Thousands of people gathered in Manchester this weekend for the 46th iteration of Glendi, a celebration organized by the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
Crowds weaved through an auditorium, eyeing raffle prizes, baked goods, and a station serving hot Loukoumades: crunchy, pillowy ovals of fried dough draped in syrup and powdered sugar.
Liz Stavropoulos, who was selling raffle tickets at a booth, said her favorite thing about Glendi was its consistency throughout the years.
“The same people come. We offer the same delicious Greek foods. It's like a constant,” she said. “I see people I haven't seen in a long time.”
But Glendi has grown a lot over the years, according to George Skaperdas, the president of the church’s board of directors. He says the event began as a small harvest bazaar with a few penny raffles, baked goods, and some lamb kebabs to what it is today: a season-marking festival that draws people from across New Hampshire to a quiet Manchester neighborhood.
“The people that were in charge decided to open it up to the city. And from then it's just grown leaps and bounds,” he said. “It's just a labor of love. It's our hospitality, it's our heritage.”
Skaperdas said Glendi organizers anticipated serving up to 10,000 meals throughout the weekend. For that, they’d procured 2,500 pounds of lamb shanks, 2,000 pounds of lamb kebabs, and 1,500 chickens.
He says his team is doing their best to make it to Glendi’s 50th anniversary. But it’s getting harder. Putting on this kind of celebration comes at a price – one that isn’t getting any cheaper, Skaperdas said. And keeping people involved can be a challenge.
“Families are getting smaller,” he said. “Life gets in the way. Parents are working two and three jobs. You've got school, you've got soccer, baseball, dance.”
But, Skaperdas said, no matter the difficulty, Glendi keeps him coming back.
“What was the line in The Sopranos?,” he said, “‘The more I tried to get out, the more they pulled me back in.’”
On Saturday night, the line for the food tent threaded through a crowd of people enjoying live music and a dance performance and stretched around the front of the cathedral.
As the food line grew, Dick Anagnost was behind the scenes, overseeing “the pit,” a small room where hundreds of lamb kebabs rotated through custom-made vertical charcoal grills.
Anagnost has helped out with Glendi for 41 of its 46 years. He says part of the reason for its growth over time is that the church has welcomed people from different communities across Manchester to participate.
“We live by a code called philotimo,” he said. “There is no direct translation in English, but hospitality comes from it. Philanthropy comes from it. Culture comes from it. So we live philotimo, and it's to share our culture with the community.”
Anagnost pointed out a photograph on a board in the kebab room (the “wall of fame”), showing two young children in aprons. One of those kids, now taller than his father, was standing in front of the photo, beaming as he speared chunks of meat.
All three of Anagnost’s sons were helping at the festival. His eldest is preparing to take over operations in “the pit” on his own.
“It gets harder because we're aging out. So the biggest thing is the erosion of the knowledge, because we don't write anything down,” Anagnost said. “We cook by feel.”
The church is starting to compile recipes in their library, to make sure they survive to the next generation.
Karen Johnson, who was running a booth selling chicken souvlaki and other foods, said the word-of-mouth learning is still very much part of the festival.
“It's like a camaraderie with all the workers that work together. People are so nice. They don't get frustrated with you. They teach you, they show you,” she said. “And you can ask more questions about anything.”
Johnson was pulled into volunteering six years ago by a person she met at a store. She was reluctant, but like many other volunteers, found that she was excited to keep coming back.
Plus, she said, the food is excellent. The lamb shanks are a favorite of hers – something she shares with Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who showed up to help serve dinner.
Ayotte said she’d been to Glendi many times, but was excited to be able to serve food this year.
“I love the barbecue lamb. But I'm also getting the stuffed peppers,” she said.
