Community News

St. Demetrios Greek Fest draws a crowd

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Hundreds of fair-goers flooded the grounds of St. Demetrios Orthodox Church in Merrick from June 17 to 19 for the house of worship’s annual Greek Festival, full of food, music and dance.

Children from St. Demetrios’s Greek School entertained the crowds by performing traditional dances. Meanwhile, the food stands, covered by giant white canopies, overflowed with kebabs, gyros and desserts like baklava (chopped nuts sandwiched in filo dough flakes and drenched in honey).

This year’s festival was the first time that St. Demetrios had held its Greek Festival since fire destroyed the church in the summer of 2013. It only reopened last October, with a thousand worshippers attending the first service. Before that, St. Demetrios held services in the basement and before that in a tent in the back parking lot.

St. Demetrios moved from Freeport to Hewlett Avenue in Merrick in 1982. The congregation comprises more than 600 families, most from Bellmore-Merrick and surrounding communities, but some from as far as Massapequa and Oceanside.