Melkite Church welcomes food lovers

SCRANTON – Fans of authentic ethnic cuisine have an opportunity to aid a local church next weekend.

This year marks the ninth year for the Lebanese-American Food Festival at St. Joseph’s Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 130 N. Cabrini Ave., Scranton. The event, set for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 7 and 8, is the most important fundraiser for the church.

Attendees will get the opportunity to sample Lebanese staples such as kibbee, tabouleh and stuffed grape leaves as well as traditional Northeastern Pennsylvanian festival fare like potato pancakes, hamburgers and hot dogs.

A variety of Lebanese desserts, including baklava and filled shredded wheat pastries, will also be available.

Fr. Christopher Manuele, the administrator of St. Joseph’s Melkite Greek Catholic Church, said that this festival is a way to honor West Side’s Lebanese traditions.

“The church is almost 120 years old; when the immigrants came over, they established three parishes in Pennsylvania and ours is the last remaining,” he said. “The early immigrants came from a little town in Lebanon and formed the core of the parish. Then generations worshipped here and they all lived in a general area on the West Side of Scranton and as the ghetto broke up people moved here and there. This section was Italian, Irish, and Lebanese.

“Since other ethnic parishes had fundraisers where their ethnic foods were showcased as the attractive element, we said to ourselves that Lebanese food is unique amongst Italian and Irish food and we thought we could do something like that where it would be profitable and it could happen year after year,” he continued. “It is our principal fundraiser for the year and about half of our income comes from this festival.”

Betsy Zaydon, who is in charge of sponsorships and advertising for the festival, wants people to come to the festival and try Lebanese food, especially if they never tasted it before.

“It is not overly spiced so it is not a really spicy food,” she said. “I would try the Lebanese platter dinner that we offer to sample it. The platter has stuffed grape leaves, kibbee, hummus, tabouleh, and bread and yogurt. It is like a sampler of everything.”

Fr. Christopher Mauele thinks people will appreciate the freshness of Lebanese cuisine.

Zaydon also wants people to attend the festival so they can learn more about the church.

“We are a congenial group of people. We’re a small parish. There’s maybe 30 active families, if that,” she said. “We’re a friendly, welcoming group and we’d like people to know our church has been there for so long. We’d like them to see what the Melkite Church is all about. We’re the only one in Pennsylvania and our diocese is the whole United States. There might be about 25 Melkite churches in the entire country.”

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic (Byzantine) Church in full union with the Roman Catholic Church rooted in Lebanon and the Middle East.

“When the Byzantine people came to this area back in the late 1800s, they brought their religious roots with them so they were either Maronite or Melkite,” Zaydon explained. “After all these years, the church is still there. We might have changed names or we might not have Arabic-sounding names anymore, but we still continue to practice.”

Besides food, the festival will offer basket raffles, Arabic and American music, and a used book sale. North Cabrini Avenue will be blocked off during the festival, but on-street parking will be available in the vicinity of the church.

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