WILLIAMS TWP., Pa. — Great weather is expected this weekend for one of the Easton area’s longest-running Italian traditions.
The 115th edition of the Holy Cross Society Italian-American festival starts Friday, but the kitchen is open now.
The cooks are preparing sausage, onions and peppers, sauce, and braciole right now just as they did at the first festival in 1911. This is a club that goes back five generations.
“We cut the top round, which is beef. It’s like the rear,” said Chris Corona, a fourth-generation member, as he rolled the braciole.
In the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch and German culture, Italian traditions hold firm.
From Italian dishes to sacred beliefs, The Holy Cross Society is a fraternity of 90 people with direct lines to Santo Stefano di Camastra in Sicily. The chapel in Williams Township serves as a conduit to sister festival in Messina, Sicily, also celebrated this weekend.
“This (chapel) was built as part of going back to Santo Stefano, to have that religious component,” said Jim Palmeri, a board member with the Holy Cross Society.
Holy Cross Society tradition has been this way for more than a century, when throngs of revelers would parade through Southside Easton, on land that was taken from the Holy Cross Society by eminent domain in the 1980s to build I-78. If you’ve seen the fireworks stores, you’ve driven right by it.
“At the time, we thought this was going to be the demise of us,” said Lee Williams, Holy Cross Society president. “But being determined and the culture we have, we fight. We kept it and now it’s thriving.”
The festival will have fireworks of its own Saturday night, authentic Italian food all weekend, and a moment of silence Friday, reflecting on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
“Being so close to Manhattan, a lot of people were touched by it. There are several people who would commute to New York. Our treasurer was in New York when it happened,” recalled Williams.
An annual celebration, sharing cuisine, culture, and heritage.
“Our children and our grandchildren, I hope they hold this in their heart, and keep this tradition going,” said Tony Tumminella, a member of the Holy Cross Society for 55 years.
That moment of silence for 9/11 will start things off for the festival at 5 p.m. Friday.
The festival runs from 5-10 p.m. both Friday and Saturday at 224 Cedarville Road in Williams Township.