St. Spridon's Annual Bazaar

Warning: there are very few photos of Lon in this post. Due to the fact I took more photos of what he was looking at.
We started out Saturday morning, we had some errands, then we had plans to go to two festivals. Lon and I never made it to the Croatian Fest. St. Spridons was such a good time we were there for more than 4 hours! The Church is amazingly beautiful. The people were so nice.



This was the main tent. At the end they were grilling Romanian meatballs. There was another tent selling books and in the church offices they had arts and crafts. There were two food sellers inside the tent, crafts, a table with hand made knits and raffle prizes. The Russian food booth was selling something they called Varenniki. This was pierogi. Lovely cheese and potato pierogi, with sauteed onions and sour cream. I got some that were uncooked and frozen so I could enjoy them later. Yummy!! They had an Alaska food booth! They sold fry bread, but they called them Aladics. Fry bread, pie and coffee. The Alaska food booth. I found that amusing.


Lon having fun.

A very nice man named Jonathan told us about the bells. He is a bell ringer at the church. These bells were cast in Russia. The firm what cast them was the only one still in business from before the Revolution. The bells are stationary, the clappers move. They are cast bronze. They have a lovely sound, the bronze produces a sound that lingers longer than other material. Lon liked the sound. We also had a tour of the inside of the church. Deacon George told us a brief overview of Orthodoxy, and told us about the church, and the icons. During his tour we heard drumming from outside. When we were finished with the tour, we went out side, the Tlinget Dancers were still performing! It was wonderful! Lon was mesmerized.
Lon watching the dancers. The lady next to him is the Grandmother of the little tiny girl in the hat. She was a scene stealer! I did not get her name, she is 2. Grandmother is very proud.






They had incredible regalia. Gorgeous outfits. Lon was sorry to see the dance end.

After the dance was over we went back into the church. I asked Deacon George if we could take photos. We could.

The alter.

I am going to share some of the photos with you! The light in the church was wonderful. I did not use a flash inside. Too many old icons.

St. Herman of Alaska.

This is a miracle icon. When they received this icon at the church, it was black. It has cleaned itself. They are finding new things in this icon all the time. The additional saints, besides St. Nicholas. More jewels. I find that fascinating.

The vestments. They are highly adorned for the greater glory of God.

During our tour we also learned why the have onion domes, not round like the Greeks. Practical and Religious. Practical, because the snow falls off an onion, and religious as they are flames to heaven.

I took alot more pictures, but I think I covered it pretty well.

This was alot of fun. Lon was so good all day. We started out in the stroller, but to go into the church I put him in the baby bjorn. He was quiet in church. I think he liked the icons, so much to see.