Pyrohy-makers of Bayonne complete another season of charitable work (05/14/06)

Pyrohy-makers of Bayonne complete another season of charitable work

by Mary Ann Kulish

BAYONNE, N.J. - The women of the Rosary Society of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Bayonne, N.J., make pyrohy (a.k.a. varenyky) from October through March, skipping the month of January. Thus, this winter season has finished. The dough-rolling machine will have an opportunity to rest. The ladies learned the number of pyrohy they made and sold this winter totaling 16,320 or 1,360 dozen.

A typical workday for the women begins and ends in a routine manner. It's 9 a.m. The door leading to the church hall slowly opens and closes. The monthly group of women is coming to make pyrohy. The women enter the hall and take their regular seats at the long table and begin to chat with each other. Usually there are about 20 women in attendance. Their average age is in the mid-70s. Seated around the table are Rosarians and parishioners who share a Ukrainian heritage, as well as friends of the parish whose family traditions are Polish, Italian, German, Slavic or Irish.

Everyone sits waiting for the round circles of dough and the plates filled with mounds of whipped potatoes to be placed in front of them. Only then can they begin to work.

As the day moves along, the Ukrainian women often sing their favorite songs. Their voices sound strong as the words to the old melodies fill the air for all to hear. As their busy fingers turn the dough and potatoes into pyrohy, all of the women share laughter as well as quiet moments. The kitchen staff makes certain the potatoes and pyrohy are cooking and the dough-mixing machine is humming at just the right moments.

At one end of the table, some ladies make pyrohy in the traditional manner, spooning a small amount of potatoes into the center of the dough and folding it in half. At the other end of the table, one or two of the women will roll potato balls and those nearby place the potato balls in the round circles of dough and then fold the dough in half. The two methods yield wonderful mounds of pyrohy that are for the most part sold to customers in Bayonne, though it is not unusual to hear that the pyrohy have been delivered to Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York and other parts of New Jersey.

Customers often share their pyrohy recipes with the women. Some heat the pyrohy in a pan and serve them with either melted butter or applesauce, while others cover the pyrohy with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake them. One patron recently served pyrohy - not cabbage - with her corned beef dinner. Time-honored toppings of fried onions and sour cream are very popular.

Most people will eat pyrohy for lunch or dinner. One grandmother told us that her grandson loves eating them for breakfast! Yet another customer enjoys eating them cold right out of the bag. One favorite patron, a monsignor from a nearby church, recently asked if the pyrohy could only be eaten on Fridays. A Rosarian responded, "Monsignor, you can eat them any day of the week, but for some unknown reason, they do taste best eaten on Fridays!"

Proceeds from the pyrohy sales have been used in many ways. This year a contribution was sent to the Salvation Army to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. Donations were also sent to the Ukrainian Gift of Life in order to lend a hand to children in need of heart surgery, to the USO to aid soldiers in Iraq who want to call home, to support repairs needed around the Church, as well as to mail packages to Ukrainian orphanages.

It's 3:30 p.m. Customers come and go. The pyrohy ladies are tired and eager to call it a day. Slowly the women make their way back up the stairs, and the hall door opens and closes once again. Their good work for charity is completed for another month.

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