OPA! — The Rev. Yanni Verginis, surrounded by volunteers and sponsor representatives, cut the ribbon and began the 37th annual Greek Fest. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — The 37th-annual Greek Fest, hosted by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, officially began on Wednesday, the start of three days of food, fun and family.

The church’s priest, the Rev. Yanni Verginis, cut a ribbon surrounded by festival organizers and sponsor representatives to begin the festival, which will continue from 11a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Friday at the corner of South Fourth and South streets.

Festival co-chair Anthony Mougianis said he expects great weather and big crowds for the week. The church, he said, over-anticipated food preparation, with the expectation that a record number of people — upward of 20,000 — will walk through during the festival’s three days.

Food was served indoors, in the church’s Hellenic Hall, and outdoors.

The main food line indoors served hot Greek dishes, including lamb stew, baked fish, roasted chicken and more. Also inside were tables of handmade pastries on sale, such as a variety of baklava, walnut cakes and cookies decorated to look like the Greek flag.

Outside, volunteers had four different tents, from which they served more snacks and food. There were freshly sliced gyros, snow cones, fried dough balls — loukoumades — and a tent for alcoholic beverages. Live music, provided by the bouzouki player Sotiri, filled the festival grounds, and made for the background sound over which lively festivalgoers chatted.

Immediately before the festival began, the volunteers were led in a prayer led by Verginis in Hellenic Hall. The prayer was a reminder of the church family that makes the Greek Fest possible.

Vasso Espinosa is the festival’s longtime greeter. She was busy as the first customers came through the gate, helping out where she was needed while wearing a traditional dress from the Greek island Corfu and sunglasses with the Greek flag on them.

Espinosa said that everybody in the church, parishioners and close friends of any age, had a job to do during the festival, and they are happy to do it. She joked that there are “no child labor laws in the Greek Orthodox Church.”

“This is what it’s all about,” Espinosa said, “celebrating our background and making sure traditions are passed on to the next generation.”

George Sandonas is one of the church’s elders. At 92, Sandonas has seen the church undergo plenty of changes.

Sandonas lived in Greece but came to the United States when he was 18. He immediately joined with a handful of other people who took ownership of the Holy Trinity Church building, which had formerly belonged to other faiths.

“We built (the church) up little by little,” Sandonas said, and from the beginning, he never stopped being involved at the church.

“The church is a group, and without community, it won’t survive,” he said. “We’ve got to get together to be able to survive, and we are together.”

Mougianis, whose father, the late Nick Mougianis, was instrumental in initially building up the Greek Fest, said the festival first began 37 years ago as a 10-foot booth during an all-ethnicity festival. From there, he said, the church brought the festival to the street by the church, and it has continued to evolve.

Espinosa said the festival unites people from all over. She mentioned someone who drove 10 hours from Georgia just to have the baklava at the Greek Fest, in addition to visiting family in the area.

Everyone working at the festival was a volunteer, Espinosa said. She noted the many signs around the grounds advertising the festival’s sponsors, which included three corporate supportters: Trinity Health System, Eastern Gateway Community College and Capital Health Care Network.

Working as a volunteer was Angie Mahfood. She wore a shirt that read “Loukou Ladies” on the back — a hint as to her role. She was stationed at the loukoumades tent outside, serving the freshly-fried dough balls coated in honey syrup.

Mahfood said of the festival and its volunteers, “We’re like one big, happy family. … Everything is done with love.”

Rana Mahfood worked inside at the pastry tables, alongside the sweets she said are baked fresh. She said people from the church had been preparing for the festival in the kitchen for three-and-a-half months.

Christian Suarez was helping at the gyro tent outside. Although not a member of the church, he said the festival is “awesome” and he was glad to help volunteer at the invitation of some people he knew.

“It’s a good thing for the city,” Suarez said. “(There are) a lot of people coming in. (It’s) good to enjoy the people and the whole atmosphere.”

The Greek Fest itself also makes the church possible, Mougianis noted, saying that the church depends on the festival to make money and stay in existence.

“These are all nonpaid people,” Mougianis said, “and it’s all to keep the church going. When I was a kid, we had the steel mills booming. Well, now the steel mills are gone, and the kids are gone, so we have to find ways to raise money to help our church survive.”

“The (food) smells are very tantalizing,” he said, “and we hope that makes great sales for the church.”

In addition to supporting connectedness in the community, the church gives back through the festival. Each year, Mougianis said, the church donates $1,000 to a charity, and this year it will be the Fort Steuben fountain repair project.

Mougianis said that, in addition to having Greek dancers from Wheeling and Pittsburgh, the festival would feature dancers from Holy Trinity.

Verginis is offering tours of the church’s interior each day at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. He explained the background of the Orthodox Church and the significance of its iconography and chant music. Verginis, who became pastor of the church in September, said he is excited to meet new people and to promote the church to the public.

Jeff Turner was a returning visitor to the festival, visiting with three fellow retirees from American Electric Power. Turner said he was glad to see the festival returning to its fullness after the coronavirus pandemic put a pause on it last year and in 2020.

With Turner was Paul Petrella, who said, “The food quality is always the same, and that would be great.” Gabriel Salibi has been visiting the festival for several years, and he said he is “elated” to be there again. His favorite food at the festival is the moussaka, he said, quoting the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” “It’s really important to celebrate the cultural traditions,” Salibi said. “It makes for a rich sense of society and community.

Salibi said he has two friends who met two years ago at the Greek Fest, and now they are getting married in August.

“If it wasn’t for Greek Fest,” Salibi said, “they wouldn’t be getting married. That’s the power of community and culture.”