Chapel welcomes foreign students to Firelands area

Thursday, 21 July 2005

By LAURA LINDSAY
lauralindsay@sanduskyregister.com

PERKINS TWP. - About 215 foreign students gathered at the Chapel Tuesday night for a potluck dinner that featured more than 50 international dishes cooked by northern Ohioans.

The Chapel, a nondenominational church on Galloway Road, began providing for international students last summer and then its local 20-something's got involved.


Delia Bernotaite, 20, from Lithuania, left, and Erica Kuharick, 24, of Sandusky help themselves to food Tuesday at The Chapel in Perkins Township. (Register photo/LAURA LINDSAY)

"The idea is to bring a little bit to them from their own homes and help them feel at home and welcome in this country," said Agnes Toldy, who is from Romania.

"This is, in a way, an international outreach. Something that we envision to help kids have a good view of the United States that they may not see at Cedar Point," ministry coordinator John Apple said. "Otherwise, they see a lot of people but never get to know others or have a chance to share their lives."

Toldy said women created international dishes, which involved gathering ingredients, following the recipes and finding ethnic candies.

"I gave women the recipes, some who had never created an ethnic recipe, and they did a great job," Toldy said. "A lot of the students asked where we had got the recipes, the Russian chocolate and the Polish cookies. We got them from the West Side Market and the Russian store, which are both on the west side of Cleveland."

Toldy said she learns from these students, and Pastor Bill Schroeder said he is glad they feel welcome and his congregation has the passion for to help these people.

Dovile Goncaraite, 21, and Rasa Ralaciute, 20, both from Lithuania, traveled to the United States together to "use the English language and find out more about the traditions."

Housekeepers at the Sandcastles hotel, Goncaraite said she and Ralaciute have been treated well.

Ashley Bechtel, 16, of Huron, has had the women over to her house.

"I think this evening with all these people and the food was great," Bechtel said. "I have had guests from other countries several times before. I love talking to them when they are here."

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