One hundred years ago, 40 families in the Trenton area founded a church. The 40 families were of Greek heritage and primarily from the Greek islands of Andros and Chios.
Todaym the 100-year-old Saint George Greek Orthodox Church consists of almost 400 families and is still a beacon of faith and family.
The church was first located on Jackson Street in Trenton. The congregation outgrew the original building, and purchased and renovated the previous Presbyterian Church at Mercer and Market streets, also in Trenton.
In 1969, the church assembly approved and purchased a site on Klockner Road in Hamilton, to build a larger church and other necessary facilities. The new structures were built in phases, with the church, community center and cultural center being the three primary buildings.
The final phase of the church building was adding the iconography which was completed in 2005. This was done using Greek artists, who do this work as their specialty.
This year the church will celebrate the 100th anniversary with a gala dinner in the fall. Saint George’s is also looking forward to its 45th annual Greek Festival that will be held on the Klockner Road grounds on May 19-22nd.
Each week, Sunday services are held, first with Orthros; prayers, petitions and hymns, then the Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m. After the liturgy there is the coffee hour with time to meet and greet other church members.
With a steady size of the congregation, the church also offers pre-school, religion classes and Greek language school for K-6th grade. The Greek language school is two hours a night with separate classes for the different age groups.
Many of the Greek community still have families and property in Greece. This makes continuance of the culture and language even more important.
Easter is the high holidays for Christian churches, and it is very special for St. Georges. Many of the congregation give up meat for the entirety of Lent. They substitute with fish and vegetables. During this time at the church volunteers are busy preparing food for the upcoming festival.
The festival was started in the 1970’s as a fundraiser for the church and was a success. The tradition carries on now as the festival celebrates it’s 45th year.
The festival is only made possible by the numerous volunteers on the festival committee. One leader of the committee is Martha Taweel. She is with operations management and one month before the festival she is gathered with 20 volunteers making pans of Spanakopita or spinach pies.
Making the pies is a collaborative effort. Mixing the spinach, cheese, spices and surrounding it with the thin phyllo dough is a delicate operation. Making the huge amount needed to feed the people at the festival and allowing for take home pans, takes the volunteers 3-4 days. Then the spanakopita will be frozen to be baked fresh for the festival.
“For these people it is a labor of love, we sometimes have three generations in here helping to make the food for the festival. Everyone seems to have their specialty and do what they do the best.” says Taweel. “We meet in the weeks before the festival and prepare the food. With this many helpers it works well. “
Also, in helping on this day is Eva Golfinopoulos. Her relatives and in laws were here from the beginning. “Before the church was finished the altar was over there,” pointing to one end of the large community center room. “Before the church was completed, there were baptisms in the corner over there.”
Drawing in close to two thousand visitors during the length of the festival, the Greek community really looks forward to it. “People travel from all around the area to come eat the food, see the dancers and meet with each other. It has been a tough couple of years with Covid and we are really looking forward to the festival this year. I think we all are.” says Golfinopoulos.
The Saint George pastor is Rev. James Pavlow. Now in his 10th year at Saint George, he is looking forward to the formal liturgy in November to celebrate the 100th year anniversary, but he also looks forward to the festival. “It brings people together; we all look forward to it. I will say a prayer for good weather, and I will even get credit if the good weather comes,” he says.
When asked what his favorite food offered at the festival, Pavlow without hesitation answers, “The lamb shanks! They are delicious.”
Some of the menu offered at the festival is the Spanakopita, or spinach pie with feta cheese, Pastitsio or baked macaroni with meat filling, Mousaka, baked eggplant with meat filling, Arni Psito, the roasted leg of lamb, Gyros, and Souvlaki. Psari Plaki, baked fish filet will be offered on Friday only.
Appetizers of rice stuffed grape leaves, cheese puffs, olives, sausage and Greek caviar dip will also be available. Save room for desserts of Karidopita, walnut cake, Galaktoboureko, cream custard pie, Baklava, sweet bread, powdered cookies and many more.
There will also be Greek beer and wine available to accompany the platters. Pans of these foods will also be available to take home to enjoy after the festival.
Food, music, dancing and wine are staples of the festival. Much of the food is directly donated by many of the Greek restauranteurs in the areas who are also church members.
“The donors and volunteers make the festival possible. We could not do it without them. We were getting phone calls in January about whether the festival was happening.” says Terry Parliaros, who is with the festival planning committee and does some of the cooking during the 4 days of the event.
“The Greek church are people of faith and culture. They like to feed the people, help the church and help those in need. These are our traditions.”
“We start in February with the planning and the committee volunteers. By March we are planning the food and all the rest. We will have Greek food, wine, beer and ouzo.” says Parliaros. “It is a real family affair and the community loves it too.”
“We have 15-20 committee members and over 100 volunteers.” he says.
Local leaders have been attending and enjoying the Greek festival here since the beginning. On the community center wall hangs a photo with then Hamilton Mayor Jack Rafferty and a young Parliaros in his authentic Greek dancing costume. The roots with the community appear to run deep here at Saint George’s.
Current Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin also enjoys what the church and festival bring to the community. “I’m a big fan of the annual Greek Festival and congratulate St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church on the 45th anniversary of their Greek festival this year,” said Mayor Martin. “I’m looking forward to attending again and getting to eat some delicious food.”
The church is looking to build a pergola outside this summer to facilitate the festival in the future. There is also a fall festival so having a more permanent shelter from the weather is a logical step.
Faith, family, culture, food, drinks and music all make the Saint George’s Greek Festival a favorite in Hamilton. Parliaros says, “Rain or shine we will be here celebrating, eating and dancing.” pointing to the large kitchen, “I will be right in there, cooking for four days, so be sure to come by and see me!”
Angie Zimnis and Ursula Montis prepare Greek pies at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Hamilton.,
