As visitors get ready to descend on Whiting July 28 through 30 for a weekend of kitschy fun and food at Pierogi Fest, Diana Del Rio and her army of volunteers stand ready.
Del Rio, of the Robertsdale neighborhood in Hammond, has been volunteering at Pierogi Fest ever since she was 15 and in high school seeking community service hours. Now, at 38, she is the volunteer committee chairperson for the long-running Northwest Indiana festival staple organized by the Whiting Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce. She is responsible for wrangling the approximately 650 volunteers it takes to pull off the event.
“I work with an amazing group of people. We have been working for basically a whole year,” Del Rio said.
“Finding volunteers is very hard. We very rarely meet that goal,” Del Rio said, adding no volunteer is ever turned away. Some volunteers return year after year like herself.
“Without them we literally couldn’t do what we do,” Del Rio said.
Volunteers do everything from greeting guests, selling tickets, working as announcers and even prepping pierogi for the many events in which they are used.
“I take a lot of pride in the fact we are doing something huge in our community. It’s really cool. It’s very unique, and volunteers are making it happen,” Del Rio said.
Whiting Mayor Steve Spebar says he plays the role of city greeter at the fest, so to speak, and is looking forward to seeing it in full swing this year.
“I’ll be there for interviews. I get out throughout the weekend and make sure everybody’s having a good time,” Spebar said.
That does not mean the mayor misses out on the fun. Spebar said his favorite part about the festival is all of the different food vendors. This year there will be more than 80 food vendors at the three-day event, according to organizers.
“I have a good appetite. I always try to find different things I want to try,” Spebar said.
The festival brings an economic boon to the small city of 4,700 as an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people descend on the Whiting and the Robertsdale neighborhood of Hammond, where another approximately 7,000 people live.
“It’s great publicity for city,” Spebar said. “People come to experience Whiting and see our city and have a good time.”
He said the hope is always that people who come for the festival come back and visit the city at a future date.
“It’s great if you capture a small percentage of these people on a regular basis,” he said.
Suzanne Tennant/Post Tribune
Chamber member Tom Dabertin, one of the events founders, said Pierogi Fest is a draw because of its unique approach and its ability to poke fun at itself.
“Everything at Pierogi Fest is tongue in cheek,” Dabertin said. The various festival events including the Polka Parade, the lawn mower brigade and the buscias (Polish for grandmother), poke fun at the strong Eastern European heritage of the region.
“We celebrate ethnic heritage and at same time are cognizant of fact there’s some quirky aspect of any ethnicity and heritage and we have a little fun with that,” he said.
The festival draws visitors and news coverage from across the globe and has been named one of the 10 wackiest festivals on plant earth by Trip Advisor, one of Readers Digest 50 best festivals and one of Eat This Not That’s 50 best food festivals among dozens of other nods.
“We offer a very good quality festival. The other thing we’ve been able to capture is kind of that small town feeling. You don’t find that at every other festival,” Dabertin said.
cnapoleon@chicagotribune.com
