Oct 29, 2004 By Jean Lohr For The 4 min read

Editor’s note: The Carpatho-Rusyn people come from the slopes of the Carpathian Mountain Range. Carpatho-Rus is located at the border where Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland meet. Smaller groups of Rusyns come from Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic. As a child, Bonnie Balas did not always watch what her grandmother was doing.

“Sometimes when children are growing up, they just don’t pay attention to what is going on around them,” Balas said.

It wasn’t until she went out in the world that she realized not everyone eats the same foods or lives the same way.

“My grandmother, Ann Sochko, lived with us all my life, and we were very close,” Balas said. “But I was in my late 20s before I became really curious” of all the things she did … “and all the things her mother taught her.”

Sochko, who died six years ago, taught Balas how to sew and embroider.

“These were all the things that I just took for granted,” she said. Balas also found as she matured she sought the friendships of people with the common Carpatho-Rusyn background.

“It’s not that I went out and asked people about their heritage,” she said.

“It’s just that I found I have so much in common with people of the same background.”

Since church and a strong “faith life” are a big part of her heritage, she was naturally drawn to people with the same inclinations.

Balas, a special education teacher in the Albert Gallatin School District who has traveled to Eastern Europe five times, now calls herself a “cultural activist.”

She regrets not talking more with her grandmother about the old ways and listening more to the stories she could have told.

Now, she and many other members of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church will continue a tradition begun nearly a quarter century ago.

“We have to share our culture with the young people, to keep it going,” she said. “Our future is in our youth.”

The Rev. Thomas J. Wesdock, pastor at St. John the Baptist Church, agrees.

“This is a great way we, as adults, can pass on our faith and traditions, our ethnic heritage, if you will,” he said. “And this is one way of helping children experience their ancestry hands-on.”

The public is invited to join in the 23rd annual Carpatho-Rusyn festival, which takes place Sunday beginning with the 11:15 a.m. celebration of a Slavonic Divine Liturgy at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, Uniontown. Festivities will continue until 7 p.m. in the social hall at 201 E. Main St.

“This is one of the best-kept secrets in Uniontown,” said Balas, one of the many parishioners involved in the project. “Nearly the entire Carpatho-Rusyn community is involved.

“There will be ethnic foods like piohi, holubki, halushki, kobasi and sauerkraut, and nalesniki – they’re potato pancakes,” she said.

“And there will be soups, including a wonderful chicken soup all the ladies of the church make,” she continued. “There will also be a wide variety of baked goods including

kolachi (apricot, nut, poppyseed and cottage cheese rolls), pagach and breads.”

There will also be many children’s activities with the focus this year on St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Storytelling and folk crafts will highlight the Rusyn cultural experience.

Demonstrations of pysanky (egg decorating) folk embroidery and woodburning will be featured.

Mark Jesko of Baltimore, Md., whose grandparents were members of St. John more than 70 years ago, will make his annual pilgrimage back to demonstrate icon writing (painting). The day will include music, folk dancing and singing, demonstrations, videos, displays and presentations. John Righetti of Monessen, president of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society will be the main speaker.

The Revilak family will sing at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Slavjane Folk Ensemble dancers and musicians from Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church in McKees Rocks will perform, under the direction of Jack Poloka, at 3 p.m.

A display by the Carpatho-Rusyn Society will include costumes, crafts and religious artifacts. A queen-size handmade quilt, embroidered and appliqu?d by the Ethnic Craft Club, will be raffled off during the festivities. Its theme is “eggs.”

Crafts, both contemporary and traditional Carpatho-Rusyn will be available for purchase as will many unique Christmas items.

For more information, call 724-438-6027.