National Pierogy Day commemorated in ‘pierogy capital of the world’

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Chris Dende, of Ateeco Inc., emcees the National Pierogy Day flag raising in Shenandoah on Oct. 8, 2024.

SHENANDOAH – An annual tradition 16 years strong celebrated a product brought to Shenandoah by those who built the community, which it now shares with the entire country.

Mrs. T’s Pierogies raised the National Pierogy Day flag at Shenandoah Borough Hall Tuesday morning.

The company launched National Pierogy Day 16 years ago and each year, it falls on or near Oct. 8, the day company founder Ted Twardzik made his first sale to the Capitol Food Store in downtown Shenandoah.

“He had a dream and it started right here in our backyard,” Chris Dende, vice president of human resources at Ateeco, Inc. said. He said pierogies are “synonymous with family, synonymous with getting people together at the table.”

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Meghan Heim, of Ateeco, raises the flag.

Ateeco, Inc. and Mrs. T’s Pierogies have grown to distribute their product in all 50 states, while homemade pierogies remain a staple of church fundraisers across northern Schuylkill County.

“We celebrate this here in Shenandoah,” Dende said. “There’s 230 associates who are making hundreds of millions of pierogies that are feeding America throughout.”

About a dozen people came out for the ribbon cutting Tuesday morning.

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