News

Each summer, about 30 volunteers gather in the social hall of St. Blaise Catholic Church in Midland, Beaver County, to peel 50 pounds of potatoes, knead dough and fill and pinch 1,000 pierogies for the church's annual fall festival.

Still more time is spent making 300 cabbage rolls from scratch.

The pierogies and cabbage rolls -- frozen until served -- are two of the most popular items at the festival, to be held this year Sept. 10 and 11 on the church grounds.

Traditional fare, including hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pizza, will be sold as well.

In making the pierogies and cabbage rolls, workers follow recipes handed down for years, with some minor adjustments. A volunteer suggested that butter replace margarine in the pierogies. Pork has been added to flavor the ground beef mixture for the cabbage rolls.

"One thing we never change is the flour," said Camille Cambier, chairwoman of the pierogi committee. "Volunteers insist on using (one brand) all the time for the pierogies."

Pierogies usually sell better than cabbage rolls because they are easier to freeze.

"Once stuffed cabbage is warmed, it is better eaten right away," said Mary Castelli, chairwoman of the cabbage roll committee. "It doesn't taste good reheated out of the freezer."

Many longtime volunteers are getting older and worry about the future of the festival, which draws several hundred visitors a year.

"I have a good, hard-working crew, but we're getting older," Castelli said. "I would like to retire, but it is difficult to find young (people) to take over. They're busy working and raising families and just don't have the time anymore."

Young volunteers tend to join the pierogi committee, which offers more work for them to do, Castelli said.

Dana Jones, 20, and her brother Eric, 17, have been members of the pierogi committee for the past eight years.

"Eric and I know every step of the pierogi-making process," Dana Jones said.

"Dana is very dedicated," Cambier said. "She works and called one day to find out when we would be making pierogies so that she could be off that day."

Cambier and her husband, Dennis, both retired teachers, treated pierogi committee members to a buffet in a local restaurant after last year's festival.

"They work so hard," Camille Cambier said. "You build a real camaraderie working side by side."

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News