PETROVDAN 2026:A TOW TRUCK, A MAN LIFTED IN THE AIR, 7 POLICE CARS,AN 80-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WITH A WALKER —AND A SERB FEST THAT IS NO LONGER SERBIAN
- Special Correspodent
- Jul 12
- 5 min read
St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, Parma, Ohio — July 12, 2026 — 38th Consecutive Sunday
Today is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
Today, Dorothy Winovich — a woman in her eighties, with a walker — came to the parking lot of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma, Ohio, to stand with her community. As she does every Sunday. As she has done 37 times before.
Instead of being greeted with the respect she deserves — she was met by a tow truck.
S.M. WAS IN THE CAR WHEN THEY LIFTED IT INTO THE AIR.
Read that again.
A man was in the car. The tow truck lifted the car into the air. With a living person inside.
In a church parking lot. On the Petrovdan.
This is not a parking dispute. This is not an administrative violation. This is endangerment of human life.
If S.M. was injured — that is assault. If the intent was to intimidate — that is a threat.
If someone ordered the tow truck to lift a car knowing a person was inside — that is a criminal act.
The tow truck driver saw that S.M. was inside. We shouted: "There is a man inside!" He heard us. He saw us. And he continued to lift the car.
Only after he lowered the car did police arrive — seven vehicles — responding to a false report of a physical altercation that never happened.
We have video of both.
This was not an accident. This was a conscious decision to endanger a human life.
7 POLICE CARS — A FALSE REPORT
Police were called based on a false report — they were told a physical altercation was taking place in the church parking lot.
There was no altercation. There never was.
But 7 police cars arrived. At a parking lot where an 80-year-old woman with a walker was standing peacefully with her community.
This is abuse of emergency services. This is a false report. This is a criminal offense in Ohio.
We are requesting the CAD report for July 12, 2026.
We are requesting identification of who called the police and exactly what they were told.
We are requesting identification of who called the tow truck company and exactly what they were told.
WHO ORDERED THIS?
Dorothy's car was not first in line. The tow truck passed other cars and chose hers specifically.
That is not a coincidence. That is a message.
A message sent to an 80-year-old woman with a walker, who has stood outside this church for 38 consecutive Sundays — in front of the cathedral her generation built.
Is there any faith tradition anywhere in the world — Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, any — that considers it acceptable to send a tow truck for the car of an 80-year-old woman with a walker?
Is there any law anywhere — civil, canonical, or moral — that permits this?
DOROTHY WINOVICH
She came with a walker. She stood with dignity. She did not run.
Eighty years of life. Eighty years of faith. Eighty years in this community.
Dorothy Winovich is not a casual bystander. She has been a member of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral since her youth. This church is her home. This community is her family. For decades she has given — her labor, her time, her faith, her heart — to this cathedral and to this people.
And this is how she is repaid.
With a tow truck. In the parking lot of the church to which she dedicated her life.
They sent a tow truck for her car.
Let history record that.
Let the Holy Synod record that.
Let everyone who claims to act in the interest of the Church record that.
AND NOW — A SERB FEST THAT IS NO LONGER SERBIAN
But the harassment of an 80-year-old woman with a walker was not all that happened today.
Today we read in a local newspaper an advertisement for the Saint Sava Cathedral Annual Serb Fest — a festival that has existed for nearly 50 years as a celebration of Serbian community, Serbian tradition, and Serbian Orthodox faith.
The advertisement says:
"join this annual celebration of Serbian and Eastern European heritage."
Eastern European heritage. Not Serbian. Not Serbian Orthodox. Eastern European.
So — ćevapi, sarma, gibanica, Serbian beer, krofne, palačinke — that is now Eastern European tradition?
We ask sincerely: is this now a festival for Serbs, Ukrainians, Poles, Romanians, Slovaks, Albanians — everyone except Serbs? Will next year's advertisement read "Balkan heritage"? And in two years, "International folk festival"?
This is not a typographical error.
This is a pattern. The same pattern that removed "Serbian Orthodox" from every name where possible. The same pattern that threw the Footprint Relic of the Most Holy Mother of God in a dumpster. The same pattern that expelled 80 children from the church. The same pattern that sells Serbian school furniture on Facebook Marketplace.
They are erasing us. Slowly. Systematically. Word by word.
This is not a new idea. This is an old plan.
A young member of the St. Sava community wrote:
"As a child I remember the Bishop visiting our St. Marks Camp, and asking us how we felt about changing the name of our church to the 'American Orthodox Church'. I see that this reality is quickly approaching."
Bishop Irinej came to St. Mark's Camp and asked children — children — how they would feel about changing the name of their church to the "American Orthodox Church."
Not "Serbian Orthodox." Not "St. Sava." American Orthodox.
Those children did not forget. Those children grew up. And those children are watching — today, on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul — as Serb Fest becomes "Eastern European heritage."
Coincidence?
They are erasing us. They started with children at a summer camp. Now they are erasing the word "Serbian" from a festival. What is next?
Serb Fest has existed for nearly 50 years because Serbs — SERBS — built this community.
Not "Eastern Europeans."
SERBS!
A QUESTION FOR BISHOP IRINEJ
Your Grace, today on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul:
An 80-year-old woman with a walker — a member of this church since her youth, a woman who dedicated her entire life to this cathedral — was met by a tow truck.
A man was suspended in the air in a car in your church parking lot.
The tow truck driver was told there was a man inside — and continued to lift the car.
Police were called on a false report.
And Serb Fest has become "Eastern European heritage."
Is this the Serbian Orthodox Church?
Or is this something else entirely?
Because if this is the Serbian Orthodox Church — then the Serbian Orthodox Church sends tow trucks for the cars of 80-year-old women with walkers, lifts people into the air in automobiles, and erases the word "Serbian" from everything it touches.
If that is not true — then you must distance yourself. Immediately. Publicly. Without delay.
We are waiting.
Dorothy Winovich is still here. With her walker. Dignified.
And we are still here.
Thirty-eight Sundays and counting. We are not going anywhere.
God sees everything.
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