SLAVIC FESTIVAL; CHURCH HOLDS CELEBRATION OF OLD COUNTRY TRADITIONS.

Byline: Michael Coit Staff Writer

Dressed in a black and red cassock handed down through several generations, Alex Langley was in the Slavic spirit Sunday as he sang hymns and folk songs at St. Innocent Orthodox Church.

Traditional dress and traditional fun were the order of the day at the third annual festival the church hosts as a sort of public open house.

``It's part of our identity,'' said Langley of Reseda, who has been in the congregation seven years. ``One of the things the Orthodox Church has is a sense of history. You feel really connected to the old country.''

Tradition also was ripe in the foods church members spent nearly a month preparing.

The fare featured pirogi, a large flat noodle stuffed with potato, onion and cheese; a variety of piroshki, which is baked bread stuffed with meat or vegetables; keilbasa sausage; cabbage rolls; and borscht, which is a beet soup.

Leaving room for dessert was important, given the fresh baked goods. Two old-time favorites were nut rolls and poppy seed loaves.

``It's soul food for the Russians,'' said Manya Prybyla.

Prybyla has been attending the church since 1956, a year after the congregation formed as one of the few in the United States to conduct services in English. Although her family now lives in Newhall, they still come into the Valley to attend services and join church events.

``This isn't like your corner community church. This is like your family,'' she said while taking turns cooking and serving pirogi.

The congregation is one big family of more than 100 families, including those who have left the Valley but still come from their homes in Ventura County and the Antelope Valley.

``It's an opportunity for us to get together and work together,'' said the Rev. Gregory Safchuk.

The festival is also a fund-raiser.

On this day, more than 300 people came to sample the food and fun. Some also took tours of the sanctuary featuring a beautiful wood-beamed roof, gold screens and walls covered with colorful iconographs of saints.

The congregation was housed several blocks away from 1955 to 1969, when fire destroyed the sanctuary. The current building on Lindley Avenue opened in 1972.

Festivals were a regular event hosted by the congregation, with some spanning several days, until the 1980s.

With the congregation growing, members decided three years ago to resurrect the festival.

``A lot of people are from the Midwest and the East where this is common. It's a lot of fun,'' said Abbe Kulhanek, a festival organizer.

The crowds continue to get bigger, and that will mean more food and fun in years to come.

``I think memories draw people,'' Kulhanek said. ``It's kind of a timeless event.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2) St. Innocent Orthodox Church reinstituted its annual Slavic Festival three years ago. The festival features traditional handicrafts, food, music and clothing. Above, matroshkas from Russia are on display for sale. At right, Michelle Soucek wears a traditional Russian headpiece.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer