Slovenian Grape Festival remains a hit

Hundreds turn out for traditional autumn harvest celebration

When it comes to theft at the Slovenian Grape Festival, no one is above the law, not even small children.

“This is a huge tradition, from the 1800s, not only in Cleveland, where many Slovenians immigrated, but also back in Slovenia, where the dance floor is decorated with grape arbor above the floor,” said Joe Valencic, president of the federation of the SNPJ lodges in Cleveland. “Back in the day if someone tried to snatch the grapes hanging from the arbor, they could be stopped by a deputy and go before a ceremonial judge for adjudication. They then would either pay a fine for what they stole or they would spend time in the mock jail.

“We continue that tradition with the grape arbor with hanging treats. We have a judge, a jail and deputies that line the dance floor and if someone’s caught. They try to outwit the deputies but more often than not we catch them.”

Wickliffe resident Lee Jackopin, indeed, witnessed such a transgression, though he felt slightly bad for finding it humorous.

“There was this little girl whose father helped her take grapes, unknowingly, and she was caught and

was told she had to go to jail and she started crying,” he said. “But her dad bailed her out. It’s not nice to say it was comical but it was.

“This is a great time for the older people and the younger people. We’re just trying to keep our Slovenian heritage alive. I frequently attend this event. We have so many volunteers that make this a success even some in their 90s.”

The festival is held at the SNPJ (Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota — Slovene National Benefit Society) Farm in Kirtland, at 10946 Heath Road. It was founded in 1939.

“The farm is owned by the federation of lodges of the Slovene National Benefit Society, a nationwide fraternal organization, the largest Slovenian organization

in the country,” said Valencic. “The local lodges back then purchased the land and developed this property, sort of like a summer retreat. The tradition of the Grape Festival, an autumn harvest celebration, started shortly after that.

“We always do this with good food, dancing and music. We always have a singalong and in recent years I’ve been portraying the mayor who welcomes everybody to our village and grape harvest. Most of the songs are traditional wine and harvest songs, sung in Slovenian.”

Valencic added that there are about 80 to 100,000 people in Northeast Ohio of Slovenian descent, the largest concentration outside of Europe.

“Interestingly enough, Slovenia is almost exactly the size of Northeast Ohio and it also has about 2 million people just like Northeast Ohio,” he said. “In the Cleveland

area, Slovenians started arriving in the 1880s and the peak was before World War I. It was estimated, I read a figure, that in 1909, nine Slovenians a day arrived in Cleveland. Most of them settled on the East Side of Cleveland and in Lake County and Eastern Cuyahoga.

“One hundred years ago, Slovenians really developed the wine industry in this area, too. There were many Slovenian-owned vineyards as there are today. Not everybody worked in the factories, there were also Slovenians and other nationalities that moved out to Lake County for the land to start farms, and more often than not, vineyards.

“Today we’re serving Slovenian-smoked sausages and also traditional Slovenian fried cake doughnuts called ‘krof,’ ” he said. “We do things Slovenian, but with an American accent and our tradition goes on.”