THE ROAD HOME: 2009 ALIQUIPPA ST SAVA DAY PROGRAM
Aliquippa, PA - Each year, the St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Aliquippa presents its traditional St. Sava Day program with our high school kumovi, younger class representatives, and Serbian and English language declamacije. In 2009, however, we had some interesting challenges and innovations that made this year a little different.
Our high school kuma and kum this year were Jessica Osman and Alexander Osman, who were joined by class representatives Jovana Cvjetkovic (7th, 8th, and 9th grades), Julia Knapp (5th and 6th grades), Gianna Morelli (3rd and 4th grades), Mark Knapp (1st and 2nd grades) and Rachel Mamula (kindergarten). Jessica recited the English language Epistle and Alex the Serbian language Epistle in church and Alex served as the Master of Ceremonies for the program.
This year’s participants included: Alex Osman, Bobby Suder, Rachel Mamula, Luka Kosanovich, Juliana Mistovich, Elijah Kosanovich, Kyle Torbic, Richard Mamula, Kaitlyn Chichester, Mark Knapp, Gianna Morelli, Alex Taylor, Ryan Torbic, Nicky Kosanovich, Julia Knapp, Dimitri, Mirko, and Elijah Loncar, Alyssa Knapp, Elena & Luke Megaludis, Ryan Zeljak, Shane Kastler, Brandon Wilson, Jovana Cvjetkovic, Jessica Osman, and Natasa Cvjetkovic. As always, the St. Elijah Choir joined the Sunday School students in the singing of Oce Nas, Star Spangled Banner, Boze Pravde, and Uskliknimo S Ljubablju, followed by welcoming comments by church board president Rich Chesla and Fr. Adam Yontich.
An added activity this year program was “The Road Home”. We asked each student to find out the village or town in Europe that their ancestors immigrated from. We had a large map of the former Yugoslavia displayed in the front of the stage. At the conclusion of the reciting of all of the declamacije, each student’s name was called and he or she met family members to place a red, blue, and white ribbon on the map representing their ancestor’s hometown. It was a moving part of the afternoon as we connected the old and the new through the history and traditions of St. Sava. Several commented on how interesting and fun it was to talk to parents, grandparents, and others about their personal histories.
We were pleased to be joined by Fr. Adam Yontich, who served at St. Elijah that day. Our own parish priest, Fr. Stevan Stepanov, was unable to join us because of personal reasons, but had spent every Monday since December helping to prepare our Sunday School for the program. His high expectations for each student were met and we were pleased to report to him that it was another successful St. Sava Day program.
As always, we thank Fr. Stevan and Popadija Ana for all of their hard work in organizing and practicing the declamacije; the parents, grandparents, and kumovi for bringing their children to church; the St. Elijah Mother’s Club for making the meal and purchasing gifts for the children; and Bisa Kovacevic for the kolac and koljivo. Also, to Patty Cekoric, Brian Hayden, Cheryl Lufkin, and Georgette Osman who organized this year’s program as well as all of our Sunday School teachers for devoting so much time to our children.