It’s almost that time of year to celebrate the pyrogy.
Hundreds of people will flock to the Glendon RCMP Hall to enjoy the 28th annual Glendon Pyrogy Fest from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.
“It’s a great time for friends and family to get together, support the community and the town,” expressed Glendon Coun. Nicholas Werstiuk. “It’s also a time to see what the community has to offer.”
Melody Kwiatkowski, CAO for the village, said the event has continued to grow over the years, and they can’t always keep up with the demand.
“Last year, I believe we had somewhere around 5,000 pyrogies and we actually ran out. So this year we’re making more, and I’d say it’s going to be around 7,000. Basically, it’s going to be 300-lbs of potatoes made into pyrogies,” she exclaimed.
The pyrogies available during the event are handmade by residents of Glendon. It’s expected it will take the hardworking team between six and nine hours to prepare all of it for the hungry attendees eager to enjoy the Ukrainian delicacy.
“We have a good crew. It’s a volunteer group and minor hockey helps lots because they do this as a fundraiser as well. They’re the ones who serve the pyrogies on Pyrogy Festival day. They did one batch already, and I think they said they had 23 volunteers helping and it took them about two hours,” detailed Kwiatkowski.
Along with live entertainment from the Troy Gates Band, there will be a homemade vendors’ market and the Glendon Community Church pie sale.
The growth in popularity over the last 28 years has allowed the event to become bigger and better.
“There’s been an awesome response, and I think bringing in the small vendors, people like that too, because they like to come and see (what’s available). There’s something for everybody, and there’s activities for all ages,” Werstiuk explained.
For Kwiatkowski, her favourite part of the day “is just seeing all the people come out, and meeting people that aren’t from the Lakeland area because we’re getting more people coming from farther away.”
The decision was made to move the festival indoors due to rain over the past three years.
“With the unpredictable weather we’ve been having, we just said, ‘let’s do it in the hall.’ If we set up in the park and it rains, we’re done,” noted Kwiatkowski.
The finale of the day will be the pyrogy eating contest. Groups are divided by age to see who will come out on top. Residents will cheer on participants, in categories such as ages five to seven, 18-plus, and 55 and over, for men and women, to see who can clean their plates of pyrogies the fastest.
Registration for the contest is free. Anyone interested can sign-up at the souvenir table the day-of.
