I am in mourning.
The annual Spring Bake Sale at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron — a local rite of spring — is not happening this year.
The reason? “Major [ongoing] renovations of the church, including a brand new kitchen have prevented it,” Kim Vernis, who heads up the annual bake sale, told me.
“I feel really badly about it, but we’ll be back even better next year,” Vernis said.
“We’re looking forward to seeing [patrons] at the festival in September, Vernis said, referring to the church’s popular annual Greek Festival.
For decades, the church’s women board has sold hundreds of loaves of braided Easter bread and thousands of Greek pastries during the week before Easter.
This year, there had been talk at the church about working around the renovations, Vernis said, “but, realistically, it was impossible.”
The bake sale is major fundraiser for the women’s board, which raises money for local, national and international charities. The church, adjacent to the University of Akron, is at 129 S. Union St.
Last year, as in earlier years, a handful of church members arose before dawn one day shortly before Easter to begin the process of making hundreds of loaves of braided loaves of Easter bread.
Dozens showed up at the church — later in the day to braid and bake some 700 loaves.
The sale also annually has featured thousands of pastries, including baklava, galaktoboureko (phyllo filled with custard) and kourambiethes (butter cookie coated with powdered sugar), along with spanakopita (spinach and feta in phyllo) and tiropita (feta and other cheese in phyllo).
