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Greek fest offering more for children

Today is the deadline to order pastries in advance of this weekend’s festival.

Fotis Papakirk flips slices of lamb on the grill as he cooks the meat for the Gyro sandwiches during Greek Fest at the Sts. Constantine and Helen Church in Middletown last year.

File photo/Pat Auckerman Fotis Papakirk flips slices of lamb on the grill as he cooks the meat for the Gyro sandwiches during Greek Fest at the Sts. Constantine and Helen Church in Middletown last year.

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By Eric Robinette, Staff Writer Updated 12:59 AM Thursday, July 22, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — Middletown’s Greek Festival enters its 43rd year this weekend with many kid-friendly entertainment acts.

A number of the entertainers are new at this year’s festival, which starts Friday, July 23, and runs through Sunday, July 25, at the Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church at 2500 Grand Ave.

On all three days of the festival, various Greek dancing groups will perform.

Saturday brings the new acts, many geared toward kids. The entertainers include a naturalist from Hueston Woods with live animals, appearing at 1 p.m. New this year are storytelling from the Middletown Public Library at 1:30 p.m., ventriloquist and magician Ron Remy at 2 p.m., and a presentation of “The Wizard of Oz” by the Middletown Performing Arts Academy at 3 p.m. The Jon Arnold Quartet plays jazz at 7 p.m.

“Having additional community performers makes it distinct. That’ll add another dimension. The other thing is, that will bring in different people,” said Niki Nestor McNeely, the festival chairwoman.

Dancers fill the entertainment roster on Sunday, but of course, the food is a big draw each day of the festival. New on the dinner menu this year are stuffed peppers.

“They have the best dinners of all the Greek festivals,” said Christina Papakirk, who helps with publicity.

Then there are the various pastries.

“Sometimes what people want is all sold out at the festival,” said Dolores Revelos, a longtime festival organizer. Today is the deadline to order pastries in advance by calling (513) 423-7734 or (513) 424-6521.

The festival is usually attended by about 10,000 people during its three days, said McNeely. “No matter what, we have people in their 80s helping. This is the longest-running Greek festival in Ohio, and we’re very, very proud of that,” she said.

Middletown  Greek Festival

When: 5 to 11 p.m. Friday; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 2500 Grand Ave.

More info: (513) 422-2312

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