Top of Morning, world flavors, wine pairings highlight day
BY LESLIE RICHARDSON STAFF WRITER
09/03/2007
The Upper Schuylkill Labor Day Homecoming Weekend shifted
into high gear Sunday with events held in Girardville, Shenandoah
and Ashland.
Upper Schuylkill Downtowns, the umbrella revitalization
group for six northern Schuylkill boroughs, centered its second annual
homecoming festivities around Saturday's historical ABA/Mummers Parade
in Ashland, with additional events held throughout the weekend in
Frackville, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Ringtown and Shenandoah.
Sunday's events included a Top of the Morning breakfast
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Girardville, Savor the Flavors of the World
at five restaurants in Shenandoah in the afternoon and an evening
wine and food pairing in Ashland.
The Girardville Pride revitalization group capitalized
on the borough's Irish heritage.
Participants enjoyed breakfast in Immaculate Heart hall,
Girardville, while The Lowlander Highlanders strolled by the tables
playing traditional Irish music. The duet - Luke Glick on bodhran
and Beverly Conrad on fiddle - is from Selinsgrove and also entertained
at Saturday night's ABA/Mummers Parade.
The McCormick Girls, Irish step dancers, also performed.
Seven cousins - Caitlin, Kelly, Kieran, Grianne, Deirdre and Megan
McCormick and Maura Corrigan - came together for the first time to
entertain at the event.
"Since we are all from different areas, we only
really got together last night to establish a definite routine,"
said Caitlin McCormick, 21, of Saint Clair.
The girls performed traditional Irish step dances including
solos, jigs and reels and also a hard shoe number similar to that
done in the popular River Dance.
The six McCormick girls are all the granddaughters of
MaryAnn and Jack McCormick, Ashland.
"This is the first and possibly the last time the
six granddaughters will be performing together so we are doing a six-
hand reel in honor of our grandparents, who got us started in the
wonderful world of Irish dance," Caitlin said.
Beginning at noon in Shenandoah, visitors were able
to savor American and international flavors in the event sponsored
by the Downtown Shenandoah Inc. revitalization group.
Italian melodies drifted from a sound system set up
at the entrance of Luna's DiMaggio, 28 N. Main St., where patrons
could sample the restaurant's delicacies including fresh calamari,
pasta and gourmet pizza.
"We wanted to accentuate our ethnicity," said
Mary Luscavage, Shenandoah downtown manager. "We have all of
these ethnic restaurants. People are out and having a good time."
Locals and visitors enjoyed the event.
Pat Wargo, Weston Place, stopped by The Lyric restaurant,
33 W. Centre St., for some halupki.
"I wanted to try it out," Wargo said. "It
is nice that they have everything set up outside."
Lyric owners John and Kathy Phillips had serving dishes
filled with halupki, halushki and kielbasi with sauerkraut.
"We wanted to be part of the community," John
Phillips said. "My wife is 200 percent Polish so we wanted to
offer some traditional Polish food."
Stanley Piaskowski, Ringtown, a former Shenandoah resident,
entertained customers with accordion music.
"I've been playing the accordion since I was 6
years-old," he said. "I am one of the few left in the area
that will actually come out and play. This is a really cool idea and
I wanted to come out and support the Lyric and the town with some
live music."
At 18 S. Main St., the Ming Guan Chinese eatery served
up traditional Cantonese and Mandarin cuisine with Oriental musical
accompaniment.
Vernalis Restaurant, 32 S. Main St., featured a Mediterranean
menu of spinach and orzo soup, Greek bean soup, spanakopita, Greek
chicken kabobs, Athenian chicken, gyros, pastitsio, a macaroni and
beef casserole with a cheese topping, and halva, a Greek dessert made
with cream of wheat, eggs, butter, and a sugar syrup on top.
"My grandmother used to make this for us when we
were kids," owner Mike Vernalis said.
La Casita de Familia, 8 E. Centre St., featured a full
range of authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes while patrons listened
to Mariachi music.
The Oyster Bar, 113 S. Main St., offered seafood selections
like raw oysters, Oysters Chesapeake, Oyster Rockefeller, streamed
shrimp, crab balls, and cream of crab.
A crowd gathered outside the restaurant to listen to
Sweet Caroline and the Oystermen play classic hits from the '50s and
'60s.
William Pitkus, Mahanoy City, drove to Shenandoah to
experience the flavors.
"I had halushki at the Lyric, orzo soup at Vernalis
and a quesadilla and strawberry soda at La Casita," he said.
"I always wanted to try La Casita and I thought this was the
perfect opportunity to come over and try a little bit of everything."
From 6 to 8 p.m., Upper Schuylkill hosted a wine and
food pairing in the Mine Shaft Cafe in Ashland.
The eatery, in the former Henry's Restaurant on Centre
Street, is being renovated to open for business in a few weeks.
Patrice K. Radar, Upper Schuylkill executive director,
said 175 people listened to the jazz sounds of Kim Russell Siebert
and his band while tasting a sampling of food complimented by the
right wine for each offering.
The menu included assorted berries, melon with prosciutto,
cheeses, crab purses, quiches, Tuscan roast chicken and petite pastries.
A host couple from each of the six boroughs in up Upper
Schuylkill poured wine, served food and carried on conversation with
the guests as they walked from station to station in the candlelit
rooms.
"This is a work in progress," Radar said of
the cafe. "The owner,s Cory Machese and Red Hennessey were kind
enough to let us use it. It is the perfect atmosphere for what we
are trying to do."
KeryAnne Grosser, Ashland, did the visual display work,
which included a mining theme.
"I wanted to feature Ashland's mining heritage,"
Grosser said. "I used part of our float from the ABA parade.
It was just too nice to only use once and it fits in perfectly with
the Mine Shaft Cafe theme."
The last event of the weekend will take place today
in Frackville.
Visitors can enjoy a Labor Day Car Show from 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m. on Lehigh Avenue from Oak to Chestnut streets.
The show will include muscle and street rods, classic
and antique vehicles.
Members of Frackville Downtown have extended an invitation
for everyone to visit Frackville and enjoy the To-Shea disc jockey
while looking at cars from every era.
"We are expecting an over- 100-year-old car for
the show," Paul Klevis, Frackville Downtown president, said.
A special breakfast menu will be avilable at the Dutch
Kitchen, with lunch at Original Italian Pizza and desserts at Old
World Cheesecake.
The Frackville Area Historical Society quarters
at Oak and Mahanoy streets also will be open for the browsing.
© The REPUBLICAN & Herald
2007
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