First Posted: 7/29/2014
Bazaar season is still in full swing, and St. John the Evangelist Church is no exception to the dozens of local parishes hosting summer celebrations.
The church will be holding its 15th annual bazaar from 5:30 to 10 p.m. beginning Thursday, Aug. 7 and concluding on Saturday, Aug. 9 at the church located on 35 William St. in Pittston.
It will include a flea market, book sale, jewlery sale and food.
Pastor John Bendik, who has been with St. John the Evangelist for 18 years, said the bazaar actually began after once being part of the annual Pittston Tomato Festival.
“We used to participate in the Tomato Festival,” said Bendik. “After a full year of being here we did the festival and did that for two years and then decided to try our own bazaar. That started and, boy, it has been growing exponentially.”
The St. John Evangelist bazaar is better known for its flea market, which consists of items donated by Greater Pittston area residents.
The bazaar’s book sale has been a part of the event since the beginning, and books for sale range from all genres and age groups.
“We have a lot of novels and history books, cook books, kids books,” said Bendik. “We had none left from last year because we gave them to a library. We have DVDs and CDs, so they’re all part of that sale as well.”
The jewelry sale did not become a part of the flea market until 10 years ago.
“The jewelry started 10 to 12 years ago,” said Bendik. “The person who started it was Marilyn Krall, who was chairperson on that for years, and this is the first year she’s not chairing it.”
Bendik said he is surprised at the quality of the jewelry donated to the sale.
“People bring in their jewelry and regular stuff which is pretty amazing. They have beautiful, beautiful items that people just donate to us,” he said. “The woman in charge now, Pattie Mark, is getting it all prepped at her home and she showed me displays on her kitchen table. She has it done almost professionally.”
With a lot of items to be sold, Bendik said that if there are any items leftover after the bazaar concludes, they will either hold them in storage until the following year or simply give them away.
“Sometimes we’ll save some for a start up for next year,” said Bendik. “The flea market will also have $2 bag sale and any bag you can take for $2. They have a table with leftovers people can take for nothing and we sometimes donate to the Salvation Army.”
In addition to books and jewelry, food will also be available for purchase at various booths around the bazaar.
Ethnic foods for sale include halushki, pierogies, potato pancakes, kielbasa sandwiches, funnel cakes and fried dough while American foods consist of smoothies, hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh cut fries, wings, roast beef sandwiches, cheesesteaks, porketta, BBQ pork and piggies.
Live entertainment will take place throughout the three days with Sweet Pepper & the Long Shots playing Thursday, Hillbilly D’lux on Friday and Flaxy Morgan on Saturday.
Pat Ward will be performing as a clown to entertain children as well.
