On Saturday, June 22, 2019  beyond our expectations, the church grounds of the Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ swelled with neighbors and those who traveled quite a distance to appreciate Ukrainian culture, crafts, foods and entertainment at the 7th Annual Parish Festival.  Throughout the sun filled day, more than 3,000 guests, could be seen enjoying themselves, eating the delicious Ukrainian food, and there certainly was plenty for everyone, listening to lively Ukrainian music, visiting our beautiful church at the church tours, socializing with friends and neighbors, and enjoying the entertainment of our incredible Ukrainian dance performances.

Fr. Ivan Turyk,  the pastor of the church said that  “festival creates  an atmosphere of hospitality”, as people can come and have fun, and at the same time, it becomes an expression of our faith.

God blessed us with perfect weather which helped to bring many people to the Festival. The reviews were wonderful; a lot of people told us  that, “It sure is a big crowd this year,” and “We had such a great time.”  We were honored with the presence of NJ Congressman Frank Pallone, Mrs. Wilda Diaz, the mayor of the City of Perth Amboy and His Grace Bishop Andriy Rabiy, auxiliary bishop for the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy who opened the festival with his blessing and prayer.

 A great time and great food was enjoyed by all those who attended. We served  6 thousands of purohys, 1, 550 Stuffed Cabbages,  250 pounds of kovbasa, 80 cases of the Ukrainian beer ( 20 bottles in a case), hundreds of pieces of  homemade desserts  and we used  415 pounds of meat to prepare our delicious shish kebab.

It was amazing to see so many people enjoying the day together! It was also wonderful to know that we have so many hardworking parishioners and school parents who are doing their best to help keep our church and school  financially stable. It was another proof that Assumption Parish Community  shines when we all work together as one family.