This Weekend from the 5th of June to the 7th the Albanian festival will take place at the Albanian Orthodox Church in Salisbury St.
This year is a special event not only as a continuous celebration of culture, diversity, and community Integration, but it also marks the 100th year that the St Mary’s Albanian Church has served the community.
The Albanian community started settling in Worcester in the early 1900s. Although not a large group at the time, quite a few families made the decision to move and most of their relatives are still living in this community. With the help of sites like https://www.genealogybank.com/explore/obituaries/all/usa/ohio/dayton/dayton-daily-news, families can follow their family lineage and discover when their ancestors moved to Worcester and put down roots for themselves. They grouped around the St Mary’s church to help each other with culture and heritage preservation as well as integration. The St Mary’s was for the Albanian community, the Church, the cultural center, job center, and all matters business. In its truest form, it was the house of God and the House of people.
When the new wave of Albanians started coming to Worcester, St Mary’s Albanian Church became their resource for everything, and the old generation of Albanian Americans took them in and helped them with everything.
One could go on and on describing the good that the St Mary’s church brought to the Albanian community and as a result to the Worcester community with its religious and community development work. I Invite the Worcester community to join us at the festival this weekend and try our delicious food, dance to our lively music and celebrate.
Ardian Preci
