You are invited to join the dozens of people that have been showing up each week to celebrate the cultural and healthy exercise benefits associated with traditional Serbian Folklore Dance at St. Sava Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, Indiana.

The Adult Folklore Dance Sessions meet each Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the South Wing Social Center at the church learning new dances, getting a dose of exercise, and simply having fun.

The open group formed earlier this year at St. Sava seeking to gather people interested in learning traditional Serbian Kolo dances and to just have fun. The group welcomes those with no previous dancing experience from the greater Northwest Indiana community along with people who learned the traditional dances growing up in youth folklore groups and want to keep dancing with friends in an adult environment.

Everyone is welcome to attend – men and women, members of St. Sava, members of other churches throughout Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland, and anyone in the community who simply wants to learn about the culture and the fun, circle dance called the Kolo (no more sitting on the sidelines during Serb Fest 2016 which takes place August 5, 6, and 7 – you will be dancing like a pro by the time the fest rolls around – www.serbfest.org).

The dance sessions each Monday evening start at 7:00 p.m. and end by 9:00 p.m. Each session begins with some general dance instruction and review for dances that are commonly performed at various Serbian festivals and celebrations. The second half of the session focuses on more structured types of folklore dances. All of the instruction is provided by Miloš Drljević Djakovac, the dance instructor for St. Sava’s youth folklore group named Srbadija.

The focus of the dance sessions is to have fun, so don’t worry if you don’t have traditional Serbian “opanke” dance shoes in your closet. Wear your tennis shoes and comfortable clothes because dancing the kolo can be a serious workout!

Magda Serdar, organizer of the dance sessions, explained her reasons for wanting to help form such a group. “I just love folklore. You are never too old to dance. A lot of people have talked about forming such a group and there are so many people who have danced in the past when younger, now is the time to do it,” Serdar said.

Dance sessions begin at 7:00 p.m. Monday evenings at St. Sava and take place in either the South Wing Social Center or the Pavilion, depending on group size and room availability. A small fee of $5 per week will be collected and used to support the church, children’s folklore, and children’s choir.

For more questions or more information, please call Magda Serdar at (440) 954-2039.

Please join us beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the morning Saturday, June 4 near the Pavilion garage areas at St. Sava Church in Merrillville, Indiana for activities relating to facilities and grounds clean-up as part of the annual spring cleaning.

The major goals of the morning will be to:

• Take out and haul away all old equipment coolers, freezers, chair, etc.
• Clean out the small & large garage on the pavilion building
• Clean out the coolers in the garage & outside lamb coolers
• Clean out the utility room and relocate equipment & supplies
• Clean up around the outside of the building: pulling weeds, etc.

The work will go more quickly with many hands. If you are able to join us to help clean-up, please bring any personal tools that could be helpful in the process – weed trimmers, gloves, shovels, trucks….all could be used!

When arriving to help and volunteer, please begin at the Pavilion garage area and look for Danica Pejnovic, Vlade Stefanovic, Ray Radjenovich, or Steve Baroevich to find out where you can begin to help.

[modal name=”” title=”Serb Fest 2016 Cash Raffle Early Bird Drawing” size=”large” background=”” border_color=”” show_footer=”yes” class=”” id=””]Your Content Goes Here[/modal]With the Blessing of His Grace Bishop Longin you are cordially invited to attend a fundraising banquet Sunday, June 5, 2016 taking place at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Schererville, Indiana.

All proceeds from the banquet will benefit ongoing reconstruction projects for The Sisterhood of the Nativity of the Mother of God Serbian Orthodox Monastery of New Carlisle, Indiana. Please attend to give support for this spiritual oasis.

The banquet will take place at Halls of St. George, Schererville, Indiana beginning at noon. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Please share news of this important fundraising event with friends and family.