Friends and family know better than to invite LeeAnn Bonta, Beth Michalesko and Erin Smutniak to a movie or a pool party during the second weekend of July. It’s parish festival week!
For the rest of the year, Bonta is an administrative assistant for Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, where she resides, but when the week after the Fourth of July rolls around, she concentrates on co-chairing NativityFest, a four-day summer event that fills the parish campus with food, live music, children’s games, casino games, bingo and more.
Michalesko, a former pediatric intensive care unit nurse, spends that same week each summer as volunteer coordinator at the St. John Festival, which has been entertaining St. John residents and neighbors for more than 100 years, while Smutniak, a third-grade teacher at St. John the Evangelist School, joins her husband as volunteer operators of SJE Grill, a popular food booth serving hamburgers, hotdogs, French fries and chips.
Each of the women is devoted to her volunteer work, spending literally every waking hour at their parish for four straight days, this year from July 9-12. That is in addition to dozens of hours planning and preparing for the annual festival, which for Bonta begins “as soon as this year’s fair is over. We book the bands and food vendors as soon as we can, and start working on the state licensing and city inspections we will need.”
As festival co-chair, Bonta handles festival finances and the occasional stint in the beer garden. “My favorite thing to do is pouring beer, when I can get out of the office, because I like to see and visit with all the people,” she said.
While she has co-chaired the festival for about 10 years with Frank Farkas, Bonta doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t involved in the event. “My mom, Lauren Wielogorski, ran the ticket booth, so I ran around the grounds as a child. When my children started school here at Nativity, the Home and School Association president called and said she needed me to sign up volunteers for the bingo game,” explained the lifelong Nativity of Our Savior parishioner. “When I started working at the parish 19 years ago, I was asked to assist even more.”
Bonta said she is “very proud of what we do here; all of us are hard-working people. The city encourages us and is very supportive of the festival. Families plan their reunions around it, and those who live elsewhere come home for festival week every year.
“Continuing this tradition reminds me of all the good in the world, and of the people who do good for nothing but the good of the church and the community, and that strengthens my faith,” said Bonta. “I see the children playing games, having so much joy, and it reminds me of the good things in day-to-day life.”
In addition to Mass on the Grass celebrated by Father Kevin McCarthy, pastor, at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 12, the festival hosts a service. “We have a Prayer Tent, where a group of volunteers sits together, and anyone can come in and ask them to pray for an intention, themselves or someone else,” explained Bonta. “No matter when I walk by, there is always someone in the tent. If you are not having your best day, you can leave with a little hope.”
Farkas, whose specialty is booking top local bands, said working with Bonta “is an absolute joy. We share a common goal, the same vision to continue the legacy of this festival, and we also try to add new things, like food vendors, to keep up with what people want.”
For Beth Michalesko, of St. John, volunteering at the St. John Festival began for the former pediatric intensive care unit nurse when her oldest daughter, Isabella, was a kindergartner at St. John the Evangelist School and her younger daughter, Alexandra, was one year old. “It seemed like the best way to earn our service hours as parents, because it was during the summer, and I could bring the kids to meetings and do a lot of the work from home, too. We have monthly meetings starting in February, and by May we are signing up volunteers at church after weekend Masses,” Michalesko said. “This is a very family-friendly and welcoming environment, and we become a festival family, in a prayerful way, helping out if someone needs it.”
Nine years into her involvement, Michalesko is the volunteer coordinator working with more than 700 people, adding people even during the weekend itself. “People come up and say, ‘I didn’t sign up, but I’m happy to help.’ We have openings everywhere,” she said. “That’s what I like best. We are a family, and if you come to help us, we’ll find a spot for you and be grateful.
“The whole point is to evangelize, right, to spread the giving of yourself and your time. It’s not an obligation; to help is normal. My husband helps out after work, and our kids (now a high school freshman and a SJE fifth grader) help, too,” added Michalesko
Smutniak, a third-year teacher at SJE after 28 years in south-suburban Chicago public schools, first got involved in the St. John Festival 10 years ago as a volunteer at the Alpha Table, a booth that promoted a new parish program. “Alpha lit my faith on fire, and I wanted to share that. It’s a program introducing people to Jesus’ history, prayer and what he brings to your life, how your relationship with Jesus can develop,” she explained. “Alpha is huge in this parish, with more than 200 people involved after starting with about 40 a decade ago. We meet weekly, and now there are also groups for teens, young adults and married couples.”
She also enjoyed opening the day chapel, formerly the main church, for visitors who wanted to tour the historic building. “Some were looking for a new parish, because so many churches in nearby Illinois were closing, and they were interested in the beauty and history of the church,” Smutniak said.
Fans of outdoor grilling at home, Smutniak and her husband, Ray Smutniak, now operate the SJE Grill, one of 11 parish-run and vendor food booths. Offering hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and chips, Smutniak offered her best tip for the grill. “Check the color of the meat juice; for a perfect medium burger, it should be just a little pink,” she said.
Smutniak said her favorite things about the festival are “talking to people and listening to the music. I’ll be here about 40 hours this weekend. I love event planning, and I love to decorate my booth. I also run the coffee house at our parish Oktoberfest, serving German coffee and desserts, like Black Forest cake.
“Talking to people and sharing your joy in Jesus makes you want more,” she added.
Sydney Vega, events coordinator for SJE, said volunteers like Michalesko and Smutniak help the parish build strong bonds. “Beth is my 10-month-old daughter Trinity’s godmother. That tells you how we have become family.”
NativityFest 2026 opened Thursday and continues from 5 p.m.-midnight both Friday and Saturday, July 10-11, and Sunday, July 12. Hours are 1-8 p.m. Parking is free.
The St. John Festival also opened Thursday, with hours on Friday, July 10, from 5 p.m.-midnight, on Saturday, July 11, from 3 p.m.-midnight, and Sunday, July 12, from 3-9 p.m. Free parking is available north of 93rd Avenue and U.S. 41 at Lake Central High School, with free shuttles every 15 minutes. The festival website, stjohnfest.org, provides details on handicapped parking and a map showing approved parking at neighboring businesses and shuttle information.
