BRIDGEPORT -- The 98th Greek Festival celebration August 17 drew crowds from the region.

Some were there to celebrate their heritage, and others to enjoy the festivities.

Saturday's festivities were held at the Prairie Winds Community Center in Bridgeport. It's history is from the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church.

The celebration was held in two parts. The day started with outside events of dancing and music, socializing and of course food. There were also cooking demonstrations.

The second half of the day, from about 4 p.m., were held inside the community center, including a community dinner.

Much of the Greek population came to the United States as hard workers, according to  Coasta Lapaseotes.

"A lot of Greeks, just like other ethnic groups, migrated to the U.S. in the earliest part of the 1900s. A lot of that was a byproduct of the Greek revolution, and the industrial revolution, and a lot of political and economic turmoil in Europe," Lapaseotes said.

He said the Greek immigrants came to the U.S. to make their fortune.

"The main thing that the Greek immigrants did was laborers, like day laborers at that time. That lead to a lot of people working in mines, like out in Wyoming," he said.

The hard work often resulted in new commerce carrying a Greek name.

"Once they got this far west, they were able to save some money, you saw a lot of people saving money doing construction on the sugar beet factories. And then a lot of these guys saved enough money to buy their own farm," he said.