ‘art therapy,’” Kotow said. “When they see the colors and they’re using their hands to create something, they begin to feel a little bit better.”
The wooden paintings come in all different colors and designs, specially designed by the child that made it. The president of the UCHI, Stephen Haluszczak, has made two trips to Ukraine to visit the children at these camps and has brought back samples of their artwork to be sold. The organization gives the children an outlet for their struggles, and in turn, their work is celebrated by people in the United States.
“[They send] us some samples, what the children have made,” Kotow said. “We sell them, and all of the money we raise selling items, we send off to the organization to help sponsor additional camps.”
The UCHI joins the festival in its goals of promoting Ukrainian culture throughout the community while raising money for important causes. The festival invites all attendees to celebrate with the parishioners and spend a day immersed in the Ukrainian lifestyle.