They’re the Pirohi cooks: These are the men and women of the All Saints Byzantine Catholic Church in N. Fort Myers who will be preparing the upcoming Pirohi dinner on March 5. Photo provided.

All Saints Byzantine Catholic Church at 10291 Rd. in North Fort Myers will have its annual Ethnic Pirohi Dinner on Saturday, March 5 from 3 to 7 p.m.

Chairwoman Mariann Gaydos said the dinner will include Pirohi, vegetables, stuffed cabbage salad, dessert of your choice, coffee or tea for $10. The church is located on Bayshore Rd., Exit 143 east of I-75 toward the Lee Civic Center.

A group of people who make the Pirohi at the church and work the dinners are Colleen Mallery, Kate and Norb Pastewka, Ilse Kokinda, Elgia and Joe Kicsak, Victor Ballash, Martry Misamore, George Gaydos Father Andrew Marko, and Mariann Gaydos, chairman.

“This is the group of people who make the Pirohi at church and work the dinners they have at the church. They work from October through late spring making the Pirohi to be served at the dinners,” she said.

Pirohi are also frozen for sale at the dinners. Six varieties of Pirohi are cooked and stored in the freezer for customers to enjoy year round.

The people are teased because they spell Pirohi with an “h” not a

“g” and they keep explaining that the Slovak way to spell Pirohi is with an “h” and the Polish way is with a “g” and as the chairman said she is Slovak and this is the way she learned to make them from her mother years ago and will continue to them that way.

Along with the dinner of Pirohi, they serve stuffed cabbage. This too is made the Slovak way like mom used to make them years ago, Gaydos said.

They will prepare the Pirohi and stuffed cabbage for the next dinner on March 5 and April 2.

Then the Easter Bake Sale is on April 16 when Gaydos said they have the Easter bread that is sold and preparing the Easter Basket and teaching what belongs in the basket and the meaning for each item.

“We love the Byzantine Catholic Church which has been in this location for more than 30 years” Gaydos said.

All are welcome to attend the Sunday Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and after the Liturgy, there is a social in the church hall with coffee and goodies.

“You would be surprised as to who you meet at our church, I even met a friend who I went to grade school with up north. The dinners and the social becomes a friendly get together and when you talk to people you find out where they came from and by golly you lived down the street from them or went to the same school as they did up north,” Gaydos said.

Father Marko loves to describe the faith and the church and will answer all the question you have, she said.

For more information on the church and its events, go on the Internet: to www.allsaintsbyzantinechurch.com.