Menu: St. Nicholas Antiochian Church Festival
Date2019
MediumPaper
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.55.37
DescriptionMenu for the St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church Festival in Bridgeport, 2019.
NotesSubject Note: St. Nicholas Antiochan Orthodox Church in Bridgeport was founded by Syrian refugees from northern Syria as their homeland was taken over by the Ottoman Turks and became part of Turkey. In addition to its spiritual work, the church has an active youth organization and a women’s group, organizes fundraiser activities, operates a Sunday School, and presents an annual festival in September featuring music and dance and food sales. The foodways at the festival reflect the Syrian heritage of the founders and the congregation, for example the flat kibbe that are grilled, different from the round kibbe made by other Syrian and Lebanese communities. (Source: https://www.stnicholasbridgeport.org/)Subject Note: The Lebanese community in Waterbury is primarily Christian, celebrating the Maronite rite in the Antiochene-Syriac tradition within Catholicism. The liturgy is offered in a mixture of Arabic, Syriac and English languages. There are three Maronite churches in Connecticut – Our Lady of Lebanon in Waterbury, St. Maron in Torrington, and St. Anthony in Danbury. The Waterbury Lebanese community traces its origins to the area around the town of Ehden in northern Lebanon. Several families from Ehden immigrated to Waterbury from Ehden in the early 1900s to work in local factories. In 1915, they formed a social club which also held church services; the club became registered with the state in 1948. Priests would travel from St. Maron Church in Torrington to hold Maronite liturgy services, then in 1975 the community established its own Maronite church in Waterbury. Our Lady of Lebanon moved to its present home on East Mountain Rd. in 1982. The Ehden Lebanese Club on the Waterbury-Wolcott border held an annual “Mahrajan” or summer festival annually in August from 1959 to 2018, and the Club also presented a winter “hafli” or party in February for many years to raise funds for its charity activities. These popular social gatherings included Lebanese traditional music, folk dancing, traditional foods, crafts displays and sales, and children’s activities. In 2000, the community added a new event, the Taste of Lebanon, on the grounds of Our Lady of Lebanon, also featuring music, food, a dance group, crafts and hookah sales, raffles, and more. CCHAP has worked with the community for many years, documenting the festivals, assisting the Club with planning for activities, and supporting two apprenticeships in Lebanese liturgical singing led by Nehme Atallah, leader of the choir at Our Lady of Lebanon for many years.
Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this organization and community.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church
