The National HeraldA Weekly Greek-AmeriCAN PuBliCAtioN

June 4-10, 2016

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1915-2016

VOL. 19, ISSUE 973

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BRONX – Krinos Foods officiallyopens the doors to its new100,000-square-foot facility lo-cated at 1750 Bathgate Avenuein the Bronx on June 15.

To assist with the privategrand opening celebration, Kri-nos Chairman Eric Moscahlaidisand New York City EconomicDevelopment Corporation(NYCEDC) President Maria Tor-res-Springer will address guestsand will perform a ceremonialribbon-cutting.

Attendees and media will beinvited to tour the new facility,take part in the grand openingfestivities, and learn more aboutKrinos Foods: the company, itsproducts and impact on theBronx neighborhood.

The new location and $20million facility is the result ofMoscahlaidis’ loyalty to his NewYork City origins, when the needfor a more efficient state-of-the-art facility arose.

In addition to the new facilityoffering operational, green, andproduction and distribution ben-efits, it fills what was a long-va-cant lot within the Bronx afternearly three decades.

The new facility’s exterioralso features three murals toprovide additional beauty to theneighborhood, created by KennyScharff, Misha Most, and VictorMatthews.

The new facility sits at thesite where six Bronx firefighterslost their lives to a factory firein 1956.

A separate dedication cere-mony took place in conjunctionwith the Bronx Fire Departmentin April, on the 60th anniversary

Krinos FoodsPrivate GrandOpening inthe Bronx

TNH Staff

TARRYTOWN, NY – The worldhas the wrong heroes to GeorgeD. Yancopoulos, Founding Sci-entist of the noted RegeneronPharmaceuticals: he wants themto be scientists, technologists,engineers and mathematicians.

To back it up, Yancopoulos’company on May 26 took overfrom computer chip giant Intelsponsorship of the noted Sci-ence Talent Search with a 10-year $100 million commitmentto find the best and brightest inthe four so-called STEM coresubjects in American highschools.

“This should be the best re-ality show in the world — weneed these kinds of kids to savethe planet,” Yancopoulos toldthe New York Times. “The worldhas challenges like cancer, theZika virus and global warming.We need to change who our he-roes are.”

He knows something aboutthe contest. In 1976, he finished

fourth for his experiment on cel-lular regeneration in a type ofprotozoa while a student at theprestigious Bronx High Schoolof Science.

The contest was begun dur-ing World War II and sponsoredby Westinghouse before it wentbust but Yancopoulos said thelure of science made himchange his life.

“Much in life, where you goand what you do, is aboutdreams and role models,” hesaid. “When I got to Bronx Sci-ence, I wanted to play footballfor Notre Dame, but then in thehallways as a freshman I’d seepeople pointing out somebodyand whispering, ‘He’s a West-inghouse winner.’ My worldchanged,” he told the Times ina piece written by QuentinHardy.

Regeneron is taking over thecontest because Intel gave upsponsorship, for which it waspaying $6 million a year. Regen-eron is upping the allure andthe financial rewards, increasingthe topo prize money to$250,000 from $150,000 anddoubling awards to the top 300contestants and their schools to$2,000 each.

Regeneron will spend $30million in outreach to potentialcontestants in underserved ar-eas, paying for mentoring andhelp with writing applicationsand participating in contestsand looking for budding scien-tists and other STEM protegesat schools which may not havestrong curricula but have brightstudents needing a chance.

The new sponsors were an-nounced in New York at theAmerican Museum of NaturalHistory by Neil deGrasse Tyson,the celebrity astrophysicist whois director of the museum’s Hay-den Planetarium – and a highschool classmate of Yancopou-

Yancopoulos’ RegeneronIs Hunting for EngineersAnd Scientists of Future

By Demetris Tsakas

NEW YORK – ThessalonikiMayor Yiannis Boutaris visitedTNH Headquarters on May 30,where he met with Publisher-Editor Antonis H. Diamataris.

Boutaris congratulated Dia-mataris on the 101st anniver-sary of the newspaper’s found-ing (April 2) and expressed thejoy he felt while looking at thestreet sign in front of the TNHoffices “Εθνικός Κήρυξ – Na-tional Herald Way,” written inboth Greek and English.

The mayor informed Dia-

mataris on the purpose of hisvisit to New York and Washing-ton and explained that DeputyMayor for Tourism and Interna-tional Relations, Spiros Pengas,and Deputy Mayor in Urban Re-silience and Development Plan-ning, Lina Liakou, are membersof his delegation, and that thepromotion of Thessaloniki asone of the most significant pil-lars of Greek tourism is one ofthe priorities of their visit.

Asked about the purpose ofhis visit, Boutaris told TNH thathe came to receive the Damask-inos Award, which is awarded

to individuals who have pro-moted and defended toleranceand cooperation among all reli-gions in Greece. The award wasto be bestowed on June 1 by theAmerican Friends of the JewishMuseum of Greece.

“We managed to highlightthe 500-year presence of Ju-daism in Thessaloniki, hence thereason why Thessaloniki is alsoreferred to as the Jerusalem ofthe Balkans. After the holocaustof the Jewish community, whichwas once 50,000 individuals –

Mayor of Thessaloniki visits TNH

The Honorable Yiannis S. Boutaris, Mayor of Thessaloniki, who received the Damaskinos Award onJune 1, is shown here with Rabbi Martin A. Cohen, the spiritual leader of the American Friends ofthe Jewish Museum of Greece. Related story on page 2.

Greek Treasure Found under an English Bed

TNH Staff

WASHINGTON, DC – On May25, Congresswoman Carolyn B.Maloney (NY-12), co-Chair andco-Founder of the CongressionalCaucus on Hellenic Issues, metwith the American Hellenic Ed-ucational Progressive Associa-tion (AHEPA), the Daughters ofPenelope and Sons of Periclesfor the AHEPA Family AnnualCapitol Hill Day to address U.S.relations with Greece andCyprus and the efforts to sup-port awarding Greek-AmericanWorld War II veteran James“Maggie” Megellas with theMedal of Honor.

“Greece and Cyprus are crit-ical strategic allies of the US andour cooperation is essential forglobal security and economicgrowth. That is why I have sostrongly advocated for US sup-port for Greece’s economic re-covery and why I continue topush the United States to re-main actively engaged in nego-tiations to create a unifiedCyprus free of Turkish occupa-

Rep. Maloney Meets with AHEPA on Capitol Hill

TNH Staff

MONTAUK, NY – You can’t getfarther from New York City thanMontauk on Long Island’s East-ern tip and two developers, in-cluding George Filopoulos, betthe wealthy are willing to payto there.

While the rich and famouslike to summer in Hamptons onthe island, quieter money hasbeen seeking out the budget-priced fishing village. But withlaws preventing building on thewater, there’s been sparse ac-commodation for those who canafford it.

Filopoulos, owner of Metro-vest Equities, and Lloyd Gold-man, a developer and founderof BLDG Management, haverenovated the former Gurney’sInn into Gurney’s Montauk Re-sort with room rates of $1,800a month, and offering 15 ocean-front homes with prices from$5-$12 million.

The homebuyers will have

access to all the services of theresort, including spa, seawaterpool, and beach club. The resi-dences were carved out of theformer Panoramic View, a 117-room 1950s hotel on a greenhillside next to Gurney’s.

The Wall Street Journal’sJosh Barbanel detailed howFilopoulos and Goldman came

to acquire the resort and hotelafter its former owners wereforced to put it up for sale eightyears after the bought it andthen ran into the 2008 financialcrisis and being accused by thegovernment of using unrelatedinvestor funds to funnel moneyinto the Panoramic.

Last December, in a court-or-dered sale, Filopoulos and Gold-man bought the controlling in-terest in the Panoramic for$63.9 million. It was more thanjust business though: Filopoulosknew what he was getting into.

Filopoulos has summered inMontauk for many years andtold The Journal it’s a placewhere “a billionaire can have abeer with the local fishermanand local surfer at the local bar.”

He and his partner boughtGurney’s in 2013 and startedrenovations while bringing in arestaurant group to open abranch of the Scarpetta restau-

Filopoulos’ Luxury Homes in Montauk

Daughters of Penelope Grand President Connie Pilallis, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, AHEPA SupremePresident John Galanis, and Sons of Pericles Supreme President Andreas Christou met on May 25.

George Filopoulos

By Penelope Karageorge

Silent, a compelling new filmfrom director Yorgos Gkikapep-pas, focuses on a promisingyoung soprano, Dido, whodreams of being a Maria Callas.She even looks like her. But shehas lost her voice. She cannotsing. She cannot talk.

Played with stunning inten-sity by Kiki Georgiou, her strug-gles to make a sound reach uslike a psychic scream. Thewould-be diva leaves Poland,and returns to Greece. She holesup in a now-deserted familyapartment, camping on thefloor. Antisocial and desperatelooking, this artist has becomeferal, her moves darting and an-imalistic. She eats greedily, as if

Silent: a FilmAbout NextMaria Callas

By Eleni Sakellis

NEW YORK – On May 26, mul-titalented Greek actor PanosVlahos made his American de-but in Mistero Buffo, a play byDario Fo based on the mysteryplays of the Middle Ages. Theplay, presented by the OrpheusFoundation for Greek Music andthe Arts, and directed by LytoTriantafyllidou, runs in an ex-clusive three-day engagementthrough Sunday at the BalconyTheater of West-Park Presbyter-ian Church on Manhattan’s Up-per West Side.

The play is a remarkable tourde force for the gifted Vlahoswho demonstrates extraordi-nary range as a performer as heportrays several dramaticallydifferent characters throughoutthe play. He plays a fool, a peas-ant, a player, a soldier, variousvillagers, the Pope, and JesusChrist in a non-stop perfor-mance. With roots in the me-dieval jugglers and commediadell’ arte, the protagonist of theplay is the fool in the traditionalsense, challenging the way welook at the world and subvertingthe political status quo. The playis at once historical and modern,and like the medieval mystery

Vlahos MakesNY Debut inMistero Buffo

COLUMBUS, OH – “NewHampshire has more Greek-Americans, percentage-wise,than any other state,” BillAntonoplos began telling TheNational Herald, “and we be-came aware that the mayor ofManchester, Ted Gatsas, wasrunning for reelection” last year.Along with some of his fellowcivic-minded Greek-Americans,Antonoplos decided to establishthe Greek American Political Ac-tion Committee (GAPAC) tohelp Hellenes and Philhellenesbe elected to local, state, andnational office.

Gatsas, who won reelectionas Manchester mayor last No-vember, is now running for gov-ernor of New Hampshire, andfaces a tough battle against fel-low Republican Chris Sununu,a member of the state’s Execu-tive Council, whose father, John,was the state’s governor andalso Chief of Staff to PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush.

“But we are fully behindhim,” Antonoplos told TNH, andhopes that GAPAC can mobilizethe state’s Greek-Americans toswing the momentum in Gatsas’favor.

The gubernatorial primary

Greek PACBacks Kasichand Gatsas

George D. Yancopoulos,Founding Scientist of the notedRegeneron Pharmaceuticals.

ColumBiA uNiv.

TNH Staff

SOMERSET, ENGLAND – An el-derly English man has discov-ered a piece of jewelry he in-herited from his grandfatherand tucked under a bed is a2300-year-old gold AncientGreek wreath more than100,000 pounds, or about$111,380.

The man, who wasn’t identi-fied in a story by The Daily Mail,found a real rarity: the delicatemyrtle wreath is believed tohave been made around 300BC. and was uncovered in aratty cardboard box.

The man, not knowingwhat’d he found, had it ap-praised and was stunned whenhe was told of its lineage andworth. Experts from the firmDuke’s of Dorchester in Dorsetcame to his home to look at italong with other items he hadinherited from his grandfather,the paper said.

Guy Schwinge from the auc-tioneers, said he was flabber-gasted when he pulled aside thenewspaper inside a worn box toreveal the precious ancientpiece. “When the owner pulledthe gold wreath … my heartmissed a beat. When I went tothe cottage the last thing I ex-

Continued on page 2

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tNH/CoStAS BeJ

Bill PetroS

WSJ

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TNH Staff

NEW YORK – On June 1, theHonorable Yiannis S. Boutaris,Mayor of Thessaloniki was hon-ored under the auspices of theConsulate General of Greece inNew York, the Jewish Museumof Greece, and the AmericanFriends of the Jewish Museumof Greece (AFJMG) with theDamaskinos Award. His Emi-nence Archbishop Demetrios,Geron of America, Primate ofthe Greek Orthodox Church inAmerica and previous recipientof the Damaskinos Award pre-sented the award to Boutaris.Dr. Mimis Cohen served as Mas-ter of Ceremonies for the eventat Hebrew Union College, Jew-ish Institute of Religion in NewYork City.

This is only the secondDamaskinos Award to be pre-sented since the first was givento Archbishop Demetrios in2007. The award is given to in-dividuals who through their ac-tions and work defend and pro-mote the freedom andcoexistence of religions inGreece and Greek-Americancommunities in honor of thecourageous Archbishop ofAthens Damaskinos who stoodagainst the persecution of theJews during World War II. Hispetition to the Prime Minister isa unique historical documentand highlights the remarkablecourage, dignity, and respect forhumanity of ArchbishopDamaskinos, inspiring clergyand ordinary citizens to helptheir persecuted neighbors any

way they could. As Dr. Cohennoted in his presentation on theArchbishop and his efforts tosave Greek Jews during theHolocaust, encouraging Chris-tians to hide Jewish families,clergy to issue fake baptismalcertificates, and officials to issueidentification papers with Chris-tian names saved many lives.Rabbi Martin A. Cohen, the spir-itual leader of AFJMG spoke elo-quently about the SephardicJews and presented two singers,Cantor Inbal Sharett-Singer and

Anita Rogers, who both sangSephardic songs, “reminding ushow much culture was lost”when the Jewish community ofThessaloniki was decimated inthe Holocaust.

The Consul General ofGreece in New York Konstanti-nos Koutras spoke about MayorBoutaris and his efforts for tol-erance and unity, helping tobring the history of the prosper-ous, vibrant Jewish communityof Thessaloniki to light onceagain, and fighting against anti-

Semitism. Boutaris wore the yel-low Star of David in response tothe election of two members ofthe Golden Dawn Party to thecity council of Thessaloniki in astand against totalitarianism,racism, and exclusion, and as areminder of the Holocaust.Makis Matsas, President of theJewish Museum of Greece,noted that Boutaris’ wise lead-ership changed the image of thecity of Thessaloniki, and themayor’s courage, ethos, and justinitiatives make him an example

of an inspired leader, notinghow the mayor led the delega-tion from Thessaloniki at theMarch of the Living in remem-brance of those lost in the Holo-caust. Solomon Asser, Presidentof AFJMG, spoke about howhappy he was to finally meetBoutaris after the 18 months ittook to bring about the event,remarking that the mayor is“not a politician, he’s a real hu-man being.”

Mayor Boutaris in his accep-tance speech said how deeplyhonored he was to receive theaward, especially because it isnamed for Archbishop Damask-

inos who was an example to or-dinary citizens and saved thelives of those who would other-wise have perished. Of his ownwork, the mayor showed his hu-mility, noting that his work wasnot special, it was his responsi-bility to those killed unjustlyand our duty to remember, since“you cannot build your future,unless you know your past.”Archbishop Demetrios gave theclosing remarks, calling Boutaris“an absolutely worthy recipientof the prestigious award,” forhis unending effort to connectthe community. A reception fol-lowed the award presentation.

of the tragedy as a tribute tothese these men and their sacri-fices.

A permanent plaque dedi-cated during the ceremony hon-ors the firefighters.

The Mayor of Thessaloniki Receives the Damaskinos Award in New York

COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

Krinos Foods’Private GrandOpening in BxContinued from page 1

A rendering of Krinos’ new 100,000-square-foot facility

one third of the residents – thesituation and the future of thecity changed.

“The second reason is tospeak to Congress about anevent the American JewishCommittee is organizing and themayor of Houston and I, on be-half of American mayors andEuropean mayors, respectively,are going to sign the Declarationof the Mayors United againstAnti-Semitism. It is a very im-portant event because fascistperspectives are constantly gain-ing ground,” Boutaris noted.

In regards to his earlier meet-ing with Archbishop Demetrios,Boutaris noted, “the Archbishopand I had met in Thessalonikiwhen he was visiting with thePatriarch, but today I discoveredthat not only are we fellowThessalonians, but that our fam-ily homes are very close to eachother. In fact, we attended thesame school, the ExperimentalSchool of Thessaloniki. Thus,we spoke about a lot of things. Imust say, the archbishop is ex-ceptional and his presence is anassurance for Christianity.”

Referring to his May 31meetings with Libra GroupChairman and CEO George Lo-gothetis, and the leadership ofThe Hellenic Initiative, Boutarisstated that his aim was to “invitethem to contribute to the effortswe are making to rejuvenateand regenerate Thessaloniki.”

Regarding the ramificationsof the economic crisis, hepointed out that “Thessalonikiis going through a major crisis

and that is evident in its highunemployment rate, especiallyamong the young population.

“Our efforts to promote ourcity’s history have resulted in anincrease of tourism. In 2010, thenumber of overnight stays in ourcity was 1 million, while in 2015it reached 2.2 million. In 2010we had 25,000 Americans visitus; now the number of Ameri-cans – Jewish-Americans, infact – who have visited Thessa-loniki has exceeded 75,000.This is also a result of the pro-motion of the city’s Jewish his-tory. We have also seen a greatincrease of Turkish visitors whocome to locate the homes oftheir ancestors, just as we dowhen we visit Turkey.

“The Greek-American com-munity can do many things” tohelp promote Thessaloniki’sgrowth,” he said. “It can supportGreek products that are ex-ported to the United States, pre-fer Greek olive oil over Italian,Greek wines, feta cheese, andother products, while maintain-ing their demand for quality.

“They can take advantage ofevery vacation opportunity byvisiting Greece and to nurturethe younger generation on theessence of Greece.”

Mayor Boutaris then visitedthe Onassis Cultural Center inNew York and spoke at the eventorganized by the Executive Di-rector of the Center, Amalia Cos-metatou, in cooperation with theHellenic American LeadershipCouncil, and also visited theCenter’s main exhibition, “Godsand Mortals at Olympus: An-cient Dion, City of Zeus.”

Thessaloniki Mayor VisitsTNH Headquarters in NYContinued from page 1

Left to right- Solomon Asser- President of AFJMG, Makis Matsas- President of JMG, ThessalonikiMayor Yiannis S. Boutaris- recipient of the Damaskinos Award, His Eminence ArchbishopDemetrios, and Dr. Mimis Cohen, master of ceremonies.

tNH/CoStAS BeJ

tNH/CoStAS BeJ

The HonorableYiannis S. Boutaris,Mayor of Thessa-loniki, met with HisEminence Arch-bishop Demetrios(top photo), thenvisited the offices ofTNH and met withPublisher-EditorAntonis Diamataris(2nd photo) fol-lowed by a visit tothe Onassic Cul-tural Center (4th photo) and met with Amalia Cosmetatou (3rdphoto), Executive Director and Director of Cultural Affairs.

THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 3

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COMMUNITY4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

By Aria Socratous

The National Herald recentlyhad the opportunity to interviewDr. Ioannis Mylonopoulos, Pro-fessor of Art and Archaeology atColumbia University, about hisfields, his teaching, his writing,and his Greek heritage.

TNH: What path led you toyour distinguished academic ca-reer?

IM: If I had to answer thiswith one word, I would say:work, hard work. I left Greecealready in 1991, finished mystudies at the University of Hei-delberg and then decided not toreturn home. The situation forClassical Archaeologists inGreece was never really rosy,and as a complete outsider, mychances at an academic jobwould have been non-existent.On the other side, I had to work

double as much as my Germancolleagues in Germany, in orderto get fellowships and—later—positions, but at least I could tellmyself that my dedication to mywork would be rewarded. Oneneeds to be absolutely passion-ate about his profession; half-hearted things are rarely re-warded. However, luck is also avery important factor: I was atthe right places at the right timesand used in the best possibleway the opportunities I wasgiven. At the end of the day, Ithink that my persistence helpedme tremendously: falling, get-ting up, falling again and findingthe strength to get up again.

TNH: In 2011, you wereawarded the Faculty MentorshipAward and were nominated forthe Presidential Teaching Awardand in 2014 with the ColumbiaDistinguished Faculty Award, all

at Columbia. Please tell us moreabout these great honors.

IM: I am extremely proud ofthe two awards and the nomi-nation. The Faculty MentorshipAward is given every year by thegraduate students in Arts andSciences to only two facultymembers across disciplines whohave provided exceptional sup-port to their PhD students. ThePresidential Teaching Awardhonors annually the best of Co-lumbia University’s teachers forthe influence they have on thedevelopment of their studentsand their part in maintainingthe Columbia’s longstandingreputation for educational ex-cellence. The Distinguished Fac-ulty Award is one of the highesthonors one can receive and ismeant to acknowledge excep-tional faculty in the Arts and Sci-ences. The award recognizes un-

usual merit across a range of ac-tivities including scholarship,University citizenship, andteaching and mentoring of un-dergraduate and graduate stu-dents. My scholarship has beenhonored through fellowships bythe Onassis Foundation, the In-stitute for Advanced Study(Princeton), the German Re-search Council, or the HarvardCenter for Hellenic Studies.However, the awards from myown university honored me formy passion about teaching andmy dedication to my students.

TNH: You have directed yourown excavations in Greece since2014 such as the excavation ofthe amphictyonic sanctuary ofPoseidon at Onchestos (Boeo-tia). In which way do you be-lieve that the revelation of theancient civilizations can affectthe contemporary civilizations?Does it show any link or corre-lation with our times?

IM: We are supposed to learnfrom the mistakes and profitfrom the knowledge of the past,but this is rarely, if ever the case.Religiously motivated violenceand wars go back to antiquity,the destruction of religious ar-chitecture and imagery has along tradition that goes well be-yond the well-known destruc-tions of pagan monuments byChristians. Today, we point tothe others and accuse them ofreligious intolerance, instead oflooking back at our own historyin order to learn how did weovercome these dark times andcan we use the same or similarstrategies today? For those of usdealing with the past, it is oftenso frustrating to see how historyrepeats itself over and overagain. The promotion of ancientstudies should go beyond theempty praise of abstract termssuch as democracy or freedom.We need to look at democraticAthens and the imperial way ittreated its allies, in order to un-derstand current political devel-opments; we need to ask howfree were women in Athens orthe slaves at the Laurion mines,and then truly talk about free-dom. In times in which Greeceis in such a deep crisis (not onlyfinancially), taking refuge in aglorified past is not helpful. Sev-eral cities in ancient Greecewere often in financial crises,why don’t we look at how theydealt with them. The solutionswe might find in our sources are

not that “ancient.”TNH: You have published

several books and papers. Whatis the core of your inspirationand on what projects are youcurrently working?

IM: As a child I used to geton my mother’s nerves with myrelentless “why?” This is stillwhat guides me: looking for thereasons behind things. I alwayshad a problem with “authority”that simply required unques-tioned acceptance. Very often Isee how I might delve into aproblem only because everyoneelse thinks the issue is resolvedbecause Professor X wrote thisor that 50 years ago. This iswhat I teach my students: neverstop asking why and never ac-cept an idea just because thereis a big name behind it.

TNH: You are managingmany and different fields of in-terest. How do you think thatyour Greek culture has con-tributed to your success?

IM: Greeks used to be rest-less and imaginative. I thinkthese are two of the Greek

things that keep me going. Un-fortunately, decades in whichEU money was thrown into thecountry without any real controlor planning and of course thecrisis of the last 8 years areabout to destroy the positiverestlessness and imagination ofthe Greek spirit. In all honesty,I am not sure whether I wouldhave been able to preserve theseGreek aspects of my character,if I had not left Greece in 1991.There is this proverb: Greeceeats its children. I usually com-ment on this by saying thatGreece does not need to eat itschildren, because they eat eachother. Within Columbia, thereare important institutions likethe Italian Academy or theDeutsches Haus, but nothingcomparable that could bring to-gether my countless Greek col-leagues. This would be mydream: to create one day some-thing within my university thatwould help unite the enormouspotential that all these Greekscholars in one of the best uni-versities in the world represent.

Columbia U Classical Art Scholar Ioannis Mylonopoulos Talks to TNH

Dr. Ioannis Mylonopoulos, a prolific writer, edited the bookseen here, about religions in the Greco-Roman world.

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COMMUNITY/ARTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 5

By Vasilis Papoutsis

LOS ANGELES, CA – A specialoutdoor concert of classical andmodern jazz music titled thePythiad, was hosted on the GettyVilla's Outer Peristyle garden ona beautiful California springevening.

Inspired by Ancient Greekmythological figures, it was per-formed by composer and saxo-phonist Jim Gailloreto and hisensemble Jazz String Quintet.The Pythiad was written forvoice, string quartet, sopranosaxophone and string bass. Themusic is a blend of classical andmodern jazz.

Gailloreto, who has per-formed on numerous occasionswith the Chicago Symphony Or-chestra, first appeared at theGetty Villa in 2006 as a memberof composer Patricia Barber'sgroup when she performed heralbum Mythologies, her own in-terpretation of Greek mythology.That rendition inspired Gail-loreto to compose his own cre-ation of themes and charactersfrom the Ancient Greek litera-ture.

Beautifully sung by vocalistCheryl Wilson whose recordingof ''America the Beautiful'' canbe heard every evening at the

foothills of Mt. Rushmore andwho, according to Gailloreto, “isa singer who can do anythingyou ask of her.” The task of craft-

ing the lyrics was assigned to hisson Coleman Gailloreto, whilethe father focused on melodicideas that would best exploit

Wilson's vocal talents. Jill Kaed-ing, a cellist and Gailloreto'swife, has been part of the en-semble since the inception.

There are nine mythologicalstories that are featured in thisconcert. Composer Jim Gail-loreto told TNH that during theselection process “I was inter-ested in lesser-known charactersof Greek mythology who gravi-tated towards and seemed tohave connections to modern cul-ture. My son Coleman helpedwith the research of the storiesand presented me with optionsto pair with the musical sketchesI was working on.” The firststory was the Oracle of Delphi.In this interpretation the highpriestess of Apollo Pythia takeson the role of a psychologist,who transfers her listeners intoa hypnotic state in order forthem to relive the past and un-derstand their future.

Asclepius, son of Apollo, whobecame the greatest healer inAncient Greece, was struckdown by Zeus with a thunder-bolt in order to preserve the cy-cle of life and death. Atalanta, amortal who outpaced the chil-

dren of gods to become an ath-lete and a hunter, was the firstone to wound the CalydonianBoar. Philemon and Baucis werea poor but loving and generouscouple who welcomed twoweary travelers into their homegiving them the little food theyhad. The grateful travelers re-vealed themselves to be Zeusand Hermes in disguise and theygranted the couples wish togrow old and die together. Thegods transformed them into oakand linden trees, their branchesas their love, intertwined forevertogether.

This story resembles the sto-ries we hear on the news cur-rently with Greek families wel-coming weary refugees into theirhomes and sharing their food,proving once again that Greekhospitality has ancient roots. Ina tale of brotherly love Polluxgave Castor half of his immor-tality so they can remain to-gether in the afterlife becomingthe constellation Gemini. Gail-loreto said that “we would liketo perform the concert inChicago, New York, Greece andpossibly return to Los Angeles.”

In LA, Lyrics and Music bring Greek Mythology to Life at Getty Villa

Composer/saxophonist Jim Gailloreto and his Jazz String Quartet.

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feeding at the trough.Her family, including a loving

but competitive sister, a domi-neering mother, and a helpless,artistic father, battle over Dido’ssoul, alternately shouting abouttheir own needs and desires,while demanding that shespeak. She resists all help. Ac-cording to the medical diagno-sis, she suffers from a case ofhysterical aphonia. There isnothing physically wrong withher, so physicians claim. The ori-gins of this lethal malady – be-cause what’s a singer without avoice -- remain clouded in exis-tential mystery.

Silent was presented in aspecial showing at the Museumof the Moving Image by theConsulate General of Greece inNew York and the Onassis Foun-dation as part of the Museum’sPanorama Europe, 2016. Intro-ducing the film, Greek ConsulManos Koubarakais pointed outthat “Greece, a small country,has been bringing forth an ex-traordinarily talented new waveof artists and film makers whodeserve our support.”

Kudos to Gkikapeppas, whowrote, produced, and directedthis film. Striking in its original-ity, the film harks back to Greektragedy, an inspiration for thedirector. We experience theworld through Dido’s ears. Al-though Dido cannot talk, thefilm resonates with sounds of

doors slamming, wind, and am-plified voices. CinematographerMarianna Ellina’s has done anexceptional job of capturing thefilm’s mood. The camera movesin on Dido’s mouth and throat,a huge, yawning cavern.

“The faces are my land-scape,” Gkikapeppas said duringa Q & A after the film. Like alatter-day Greek IngmarBergman, the director works toreveal interiority. “I rehearsedthe actors for six months,” hetold TNH.

“I wanted them to bring theirown emotions and feelings tothe roles.” The director says hedoes not differentiate betweenfilm and theatre, because it’s allstory, but he’s definitely adramatist in the grand tradition.One of his role models was theexperimental Greek-Americandirector, John Cassavetes.

Born in Athens, Ghikapeppasstudied cinema at LikourgosStavrakos Film School. Heworked in cinema, theatre andtelevision, directing films, stageplays and TV series.

Silent won the InternationalFilm Critics Award (FipresciPrize) in the International Com-petition at the 56th IIFF 2015.He won the International FilmCritics Award for his first fea-ture, The City of Children, aswell as three Hellenic FilmAcademy awards for BestScreenplay, Leading Actress, andBest Visual Affects for that film.

By StephanieNicholopoulos

“Do you need some wine?”Panos Vlahos asks an audiencemember. He scampers off thestage to retrieve a plastic cup ofred wine for the man. It’s a hotevening, Friday, May 27, and weare packed into The BalconyTheater, a small venue that isliterally the balcony area of NewYork City’s West-Park Presbyter-ian Church. It’s the type ofvenue where the cast and crewmight very well interact with theaudience before the show.

“Come, people!” Vlahos saysto the audience. “Elate!” hedeftly switches to the Greektranslation of the phrase. Thereis an affected cuteness to the ac-tor’s tone that suggests perhapshe is not merely making the au-dience comfortable but that heis already in character. Has theplay Mistero Buffo began?

Mistero Buffo is a controver-sial play of multiplicity andblurred lines—between actorsand audience, faith and blas-phemy, wisdom and foolishness,and humor and sorrow—whichacclaimed Greek actor Vlahosbrings to life with dexterity.

“Do you believe in miracles?”asks Vlahos as Giullare, theclown. Castigated by the Vati-can, the 1969 play Mistero Bufforeimagines the stories of theBible. Nobel Prize winner DarioFo’s play calls into question re-ligious rule with quips abouthow Jesus’ father is conservativeand how “you will die becauseHe loves you.”

“Our Mistero Buffo is a socialinterpretation of the PassionStories, from the point of viewof the Guillare, a clown that ex-plores and reconstructs themeaning of Miracles!” directorLyto Triantafyllidou explains.The New York-based theater di-

rector, whose work typically fo-cuses on politically chargedplays that provoke dialogue,uses the venue of an actualhouse of worship to question theboundaries between solemnpiety and the sacredness oflaughter.

Through the course of theplay, we see that perhaps Goduses fools to usher in wisdom.Giullare’s humor is instructive.The sorrowful peasant says that“Jesus Christ Himself—Hetransformed me into a giullare,”and it is clear that the jester hasa manner of disarming people,freeing them to consider weight-ier matters. Laughter during try-ing times can itself feel like amiracle.

Vlahos possesses the multi-tudes. He is one character andseveral characters all at once.He is the impish introducer whowarms up the audience. He isthe peasant who loses his

beloved wife. He is Giullare, theclown. Within seconds, hemoves from one character to thenext and to the next. Freneticand beguiling, Vlahos uses ac-cents, posture, and expressionto instantly transform. From thefront row, one can feel the airthat’s thrust out of the way ofthe actor—a three-time Athensclassic marathon finisher—as hethrows his body into the char-acters. Perspiration glistensdown his neck. Droplets ofsweat careen off his body. Vla-hos contorts his whole body intocharacter. Even his toes seem toact.

Produced by Natasha Ka-terinopoulos and the OrpheusFoundation for the Greek Musicand Arts, this three-day show inNew York has plans to debut inother cities. Anyone who sees itwill become part of the play andwill question the boundaries be-tween buffoonery and wisdom.

plays, it revels in its anachro-nism, becoming eternal in thesense of being out of time andrelevant to audiences of anytime period.

Mistero Buffo was originallywritten in 1969 and in the spiritof the time, it is a politically-charged play, commenting on so-ciety and on the rigid socialstructure and institutions thatrestrict the freedom of the com-mon man. The oppressive pow-ers that be include the wealthyelites and the religious establish-ment that crush hope for thedowntrodden. The play cuts

through the surface, however,bringing the audience back to amore visceral experience of reli-gion, the witnessing of miracles,the living proof of God’s pres-ence among us. As director Tri-antafyllidou said, “our MisteroBuffo is a social interpretationof the Passion Stories from thepoint of view of the Guillare, aclown who explores and recon-structs the meaning of miracles.”The play opens with the invita-tion of the protagonist to comeand see him “turn words into ra-zorblades.” Guillare welcomesthe audience and breaks theforth wall repeatedly, interactingwith the audience, offering them

wine and chocolates which heserves to the bemused audiencemembers who often don’t knowhow to react to this gregariousfigure. The uncertainty is part ofthe charm of the play. He is onlyjoking after all, isn’t he?

The feeling of dislocationworks well in the space of thechurch/theater, drawing on theBrechtian alienation effect, oras it now more commonlyknown, the estrangement effect.The audience knows this is aplay, we see the lights and themetal bars that make up the set,but the interaction between au-dience and actor is very real.Vlahos is drenched in sweat

from the effort of portraying somany characters, and he is soskilled at his work that we be-lieve there are dozens of peoplethere on the stage, some ofthem hilarious, others poignant,but all distinctly human. Thehumanity is the key to this playand to the medieval mysteryplays which helped the peopleof that time period engage withtheir religion in a more vital wayand on a more human level thanthey could experience in the of-ten intimidating setting of a me-dieval cathedral. The play andthe dynamic performance ofPanos Vlahos, especially, are notto be missed.

JAzzStriNGquArtet.Com

James Demetro (left) director of NYC’s Greek Film Festival,congratulates director Yorgos Ghikapeppas after the screeningof his new film Silent at the Museum of the Moving Image.

New Film about the New,And “Silent,” Maria CallasContinued from page 1

Mistero Buffo Uses Buffoonery to Point to Miracles

Greek actor PanosVlahos made his USDebut in MiseroBuffo on May 26,the play runsthrough Sunday atthe BalconyTheater on theUpper West Side ofManhattan. Photoby Martin SummerLoper.

Panos Vlahos Makes His NY Debut in Mistero BuffoContinued from page 1

In New Orleans, TheyDon't Dance OnlyDuring Mardi Gras

Traditional dances were performed at the 43rd annual New Orleans Greek festival, held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in The Big Easy over Memorial DayWeekend.

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TNH Staff

NEW YORK – The ArchdiocesanCathedral School proudly an-nounced another successful yearwith the achievements of thegraduating class of 2016.

The students of the eighthgrade class had excellent resultsin their high school placementprocess. High school admissionsdirector, Juliana Fazzone, andtheir families guided the stu-dents through the competitivehigh school placement processwith great results. Every studentreceived admission to their firstchoice high school. HoraceMann, United Nations Interna-tional School, Loyola, Mary-mount, and Columbia Prep areamong the highly competitiveNew York City independentschools that accepted Cathedralstudents. In the public schoolapplication process, Cathedralstudents were equally success-ful, with applicants to special-ized high schools qualifyingwith high scores for admissionto Bronx Science and LehmanCollege School for AmericanStudies. Three Cathedral stu-dents were admitted to EleanorRoosevelt High School and toBeacon, also their first choiceschools.

The tradition of excellencecontinues with Cathedral’s class

of 2016 and their high schoolplacements. In previous years,

students have been accepted atan impressive list of top high

schools including Bard, Brook-lyn Tech, Dalton, Ethical Cul-ture, Fordham Prep, LaGuardia,Sacred Heart, Trinity, andStuyvesant. The CathedralSchool offers its students a “clas-sical education for a modernworld” and prepares its studentsfor the most competitive highschools in the city which in turnprepare them for the future withall its challenges.

From early learning throughmiddle school, the culturally di-verse, coeducational school in-spires its students with a lifelonglove of learning. The classicaldisciplines of Greek languageand technology, science, math-ematics, English, history, hu-manities, and religious studiesprovide a solid foundation forCathedral students. Values suchas teamwork, integrity, and re-spect for one another in the nur-turing, stimulating environmentof the school promote achieve-ment. With all their accomplish-ments, the dedicated faculty andstaff prepare the students for thechallenging academic rigors ofhigh school. A student-teacherratio of ten to one ensures alevel of attention and account-ability for individual studentsthat few other institutions canoffer. The neighborhood feeling

of the school, located on the Up-per East Side, along with themost up to date teaching meth-ods creates a unique educa-tional experience for studentsand their families. Founded in1949 by the Cathedral of theHoly Trinity, to serve Greek fam-ilies in New York City, providingthem a solid foundation in theGreek language, culture and his-tory, the school gradually devel-oped into the exemplary privateschool it is today. The CathedralSchool continues to honor itsGreek Orthodox Christian andHellenic heritage while welcom-ing cultural and religious diver-sity. Students from as far awayas India, China, and NewZealand now join Greek-Ameri-can students from New YorkCity to experience the dynamicacademic experience at theCathedral School. Under theleadership of principal TheodoreP. Kusulas, the school continuesto flourish. As Mr. K, noted,“Our high standards, our nur-turing community spirit, andour commitment to the overalldevelopment of our students arewhat our TCS families value.”Applications are currently beingaccepted for the 2016-2017school year for nursery through8th grade.

Cathedral School Class of 2016 to Attend New York’s Best High Schools

COMMUNITY6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

los.“I didn’t compete, but I re-

member just being in the com-pany of people who were creat-ing an atmosphere of learningand achievement,” Tyson toldThe Times. Leonard S. Schleifer,Regeneron’s founder and chiefexecutive, participated in the1970 contest.

The Science Talent Searchbegins with about 1,800 appli-cants, a number that has heldsteady for a decade. Their pro-jects are narrowed down to 300.Eventually 40 finalists go toWashington for several days,where they meet leaders in gov-ernment and science and havetheir projects judged.

With the United States lag-ging in the critical STEM areas,the talent search aims to findpeople who can help turn thataround and rejuvenate interestin areas not trendy for manyhigh schoolers in an age of over-exposed talentless celebrities.

Maya Ajmera, President ofthe Society for Science & thePublic, said more than 50 com-panies and philanthropistsshowed sponsorship interest

when Intel dropped out.Regeneron stood out, she

said, for “a tremendous contri-bution to get more students tocare and compete.” In additionto raising the money and payingfor mentors, Regeneron will also

support the creation and publi-cation of science news to 4,000high schools.

Even before taking over theprize, Dr. Yancopoulos said, Re-generon has sponsored about200 high schools in local science

competitions, a precursor to thenational Science Talent Search.

“I don’t want the best mindsin this country to be hedge fundmanagers,” he said. “I wantthem to be scientists and engi-neers.”

By Aria Socratous

Columbia University, one ofthe most prestigious institutionsof higher learning in the world,is home to a distinguished classicsdepartment that includes aProgram in Hellenic Studies. Dr.Maria Hadjipolycarpou, whoteaches in that program, recentlyspoke with The National Herald.The interview follows.

TNH: You received yourBachelor degree in ModernGreek and Byzantine Studiesfrom The University of Cyprusand your PhD in ComparativeLiterature from the Universityof Michigan. How did you de-cide to make a huge transitionto a completely different cultureand how difficult had it been topursue an academic career onthe other side of the Atlantic?

MP: As William G. T. Shedd(1820-1894) said, “a ship in theharbor is safe but this is notwhat ships are made for.” I liketo challenge myself with newprojects. Immigrating into a newcountry and transplanting my-self in a new culture was defi-nitely one of the most challeng-ing things I did in my life. I amglad I did it, however, becauseit gave me new pairs of eyesthrough which to see the world.Isn’t this also what education isall about? To have the capacityto see the world beyond your

own point of view? Another rea-son I decided to pursue this ca-reer was because at the Univer-sity of Cyprus in my ModernGreek literature courses our pro-fessors made reference to suchwriters as Stendhal, Eliot,Pound, Chateaubriand, Byron,and such philosophers as Hegel,Heidegger, Nietzsche, Levinas,and many more. They usedthese references as an entrypoint to the study of the Greekwriters. Those references gaverise to my curiosity to knowmore about Western philosophyand literature. This was the rea-son I found myself pursuinggraduate studies initially at Pur-due University, Indiana, andlater at the University of Michi-gan. Modern Greek literaturehad a bizarre relationship withthe Western literary establish-ment. I had to study further inorder to fully grasp what wasgoing on.

TNH: You are the Founder of“Mediterranean Topographies,”an interdisciplinary researchgroup interested in the modernMediterranean culture, litera-ture, society, architecture, andhistory. Can you elaborate onthat?

MP: I wanted to study Greeceand Cyprus as part of theMediterranean geopolitical con-text within which the two coun-tries happen to find themselves.

For this reason with my col-league Dr. Amr Kamal, Ifounded MediterraneanTopographies (Meditopos).Meditopos offered a forum forscholars to discuss the sharedhistories of the Mediterraneanpeople. Our discussions led usto realize, among others, thecommonalities of Greeks, Arabsand Jews. The creation of Med-itopos eventually led to the hir-ing of 4 tenure-track Professorsin Jewish Studies, Spanish Stud-ies, and History of Art.

TNH: What are your researchand teaching interests?

MP: My research revolvesaround the Mediterranean witha specific focus on Greece andCyprus. I am particularly inter-ested in the ways communitiesand individuals in this regiondefine their ethnic, national, re-ligious and personal identity. Ιstudied the autobiographies ofsuch authors as Costas Montis,Niki Marangou, Rina Katselli,Nikos Kazantzakis, Michel Fais,Rhea Galanaki as well as auto-biographies from the Arab andJewish worlds. I am interestedin the stories people tell ofthemselves in the public sphere.In regard to teaching I love do-ing it. I am interested in keepingstudents engaged. Humor is alsoan important quality for ateacher to have. Making stu-dents laugh makes them pleas-

antly receptive to what they arelearning and associate learningwith happiness. I am interestedin seeing my students succeedin areas that they are passionateabout. I also like to see my stu-dents remain engaged with the

community, to be aware of whatis happening around them interms of politics, culture, andsociety. In the Columbia ModernGreek program we initiated acollaboration with the UnitedNations Mission of Cyprus. Our

students have the opportunityto intern with the UN whichopens a window in the field ofinternational relations

TNH: What are you currentlyworking on?

MP:I am currently workingon a book project on Autobiog-raphy in the Mediterranean.Greece and Cyprus are an im-portant component of this pro-ject. The title of my book inprogress is Lives in Disguise: Au-tobiography in the ModernMediterranean. It is a long anddifficult project but I am hopingto find the peace of mind to fin-ish it sooner rather than later.Writing a book, especially acad-emic, is hard, particularly whenone has to cope with the dailyroutine of teaching, keeping ahousehold, etc. Our history andthought is traceable in the lan-guage we speak."

TNH: How has Greek culturecontributed to your success?

MP: There are so many facetsto Greek culture: music, lan-guage, daily practices, domesticand public, celebrations, and somuch more. I suffice to twothings: Greek language helpsme be a better critical thinker.Our history is traceable in thelanguage we speak. Most impor-tant, Greek culture offers me acommunal worldview that is dif-ferent from what in the West isknown as individualism.

Dr. Maria Hadjipolycarpou Expounds on Mediterranean Topographies

The Cathedral School Class of 2016 Stephanie Durcan, Kyriaki Yozzo, Julian Novarr, TenchiIshibashi, Anna Elizabeth Diakolios, and Andreas Gritsipis. Photo by Michele Haberland.

Dr. Maria Hadjipolycarpou, Hellenic Studies professor in Co-lumbia Unversity’s Classics department.

Yancopoulos’ Regeneron Hunting High School

George Yancopoulos (R) at Regeneron.

An 11th Grader’s Poem about GreeceBy Argyro Papathanasiou

The poem below was written by Argyro Papathanasiou, a juniorat the Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, NY. It was for anEnglish class assignment, and received the highest grade, saidArgyro’s mother, Georgia, who submitted it to The National Heraldfor publication.

She’s a diamond in a rough In a midst of disputing lands and religions Her faith remains pure and untouched, With no intention to scorn nor cut with unsteady precision

She collects them one by one, Each and every soul that perished in her translucent, deep, blueeyes The mayhem of refuge and economic scrutiny

Tries to kill her inside

But, she remains unchanged;strikingly beautifulIn her own humble wayGolden locks fall down herbronze shoulders, Radiating loving warmth tothe cold and the illIn the valleys of every hillThe emaciated children findtreasures of food Which she plants with herevery kiss

Her open arms and genuine embrace Welcome the destitute to her free blissAnyone who passes by in need, she will be willing to feed She is home. She is Greece.

rant in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.They are now re-gutting and re-renovating. The largest home is

a five-bedroom unit totaling about 4,300 square feet, including anoutdoor deck and a patio.

Montauk has a number of famous summer and year-round res-idents already, including Robert DeNiro, playwright Edward Albeeand fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Prices are soaring with a white-shingled cottage once owned by Andy Warhol going for $48.7 mil-lion in December, 2015, eight years after it set a then previous-record in Montauk of $27.5 million.

The residences are part of the old Panoramic, duplexes andtriplexes that come with glass walls opening onto terraces facingdunes and the beach. They are designed to look like Hamptonsoceanfront homes: wide plank floors, white walls and white marbleinteriors.

Jennifer Brew, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens, who spendsher summers in Montauk, told The Journal the community was at-tracting wealthy buyers who reject the “cashmere” of Southamptonand East Hampton and the bohemian vibe of nearby Amagansett.

“I find that there is a particular set, an age group, a financialgroup that is paying for nostalgia”, she said, even as boutiquespop up in Montauk, taking away from the authenticity.

The buyers for the homes will pay more than what they cost:because the Panoramic was converted to a co-op back in the 1980s,the homes being offered are co-ops and come with steep mainte-nance and other fees of about $2,200 a month for a typical three-bedroom.

Filopoulos and Goldman are betting the view is worth it.

Developer Filopoulos OffersOceanfront Properties alongCoveted Montauk Shoreline

George Filopoulos

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(unlike the “first in the nation”presidential primary, held onFebruary 9) will take place onSeptember 13.KASICH FOR PRESIDENTAntonoplos, who is GAPAC’s

President, Stelios Giannopoulos,its Chairman, and George Lim-bert, all three are Directors,spoke with TNH about their ef-forts beyond city and state poli-tics: they endorsed Ohio Gover-nor John Kasich for presidentand hoped to generate enthusi-asm among Greek-Americans.

Why Kasich? He fits the Phil-hellene category, they explain.In fact, all three enthusiasticallytold TNH that Gov. Kasich is anactive member of AHEPA’sChapter 139 in Columbus.

“John is from McKees Rocksin Pennsylvania and he is a realethnic. He knows what it’s liketo be second-generation Euro-pean,” Antonoplos said. GAPACsupports him because he fits themission of helping Philhellenesget elected.

In a letter to the editor thatwe published in our May 7 edi-tion, one of our readers com-plained that the presidentialcandidates were in New YorkState campaigning on April 10,for the primary that would takeplace nine days later, but not

one of them bothered to appearin the Greek Independence Pa-rade on Fifth Avenue in Man-hattan.

Although none of the threeGAPAC Directors with whom wespoke could definitively confirmthat Kasich had not been in-vited, they speculated as such,because they expressed with fullconfidence that had he knownthe Parade was taking place, hewould have attended.

HILLARY OR TRUMPStrictly from the perspective

of what’s best for Greek andGreek-American interests, whowould be the better president,Hillary Clinton or DonaldTrump?

“It’s too early to tell,” the Di-rectors said. Clinton does haverelationships in the Greek-Amer-ican community already, and“we have no idea about Trumpyet, but people come out of thewoodwork.”

They referenced George Pa-padopoulos who was a researchfellow at the Hudson Institutethink tank, as one of Trump’sforeign policy advisors, as an ex-ample that as Trump’s circle be-comes more publicized, thenames of more Greeks who arepart of it are bound to surface.

CONTACTING GAPAC“Greeks are not as active as

they used to be” in politics,

Antonoplos says. The GAPACmembers hope their organiza-tion will help reignite a politicalspirit that “promotes an under-standing of our culture, history,and respect for government.”

Although as of this writingGAPAC does not have an activewebsite, any of the membersmay be contacted at greek-pac16@gmail.com.

Other members include Di-rectors Alex Triantafilou andArgeri Langos. The latter is alsothe Treasurer.

By Steve FrangosTNH Staff Writer

CHICAGO- All across the UnitedStates one can find historicalmonuments, statues, publicbuildings, pools, athletic fields,gardens, fountains, rooms,homes, plaques, public artwork,public parks, historical markers,and other commemorative sitesspecifically dedicated to thememories of local Greek-Amer-icans.

The Cassimus House ofMontgomery AL is yet anotherof these preserved historicalsites. Situated on less than oneacre of land this two-story framehouse is a historic Queen Annestyle structure which was com-pleted in 1893. The CassimusHouse is distinctive for its clas-sical Greek revival style.

It was erected by SperidonCassimus, the younger of twoGreek brothers who, with theirfather, moved to Montgomerysometime around 1878, the firstdocumented Greek immigrantsto settle in that city. Curiously,historical information about theCassimus family is sketchy atbest. Initially, the family ran awholesale fruit business on BibbStreet.

Sometime in 1935, the housewas altered converting it intotwo individual apartments withthe addition of a modern rearentrance. It is the last residentialstructure remaining on JacksonStreet. On August 13, 1976, theHouse was added to the Na-tional Register of HistoricPlaces. The House underwentextensive restoration in 1976,and ever since has been occu-pied by the Alabama State Em-ployees Association. The obeliskon its right is a war memorialerected by the American Legionto honor “Alabama Veterans ofall wars.”

A Nomination Form for theNational Register of HistoricPlaces that must be submittedto the Department of the Inte-rior for every location. TheNomination Form for the Housecan be readily found on the In-ternet. There is a page providedin all such application forms fora short account of the signifi-cance of the structure being con-sidered for inclusion. One would

think such accounts are objec-tive historic vignettes. Here isthe first paragraph of the “State-ment of Significance:”

“The Cassimus House is oneof the few remaining examplesof eccentric late Victorian archi-tecture in Montgomery. Con-structed in what was one of thefiner residential areas in late19th century Montgomery, thehouse not only reflects thenewly–acquired prosperity of itsGreek immigrant builder, but isone of the earliest landmarks as-sociated with the Greek commu-nity in Alabama. When SperidonCassimus built his home at 110Jackson Street in 1893, he wasa newly successful businessmanand he wanted his neighbors toknow it. Yet there is a curiousreticence about the overall de-sign of his house since, exceptfor the front porch he rejected

ornate, Gothic-inspired detailingfor the dentil molding and egg-and-dart associated with themore classical styles of architec-ture.”

First, how does the unidenti-fied writer know Cassimus builthis house expressly because he“wanted his neighbors to knowit?” Also, and I am making thisobservation as an person whohas worked as a professional car-penter, I never learned to nail oradd any trim to a building know-ing that by doing so would makethat structure either “curious” or“reticent.” It could just be thatCassimus didn’t like the kind ofGothic-inspired molding thiswriter seems so enamored with.

This nomination statementdoes have important historic in-formation:

“Speridon Cassimus came tothe United States on December

28, 1888. Funds for his tripwere provided by money savedby his father and brother bothnamed Alexander M. Cassimus.Alexander and his oldest sonhad arrived in Mobile, Alabamaon October 23, 1873, wherethey opened a fruit store. Afterabout a year, for unknown rea-sons, they moved to Memphis,Tennessee, where they lived un-til 1878 when they moved toMontgomery.

“Speridon Cassimus, a mar-ried man with two children, lefthis native home of Othonior,Corfu, and his family with thepromise that once enoughmoney was earned, he wouldreturn to bring them to America.From the profits of the success-ful wholesale fruit businesswhich he operated on BibbStreet he accomplished this goalin 1892 and was successful

enough to have purchased thelot and begun construction ofthe home. When he returnedfrom Greece with his family, hebrought with him fig trees, flow-ering Sparta bushes and manyother garden variety plumb touse around the home.”

The last paragraph of thisstatement notes that Alex Cas-simus was “one of the firstGreek immigrants in the state.”And given that “the Greek com-munities in the state have littleor no physical heritage datingmuch earlier than the early 20thcentury, when their churcheswere built; and the CassimusHouse, currently under restora-tion…is possibly the oldest re-maining; landmark associatedwith the early history of Greeksin Alabama.”

Now let us step back aminute here and review whatwe have been told. First it tookSperidon Cassimus four to fiveyears to earn the money to fulfillhis promise. Maybe, but I findthat hard to believe. Let’s dosome rough calculations. Speri-don Cassimus buys an acre lotin the most expensive neighbor-hood in town. Added to the ex-pensive of the land Cassimushires local workmen to build alarge new finely appointedhouse from the ground up. Nexthe travels to Greece and bringsback his wife and two children.All those expenses not countingthe monies needed to ship andplant an unspecified number offig trees and assorted plumbs. Idon’t care how good a fruitstand merchant Speridon Cas-simus might have been some-thing must be missing from thehistorical account we have beenprovided with. While I am notsure what that might be the casesince his father Alex lived withhim and his family I think it issafe to assume some money wascontributed by Alex Cassimus inthis whole process.

But what about the Cassimusfamily? What happened tothem? And why do we not hear

more about them in the descrip-tion of the house that SperidonCassimus commissioned to bebuilt? Newspaper articles, ceme-tery records and other accountscan provide us with some an-swers to these questions. Ratherthan worry that we do not havethe whole story let us see whatis readily known. Cemeteryrecords report that Speridon andMary Cassimus buried four in-fant children between 1895 and1913, two boys and two girls.

While members of the ex-tended Cassimus family arrivedin Montgomery around 1878 Ionly managed to find newspaperaccounts, for various membersof the Cassimus family, startingin 1904 – a full 46 years afterthe family’s arrival. On October12, 1904, Christopher J. Cas-simus (b 1847) was killed by atrolley car in a horrific accident.Identified in one newspaper ac-count as “Colonel C. J. Cassimus”we must assume that this mem-ber of the extended Cassimuskindred had received this hon-orary title –at least in this onenews account – as an indicationof the broader community’s re-spect for this man (AugustaChronicle October 13, 1904). Inthe Montgomery Advertiser welearn that: “Mr. Cassimus was ex-tremely popular in Montgomery.Mr. Cassimus being constantly atthe stand, he was known to alarge number of people. The factthat he was preparing to returnto the home of his boyhood, so-licited no little sympathy for thedeceased and his family. On ac-count of his large family connec-tion around Montgomery, manyfruit stands throughout the cityclosed yesterday evening (Octo-ber 13, 1904).”

The wider history of Greeksin the United States can only beenriched by learning moreabout the Cassimus family, theGreek immigrants of Mont-gomery and the state of Al-abama in general.

hellenenow1@yahoo.com

FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 7

The Cassimus House in AL: Monument of Greek-American Immigration

The Cassimus House in Montgomery, AL is a testament to the history of Hellenes in thatSouthern U.S. city, and to Greek-American immigration overall.

ALL HISTORY

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tion,” said Rep. Maloney.Lt. Col. James “Maggie”

Megellas, the 99-year-old deco-rated World War II veteran, wasrecommended for the Medal ofHonor based on his actions dur-ing the Battle of the Bulge inJanuary 1945 in Herresbach,Belgium as an officer in the82nd Airborne Division. Megel-las led his men in an attackkilling over 100 enemy troopsand taking 180 SS troops pris-oner without losing a singleAmerican life. Armed only withhis Thompson submachine gunand two grenades, he single-handedly destroyed a Germantank. The records that accom-panied Maggie’s recommenda-tion for the Medal of Honor mis-takenly omitted his individualact of valor, and unfortunately,the documentation was de-stroyed in the 1973 Armyrecords fire. Rep. Maloney andHellenic Caucus co-chair Rep.Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) met withActing Army Secretary PatrickMurphy to request that theArmy reopen Megellas’ case forthe Medal of Honor. In February2016, Reps. Maloney, Bilirakis,and Sessions led a Congres-sional letter to Acting SecretaryMurphy to request another re-view of the situation.

“We were all inspired andhumbled by Maggie’s story thathe shared with us during hisCapitol Hill visit. We are work-ing to make sure that the Armysees any new information thatwould justify another review sothat this American hero gets therecognition he so deserves,” saidRep. Maloney.

Megellas’ published his warmemoir All the Way to Berlin: AParatrooper at War in Europe in2003. His heroic deeds were re-counted in Maggie’s War a doc-umentary produced by theWorld War II Foundation andTim Gray Media in 2012. Thedocumentary appeared on PBSand is available online for any-one interested in learning aboutone of the most decorated sol-diers in US history.

Rep. Maloney spoke withAHEPA members, includingAHEPA Supreme President JohnGalanis, Daughters of PenelopeGrand President Connie Pilallis,and Sons of Pericles SupremePresident Andreas Christou atthe event. All agreed that theMedal of Honor in recognitionof Megellas’ heroism is longoverdue.

Congresswoman Maloneyrepresents one of the largestHellenic communities in theUnited States and outside ofGreece and Cyprus.

Rep. Maloney Meets withAHEPA on Capitol Hill DayContinued from page 1Greek-Am. PAC Strives to

Elect Hellenes, Philhellenes

Ohio Governor John Kasich (center), a Philhellene and AHEPAmember, is surrounded by GAPAC’s George Limbert (L) SteliosGiannopoulos (R) and Bill Antonoplos (rear).

Gov. John Kasich (center), an avowed Philhellene, inducted into the Order of AHEPA.

Continued from page 1

GAPAC

AP

OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

DEATH NOTICES

n ANTONIOU, ANDREASBOUND BROOK, NJ (from theCourier-News, published onMay 24) – Andreas "Andy" An-toniou, 58, of Bound Brook,passed away Sunday, May 22,2016, at Robert Wood JohnsonUniversity Hospital - NewBrunswick, with his family byhis side, after a courageous bat-tle with cancer. Born December15, 1957, in Makrisia, Greece,he was the son of Konstantinosand Zoitsa [Staikopoulos] An-toniou. He came to the US in1977, settling in Bound Brook.Andy was a partner, with hisbrother, Gregorios (Roula) An-toniou, in Bill's Luncheonette,Plainfield, for 30 years. He wasalso a former partner of Bill's IIDiner/Restaurant, Main Street,Bound Brook. Andy was prede-ceased by his father, who diedin 2010. He is survived by hisloving wife, Panagiota Anto-niou; his children, Konstantinos"Gus" (Athena) Antoniou of Lor-raine, OH, Zoi Antoniou ofBound Brook; two grandchil-dren; his mother, of BoundBrook; his sister, Polixeni Gotsisof Bound Brook; his niece, Fo-toula Gotsis of Cranford; hisnephew, George Zotos of BoundBrook, as well as aunts, uncles,in-laws, cousins, and friendswho reside in Greece and theBound Brook area. Funeral ser-vices will begin 9:00 A.M.Thursday, May 26, from Hagan- Chamberlain Funeral Home,225 Mountain Ave., BoundBrook, followed by a 10:00 A.M.funeral service at the Greek Or-thodox Church of St. George,1101 River Rd., Piscataway.Friends will be received 4:00 -7:00 P.M. Wednesday, at the fu-neral home. Memorial contribu-tions may be made for pancre-atic cancer research at theLustgarten Foundation, 1111Stewart Ave., Bethpage, NY11714.

n ARMAOU, GEORGIOSSALT LAKE CITY, UT (from theSalt Lake Tribune, published onMay 25) – Georgios Armaou,89, passed away peacefully sur-rounded by his family and closefriends. He was born on June13, 1926 in Nafplion, ArgolidosGreece. He married PanayiotaKaskampa on August 30, 1953in Greece. He was employed bythe railroad in Greece for 33years. As a youth, he would fishprofessionally with his father,something he enjoyed through-out his life. He honorably servedin the Greek Army from 1946-1949. During his time in Amer-ica he made many close ac-quaintances while enjoying hismorning coffee especially withTed, Saki and Nonda. His lifeexperiences allowed for manystories, whether from workingon the railroad or World War II.Georgios was a kind man witha big heart which knew nobounds. Recipients of his kind-ness are many and much can besaid about those who are grate-ful for having encountered himin their life. Rare was the timewhen there wasn't a smile onhis face. He is survived by hiswife of 62 years Panayiota; sonYanni; brother Elias; sisters-in-law Ioanna (Ioannis Hanoumis),Stavroula Andropoulou, VasilikiMoutsouri; and many niecesand nephews. Special thanks tothe University of Utah hospitalstaff, St. Mark's hospital staff,Brian and the ladies at the SaltLake Senior Clinic. Funeral ser-vices will be held at Holy TrinityCathedral on Thursday, May 26at 11:00am. Viewing will takeplace one hour before services.In lieu of flowers, donations inGeorgios' memory can be madeto the Holy Trinity Campus.

n BOURNAKEL, DR. GEORGE YARMOUTH, ME (from thePortland Press Herald, pub-lished on May 21) – Dr. GeorgeS. Bournakel, 80, of Yarmouth,passed away in Falmouth on

May 20, 2016, after a long bat-tle with Alzheimer's disease.George was born on April 28,1936, in Lewiston, the son ofSpiro and Antigone Bournakel.A 1954 grad- uate of LewistonHigh School, he obtained hisBachelor of Science degree fromTufts University in 1958, and hisDoctor of Optometry degreefrom the Massachusetts Collegeof Optometry in 1962. Aftercompletion of his studies,George returned to Lewistonand established his own prac-tice, Optometric Associates. In1966, he and Kay Angelideswere married in Athens, Greece,before settling in Auburn, wherethey raised their two children,Stefan and Christina. Georgeachieved numerous distinctionsin optometry, in- cluding fullmembership in the InternationalSociety of Contact Lens Special-ists. In 1981, he was recognizedfor his outstanding researchcontributions in the develop-ment of contact lenses, and waspart of the original "dirtydozen," a group of 12 renownedoptometrists across the country.After his retirement from Opto-metric Associates, George washonored with the Lifetime Dis-tinguished Service Award by theMaine Optometric Associationin 2006. Beyond these profes-sional distinctions, George tookincred- ible pride in his connec-tion with his patients, and he isloved and remembered by manyof them to this day. George wasextremely active in the localcommunity, working with manylocal organizations, includingserving as president of local areachild and family mental healthservices. A child of Greek immi-grants, George was especiallyproud of his heritage and wasactive in the Greek Orthodoxchurch community for manyyears, serving as president of thechurch council and being instru-mental in the development ofthe community's new church inLewiston. A lover of jazz musicand an avid skier, George hadan incredible passion for boat-ing, and was particularly fondof summers in Boothbay Harbor,sailing and spending time withhis family. Friends and familyalike will remember George'ssense of humor and his abilityto relate stories of his manytravels and adventures. Georgeis survived by his wife of 50years, Kay Bournakel ofYarmouth; his daughter,Christina, of Portland; hisgrandson, Nicos Bournakel, ofKentfield, Calif.; and his sister,Angela Bournakel of Yarmouth.He was predeceased by his son,Stefan Bournakel, in 2004; andhis brother, Charles Bournakel;in 2012. George is also survivedby his sisters-in-law, CynthiaArnold of Brunswick and KikiBournakel of Lewiston; and hisnephews, Chris Bournakis andNicholas Bournakel, of Portland.At the family's request, therewill be no visitation. A funeralservice will be held on Tuesday,May 24, at 10 a.m. at Holy Trin-ity Greek Orthodox Church, 155Hagan Rd., Lewiston. Commit-tal will follow at Oak Hill Ceme-tery. Arrangements are by FortinGroup/Plummer & Merrill Fu-neral Home, Cremation & Mon-ument Services, 217 Turner St.,Auburn. You are invited to offercondolences and pay tribute toGeorge's life by visiting his guestbook at: www.thefortin-groupauburn.com.

n CHIGAS, FILITSACHELMSFORD, MA (from theLowell Sun, published on May19) – Filitsa V. (Papathanasiou)Chigas, 82, of Chelmsford,passed away peacefully at homeon May 15, 2016 surrounded byher loving family. She was thebeloved wife of the late VessChigas, who died in 1989. Bornon May 24, 1933 in ArgosOrestikon, Greece, she was thedaughter of the late Michael andthe late Sevasti (Tsolaki) Pap-athanasiou. Moving to Thessa-loniki, Greece as a teen to es-cape the fighting of the Greekcivil war, she graduated at thetop of her class from both the1st Gymnasion of Thessalonikiand Paedagogiki Academia of

Thessaloniki. Following her uni-versity studies, she taught at theprestigious "Scoli Schina," thefirst private school establishedin Thessaloniki during the Turk-ish occupation. In 1958, she wasintroduced to Vess while he wasvacationing in Greece. Theymarried in 1960, ultimately set-tling in Chelmsford. Filitsa de-voted her life to her family,friends and community, servingon the board of the Lowell Gen-eral Auxiliary, as a Corporatorof Lowell General Hospital, andon the Board of Directors of theHouse of Hope Homeless Shel-ter in Lowell. Her many inter-ests included travelling, classicalmusic, gardening and other cre-ative activities. She was passion-ate about issues of children'swelfare. Filitsa is survived byher children, Diana Chigas andher husband George Antoniadisof Belmont, MA and DaphneBogert and her husbandJonathan of Wallingford, PA,two grandchildren Anna G. An-toniadis and Charles V. Bogert,her brother, Dr. Andreas Pap-athanasiou and his wife Niki ofThessaloniki, Greece, brother-in-law Dr. William Chigas andhis wife Margaret of Wells, ME,and numerous nieces, nephewsand godchildren. There will beno calling hours. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend herFuneral Service to be celebratedFriday morning at the HellenicOrthodox Church of the HolyTrinity in Lowell at 10 o'clock.The burial will be private. E-condolences/directions at odon-nellfuneralhome.com. In lieu offlowers, those wishing maymake contributions in her mem-ory to the House of Hope, 812Merrimack St., Lowell, MA01854 or the Lowell GeneralHospital Cancer Center, c/oPhilanthropy Office, 295 Var-num Ave., Lowell, MA 01854.Arrangements by the O'DonnellFuneral Home In Lowell - (978or 866) 458-8768.

n COULOURAS, ELAINELOWELL, MA (from the LowellSun, published on May 6) –LOWELL -- Mrs. Elaine (Mitsios)Coulouras, 94, passed awayTuesday, May 3rd, at Wingateat Belvidere. Elaine was bornJuly 20, 1921 in Lowell, Massa-chusetts, a daughter of the lateKostandinos and Stavroula(Frangou) Mitsios. Loving wifeto the late Attorney Peter JamesCoulouras who passed in Augustof 1972. A lifelong resident ofLowell, Elaine moved toMessinikola, Greece at an earlyage with her parents and re-turned back to the United Statesmaking Lowell her home. Priorto her retirement, she was em-ployed by Laganas GarmentManaufacturing as a seamstressand a presser. She was a mem-ber of the St George Greek Or-thodox Church of Lowell and avery active member with thechurch's Ladies Philoptochos So-ciety. Her greatest joy was beingwith her family and working inher garden. Elaine's familywould like to thank the staff atWingate at Belvidere and Bea-con Hospice for the professionalcare their mother received fromboth facilities. Elaine is survivedby three sons, James and his fi-ancée, Michaele, Charlie and hiswife, Joann, Ernest and his wife,Voula; a brother, Louis Mitsiosand his wife, Helen, a sister,Madeline Yanas, her grandchil-dren, Kristen, Anthony, Peter,Eleni, Kiki Coulouras and Kim-berly Galloway; also her twogreat-grandchildren, Dylan andKaiden; her brothers-in-law,John Contos, Rev. Ernest "Anas-tasios" Coulouras and his wifeHelen; two sisters-in-law, KayCoulouras and Carleen Gavin;her nieces, Connie Hantzis and

Ann Spanos who helped andkept her company many days aswell as many additional niecesand nephews. Elaine was pre-deceased by her sisters, MariaKontos, Aphrodite Gavriel anda brother, James Mitsios. Rela-tives and friends will be receivedat the M.R. Laurin FuneralHome, 295 Pawtucket St., Low-ell on Friday, May 6th from 4:00pm to 8:00 pm. Her funeral willtake place on Saturday at 9 amat the Funeral Home to be fol-lowed by a service at St GeorgeGreek Orthodox Church in Low-ell at 10:00 am. Interment willfollow in Westlawn Cemetery. Inlieu of flowers, memorial dona-tions may be made in her mem-ory to St. George Church, 44Princeton Blvd., Lowell, MA01851 or to Beacon Hospice,529 Main St. Suite 101,Charlestown, Ma. 02129. Fu-neral arrangements under thedirection of directors, Louis M.Fazio III, M. Richard Laurin, andScott Laurin. For condolences ordirections, please go towww.laurinfuneralhome.com.

n KALES, JAMESANN ARBOR, MI (from the AnnArbor News, published on May5) – Kales, James A. 9/24/1914- 5/1/2016 Ann Arbor Jim, age101, born in Samos, Greece onSeptember 24, 1914, belovedhusband, father and grandfatherpassed away on May 1, 2016.Jim was a Master Sergeant inthe U.S. Army during WWII andwas the owner of Kales WaterfallSupper Club in Ann Arbor andKales Pier 23 in Whitmore Lake.After retirement, Jim was activein the Senior Olympics, medal-ing in tennis, bowling and fieldevents. Jim was preceded indeath by his parents, Alexios Pe-ter Kalitsas and Maroudio Kias-sos Kalitsas; wife MargaretCallas Kales; and sisterEvthomadinie and is survived byhis son Alex (Teddi), and grand-children Jamie (Monica) andKelly O'Brien (Sean). Memorialsmay be made to St. NicholasGreek Orthodox Church, 3109Scio Church Road, Ann Arbor.

n KARAGIANNIS, PETERLACONIA, NH (from the Con-cord Monitor, published on May19) – LACONIA – Peter S. Kara-gianis, a former New HampshireState Representative, diedpeacefully on Saturday, May 14,2016 at his home. He lived inLaconia, N.H. for 71 years. Peterwas born June 25, 1916 inSomerville, Mass., son to the lateSoterios and Maria (Vinios)Karagianis. He grew up in theCentral Square area of Cam-bridge. Peter graduated fromCambridge Rindge and LatinSchool and took Harvard Uni-versity extension classes at night.He came to Laconia in 1945,where he owned and operatedthe Laconia Spa. In addition, hestarted at age 68, Happy Jack'sCigar, Pipe & Tobacco Shop inLaconia and worked until he re-tired at age 95. He was a NewHampshire State Representativefor four terms, He served as aLaconia City Councilor; waschair of the Belknap CountyConvention. Karagianis madecountless community contribu-tions over the years and was of-ten celebrated for his achieve-ments in the local media. Heworked tirelessly to preserve theclean waters of central NewHampshire's lakes Win-nipesaukee and Winnisquam, af-ter years of raw sewage wasdumped into the lakes. He alsochampioned the effort to saveLaconia's Belknap Mills from thewrecking ball; serving as the"Save the Mill Societies" 1st pres-ident from 1971 to 1978. Heput Laconia's Greek OrthodoxChurch on solid financial foot-ing; Serving as president from1986 to 2002. Peter was a ded-icated member of the Lakes Re-gion Chamber of Commerce,where he served as president inthe 1950's, and worked to en-hanced Laconia's MotorcycleWeek. In 1985 he was dubbed"Mr. Laconia" by Edwin Chertokthe then president of the LaconiaChamber of Commerce. Peterwas also a 70 year member ofthe Laconia Kiwanis Club, where

in the 1950's he lead the LaconiaHS Key Club as a councilor. Hewas a Mason for over 70 years,and in 1975 he was honored asa "33rd" degree Mason. His fam-ily was from the small moun-tainside village of Georgitsi, 20miles west of Sparta, Greece.which is located in the provinceof Laconia. What he loved mostwas to go out to dinner or break-fast with his 3 grand children,Nicole, Evan and Christian. Peter

is survived by his loving wife of57 years, Lydia Ann Karagianisof Laconia, his son S. Peter Kara-gianis and his wife, Jane of Gil-ford; three grandchildren,Nicole, Evan and Christian Kara-gianis all of Gilford. In lieu offlowers, the family suggestsmemorial donations be made inPeter's Memory to TaxiarchaiGreek Orthodox Church, 811North Main Street, Laconia, N.H.03246.

this is a service to the community.

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Notice of formation ASOR LIFE, LLC.(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York,SSNY on 04/26/2016. Office located inNassau County. SSNY has been designatedfor service of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: c/oUnited States Corporation Agents, Inc., 701513th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275221/20010

Notice of formation OTFF, LLC. (DOM.LLC). Articles of Organization filed with theSecretary of State of New York, SSNY on04/12/2016. Office located in NassauCounty. SSNY has been designated forservice of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: AngelWong, 37 Fairway Drive, Manhasset, NY11030. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275222/20011

Notice of formation EAST EGG PM, LLC.(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York,SSNY on 04/19/2016. Office located inNassau County. SSNY has been designatedfor service of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: c/oUnited States Corporation Agents, 7014 13thAvenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Pur-pose: Any lawful activity.

275216/20001

Notice of formation 269 INVESTORSCLUB LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles of Organiza-tion filed with the Secretary of State ofNew York, SSNY on 05/10/2016. Officelocated in K County. SSNY has been designated for service of process. SSNY shallmail copy of any process served against theLLC to: Bentley Shang Zhao, 4918 3rd Avenue,Brooklyn, NY 11220. Purpose: Any lawfulactivity.

275210/19997

Notice of formation KINGS POINTE LLC.(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York,SSNY on 03/15/2016. Office located in KingsCounty. SSNY has been designated forservice of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: KINGSPOINTE LLC, 1457 W 5th Street, GroundFloor, Brooklyn, NY 11204. Purpose: Anylawful activity.

275208/19996

Notice of formation VALUE VENTUREPROPERTIES LLC (DOM. LLC). Articles ofOrganization filed with the Secretary ofState of New York, SSNY on 04/26/2016. Of-fice located in Nassau County. SSNY hasbeen designated for service of process. SSNYshall mail copy of any process served againstthe LLC to: Gary Cohen, 75 Lotus Oval North,Valley Stream, NY 11561 . Purpose: Anylawful activity.

275203/19994

Toro Labs LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/ SSNY5/13/16. Office in NY Co. SSNYdesignated for service of process and shallmail to: The LLC, 175 Varick St. Suite 541,New York, NY 10014. Purpose: Any lawfulactivity.

275205/18796

390 MYRTLE, LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/SSNY 4/24/07. Office in Kings Co. SSNYdesignated for service of process and shallmail to: The LLC, 390 Myrtle Ave,Brooklyn, NY 11205. Purpose: Any lawfulactivity.

275194/18796

Notice of formation FP INDUSTRIAL VENTUREI LLC (DOM. LLC). Articles of Organizationfiled with the Secretary of State of NewYork, SSNY on 03/01/2016. Office located inNassau County. SSNY has been designatedfor service of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: FP IN-DUSTRIAL VENTURE I LLC, 6851 JerichoTurnpike, Suite 200, Syosset, NY 11791. Purpose:Any lawful activity.

275196/19992

RLNY IMPORTS LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/SSNY 5/10/16. Office in Kings Co. SSNYdesignated for service of process and shallmail to Reg. Agent: Thomas Law FirmPLLC, 175 Varick St, NY, NY 10014. Pur-pose: Any lawful activity.

275191/18796

Notice of Formation of SMART D, LLCArts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY(SSNY) on 05/10/16. Office location: KingsCounty. Princ. office of LLC: 68 Jay St. - Ste.319, Brooklyn, NY 11201. SSNY designatedas agent of LLC upon whom process againstit may be served. SSNY shall mail process tothe LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Pur-pose: Any lawful activity.

275200/17976

Notice of formation of ROBYN UNIVERSAL, LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles ofOrganization filed with the Secretary ofState of New York, SSNY on 04/28/2016. Of-fice located in Kings County. SSNY has beendesignated for service of process. SSNY shallmail copy of any process served him orher is: Robyn A Warren, 1250 Pacific St., Apt.3A, Brooklyn, NY 11216 . Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275206/19995

Notice of formation HEMPSTEAD ROADLLC (DOM. LLC). Articles of Organizationfiled with the Secretary of State of NewYork, SSNY on 10/15/2015. Office located inKings County. SSNY has been designated forservice of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: THELLC, 1332 43rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219.Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275187/19984

Notice of formation B & D DREAMHOMES IMPOVEMENT LLC. (DOM. LLC).Articles of Organization filed with the Secre-tary of State of New York, SSNY on08/21/2015. Office located in King County.SSNY has been designated for service ofprocess. SSNY shall mail copy of any processserved against the LLC to: JacquelineJohnson, 102-12 Avenue K, 2nd Floor,Brooklyn, NY 11236. Purpose: Any lawful ac-tivity.

275186/19983

Notice of formation PAJARITO PRODUCTIONS,LLC. (DOM. LLC). Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York,SSNY on 02/16/2016. Office located in KingsCounty. SSNY has been designated for serviceof process. SSNY shall mail copy of any processserved against the LLC to: c/o United States Cor-poration, 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202,Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful activi-ty.

275185/19982

Notice of formation CHAT & CHANGECOUNSELING SERVICES LLC (DOM. LLC).Articles of Organization filed with the Secre-tary of State of New York, SSNY on01/11/2016. Office located in NassauCounty. SSNY has been designated forservice of process. SSNY shall mail copy ofany process served against the LLC to: 615Broadway, Unite 31, Amityville, New York11701. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275184/19981

Notice of Formation of PROSPECT GROUPREALTY LLC (DOM. LLC) Articles of Orga-nization filed with SSNY on 04/25/2016.Office location: Kings County. SSNY is desig-nated for service of process and shall mailto: THE LLC, 1329 65th Street, Brooklyn,NY 11219. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275183/19980

Notice of Formation of 7722 BZHL LLC(DOM. LLC). Articles of Organizationfiled with SSNY on 04/19/2016. Officelocation: Kings County. SSNY isdesignated for service of process and shallmail to: The LLC.,7722 BZHL LLC, 772218th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11214.Purpose: Any lawful activity.

275171/19970

BERLIN PROPERTY GROUP, LLC. Art. ofOrg. filed with the SSNY on 04/14/16.Office: Kings County. SSNY designated asagent of the LLC upon whom processagainst it may be served. SSNY shall mailcopy of process to the LLC, c/o Elysa Berlin,238 Saint Marks Avenue, Unit 4A, Brooklyn,NY 11238. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

275161/17973

UNION SQ 4TH F&B MANAGEMENT LLC.App for Auth filed w/ SSNY 4/20/16.Formed in DE 4/12/16. Office in Kings Co.SSNY designated for service of process andshall mail to: The LLC, 122 Congress St,Brooklyn, NY 11201. Auth Officer: DE Div ofCorps, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Pur-pose: Any lawful activity.

275159/18796

BL 62 WEST 9TH MANAGEMENT LLC. Appfor Auth filed w/ SSNY 4/11/16. Formed inDE 4/5/16. Office in Kings Co. SSNY desig-nated for service of process and shall mailto: The LLC, 122 Congress St, Brooklyn, NY11201. Auth Officer: DE Div of Corps, POBox 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Anylawful activity.

275158/18796

Allegory Story LLC. Art. of Org. filed w/SSNY 4/20/16. Office in NY Co. SSNYdesignated for service of process and shallmail to Reg. Agent: Thomas Law FirmPLLC, 175 Varick St, NY, NY 10014. Pur-pose: Any lawful activity.

275152/18796

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By Demetris Tsakas

ASTORIA – Nicos Trataros, for-mer president of the Pan-Lemn-ian Philanthropic AssociationHephaestus, passed away onMay 31 at age of 93.

The news of his death spreadaround the world and stirredemotions among the Lemnian-Americans and his compatriotson his native island.

He is survived by his wife,Tina, son, Costa, and his family,his stepdaughters Vivian andPamela and their families, aswell as his relatives both in theUnited States and in Greece. Hedied on Singer Island, FL, wherehe had lived the past severalyears.

In honor of his final wishes,his family planned to hold thefuneral in Astoria, with a view-

ing scheduled at the O’Shea-Hoey Funeral Home on June 2,4-9PM, followed by a funeralservice on June 3 at the St.Catherine and George Greek Or-thodox Church.

Hephaestus President GeorgeYokos and Council membersplanned a wreath to pay theirrespects, and former PresidentNicholas Giannopoulos notedthat Trataros immigrated to theUnited States in the early 1960sand acquired his own construc-tion company.

“Nick was a hard worker andmethodical, and served as pres-ident of the Brotherhood [Hep-haestus], if my memory servesme well, from 1982 to 1986,and has been awarded by it andby other Greek-American orga-nizations,” Giannopoulos said.

“He wanted to give others

the opportunity to contributeand was always the leader ofthe lotteries.

I remember the year we hon-ored him, we had organized alottery with the total value ofthe tickets being eight thousanddollars and everyone was afraidthat we would not make aprofit, but due to Nick’s personalefforts, we managed to collect$20,000.”

Giannopoulos said thatTrataros also made “many do-nations to Lemnos, he gavescholarships to high school stu-dents.

His largest donation wasthirty years ago. He donated$100,000 for the completion ofthe retirement home.”

Trataros also built the Porto-myrina Palace Beachclub hotelon Lemnos.

Nicos Trataros, a Proud Lemnian and Benefactor, Was 93

By Dr. Dimitra Kamarinou

Several Greek words regarding the breakfast are already knownto you from English, though you may not be aware of their origin.Το γάλα is the milk and the words galaxy, ο γαλαξίας, the MilkyWay and galactic derive from it. Zeus, the father of Gods, was veryfond of his son Hercules, who was born of the mortal woman Al-cmene. He wanted to endow him with godlike qualities. Thereforehe decided to let the infant suckle on his divine wife’s milk, whenshe was asleep. When Hera woke up and realized that an unknowninfant was breastfeeding, she pushed him away. The spurting milkon the sky became the Milky Way, a bright streak across the nightsky, whose individual stars cannot be distinguished by the nakedeye.

The word butter derives from the Greek word βούτυρο, a com-pound word from βους =ox, cow and τυρός =the ancient Greekword for cheese. The word τυρί exists in English in tyrosine, thename of a crystalline amino acid. The Greek word for honey, τομέλι, is found in the feminine name Melissa, which is the Greekword for the honey bee, η μέλισσα. The Greek words for omelet,bacon, marmelade and toast are easy to remember, because theyare transliterated English ones. A favourite egg dish is the friedegg called “eye”, meaning that the egg yolk remains whole on topof the egg white resembling the eye with the iris, its coloured part.Βoth forms αυγό and αβγό are correct. The Greek word for thepancake is τηγανίτα from το τηγάνι (=the frying pan) >τηγανητόςmeaning the fried.

Note that the Γγ (γάμμα), when it is followed by the letterIι (Γιάννης, γιαγιά, για), is pronounced like the English letter y (y-es). But in words that a different than Iι vowel follows, like α(γάλα) or ο (αυγό), the sound is more like the first consonantsound of the word w-olf. In this case the pronunciation of theletter Γγ will be written like gh.

Greek word Pronunciation MeaninGΤο πρω-ί Το Proee MorninGΤο πρωιν-ό to Proino breakfastΤο Τσά-ι to tsai teaΤο γάλα Τo GHala MilkΤο ψωμ-ί to PsoMee breadΤο Τυρ-ί to tiree cHeeseΗ φέΤ-α ee feta feta cHeese, sliceΤο βούΤυρ-ο to Vootiro butter

Το μέλ-ι to Meli HoneyΤο αυγ-ό to aVGHo eGGΤο ΤΗγανΗΤ-ό αυγό to tiyanito aVGHo fried eGGΤο αυγ-ό μάΤι to aVGHo Mati fried eGG “eye”Το βρασΤ-ό αυγ-ό to Vrasto aVGHo boiled eGGΗ ομελέΤ-α ee oMeleta oMeletΤο μπέικον to beikon baconΤο ζαμπόν to zabon HaM Το ΤοσΤ to tost toastΗ ΤΗγανίΤα ee tiyaneeta Pancakeοι ΤΗγανίΤεσ ee tiyaneetes PancakesΗ μαρμελάδ-α ee MarMelada MarMelade, jaMΗ πορΤοκαλάδ-α ee Portokalada oranGe juiceΗ λεμονάδ-α ee leMonade leMon juiceγια ya for

EXERCISEImagine that you stay at a hotel in Greece and you order the

breakfast of your choice. Select what you would prefer for yourbreakfast.

1. Για πρωινό τρώω ψωμί με βούτυρο και …….. (μέλι, μαρ-μελάδα).

2. Θέλω ……. (μία φέτα, δύο φέτες) ψωμί με τυρί.3. Το πρωί τρώω ένα αυγό……… (τηγανητό, βραστό).4. Θέλω ένα αυγό μάτι ……… (με μπέικον, χωρίς μπέικον).5. Για πρωινό τρώω ένα τοστ με τυρί και ……. (μπέικον, ζα-

μπόν).6. Η ομελέτα μου αρέσει ……… (με τυρί, χωρίς τυρί).7. Για πρωινό μου αρέσουν οι τηγανίτες ....... (με μέλι, χωρίς

μέλι).8. Το πρωί πίνω ….. (καφέ, τσάι, γάλα).9. Το τσάι μου αρέσει ……. (με γάλα, χωρίς γάλα).10. Το πρωί πίνω μία ……. (πορτοκαλάδα, λεμονάδα).

PRONUNCIATION KEYi (i-diom), ee (n-ee-dle), e (e-nergy), o (o-rganism), oo (b-oo-

t), y (y-es), h (h-elium), th (th-eory), d (th-e), gh (w-olf). The cap-italized syllables are accented.

Dimitra Kamarinou, PhD, has studied philology and archaeology atthe University of Ioannina,Würzburg and Bochum in Germany. Shehas been honored with the Academy of Athens Award inArchaeology and Homeric Philology.

Γάλα, Aυγό Mάτι, and SomeMarmelada, for Breakfast

OUR EVERYDAY GREEKGREEK GASTRONOMY

By Eleni Sakellis

The flavors of the Mediter-ranean season the marinade forthis tasty grilled chicken. Exper-iment with your favorite herbsand spices to make the recipeyour own. Make sure the bowlyou use is nonreactive since thechicken will be marinating forat least an hour or two. Nonre-active bowls include stainlesssteel, glass and ceramic. Reac-tive bowls made of metals likealuminum, cast iron, and copperreact with the salt and acids insome foods and may cause foodto taste metallic after long hoursof marinating.

Grilled MarinatedChicken

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 4pieces

• 1/2 cup Greek extra virginolive oil

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezedlemon juice

• 1/2 cup dry white wine• 1 teaspoon salt• 1 teaspoon freshly ground

pepper• 1 teaspoon dried oregano• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme• 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Place the chicken in a large,nonreactive, mixing bowl. Addthe remaining ingredients andtoss to coat the chicken pieces.Cover with plastic wrap and

marinade for at least an hour orup to four hours in the refriger-ator. Stir 2-3 times while thechicken is marinating and returnto the refrigerator. When ready,prepare the grill. Place the mari-nade chicken on the grill andbrush with the remaining mari-nade. Grill over medium heat,turning the chicken pieces on allsides until done, or the chickenhas reached an internal temper-ature of 165 degrees Fahrenheitor 75 degrees Celsius. A meatthermometer stuck in the thick-est part of the chicken pieceshould give you an accurate

temperature. Once the chickenis grilled, remove it to a servingplate and allow to rest for about10 minutes. Serve with freshlemon wedges, a salad, andyour favorite side dishes. If pre-ferred, boil the remaining mari-nade, allowing it to reduce, anduse as a sauce for the cookedchicken. Never use a marinadethat contained raw meat orpoultry without boiling it first.

Pasta salads are a favoriteside dish for summer barbecuesor any time of year. The follow-ing pasta salad incorporatesclassic Greek flavors to create

memorable accompanimentyour meal. Serve with your fa-vorite grilled meats and enjoy.

Greek Pasta Salad• 1 package pasta, corkscrews

or your favorite shape• 2-3 medium tomatoes,

chopped• 2-3 small cucumbers,

chopped• 1 medium to large red onion,

thinly sliced• 1/2 cup crumbled feta• 1/2 cup olives of your choice• 1/2 cup Greek extra virgin

olive oil• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar• 1/4 teaspoon salt• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground

pepper• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook the pasta according topackage directions, careful notto overcook. Drain the pasta andtransfer to a large mixing bowl.Add the tomatoes, cucumbers,onion, feta, and olives. In asmall bowl, whisk together theoil, vinegar, salt, pepper,oregano, and minced garlic. Addto the pasta mixture and toss tocombine all the ingredients andevenly distribute the dressing.Serve warm or at room temper-ature.

Grilled Marinated Chicken along w/ Greek Pasta Salad

By Phylis (Kiki) SembosSpecial to The National Herald

It was obvious that Yiannishad something on his mind.George wasn’t about to inquire,John was satisfied to just drinkhis coffee while it’s hot andKipreos hadn’t noticed anythingdifferent in anyone. Then againhe never did. Dimos, however,always in tune with the varyingmoods of his friends, asked, “Ok,Yiannis. What’s on your mind?”Yiannis, shrugging, said therewas nothing in particular. “But,now that you ask...” he began,causing George to nod his head.“Here it comes.” Ignoring him,Yiannis asked no one in particu-lar, “Are any of you aware thatwe’re all aging by the minute? Imean, none of us knows whenour time is up. One day we’reyoung and in a few years – we’resuddenly old!” Dimos re-sponded, “Everything ages bythe minute, Yiannis. John’s de-livery vehicle, the food in myrestaurant, trees and flowers, an-

imals grow old, too. Nothingstands still. That’s the nature ofthings.”

Looking melancholic, Yiannisadmitted he didn’t like it much.“Science has found cures for amillion things; they invent andconjure. Can’t they find some-thing to delay the agingprocess?” Kipreos said, “It’s a sci-entific fact that when we sleepwe don’t age.” George’s headlifted, grinning. “There you are,Yiannis. You have nothing toworry about.” With brows low-ered, Yiannis asked him, “Whatare you talking about?” Puttinghis coffee aside and taking a pa-per napkin and pencil, he beganscribbling figures on the paper.Suspecting that George was upto something he wasn’t going tolike, he was cautious; sure hehad, unwittingly, given hisnemesis fodder for ridicule. Heprepared himself, changing thesubject while George continuedwriting, adding, subtracting, anddividing.

“Did I tell you that my niece,

Kleo, met a nice fellow at thechurch festival last week? Hewas well mannered, has a goodjob and is good looking, too.”Yiannis told them. Kipreoslooked up. ”I was at the festivallast week. I saw Kleo with herfriend. In fact, I took her andher girlfriend, home. It was lateand I didn’t want them goinghome alone. I didn’t see her withanyone special.” After a pause,he asked, hopefully, “Do youthink she was talking aboutme?” Frustrated, Yiannis shookhis head. “I don’t think so,Kipreos!” Silence commenced.John suggested that a good dietand exercise would lengthen the

life span. Dimos replied, “Ithelps, I’m sure! But, I believewe’re all programmed for a cer-tain amount of time. Like it ornot, some people’s clocks runfaster than others. Then... it’s ka-put!” Yiannis looked concernedand asked, “How...how do weknow how fast our clocks run?”Shrugging, Dimos responded,“You don’t! One day the ol’ tickerjust...stops!” he said, slapping hishand down on the table makingYiannis jump. “Don’t do that!”

Meanwhile, George an-nounced at last, “Here are thefigures!” He placed the napkinin the center of the table. Then,he explained. “Like Kipreos said,

science says we don’t age whilesleeping. So! Taking that into ac-count, you, Yiannis, don’t work.So, you sleep more! So! Let’s saywe sleep a quarter of our lives –about six, seven or eight hoursat a time. You sleep eight ormore hours, according to whatyou told us. So! You’re almostsixty! Subtract the hours yousleep....that makes you aboutthirty years old, already a quar-ter of your life. You say you napin the afternoons. We subtractthose hours and...” he pointedhis pencil to the bottom figure.“That brings us to more hoursyou sleep – not counting week-ends when you, probably, sleep

another half a day except whenyou’re here with us.” His pencilproceeded down the napkin.“That comes to the fact thatyou’ve slept more than half yourlife.” He looked up. “You havenothing to worry about, Yiannis.According to my figures, you’reabout twelve years old!” Yiannishad a blank stare on his cherubicface; wondering if George wasserious or trying to hoodwinkhim. He asked the others if whatGeorge said had any logic in it.Knowing his sensitivity to age,Dimos shrugged, “Sound rightto me.” John nodded, tellinghim, “You’re lucky, Yiannis. I getvery little sleep. Dimos hardlysleeps, he tells me. George workslong hours, sleeps less, too. So,I suppose you’ll be sitting at thistable by yourself one day.” Atfirst, Yiannis felt some relief thathe had a long life to look for-ward to – until John’s words hithim. Then, a melancholythought came over him. “I’ll behere...alone. And, what’s worse!I’d have to buy my own donuts.”

GREEK AMERICAN STORIES

On Aging

FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 9

By Eleni Sakellis

May 29 marked 563 yearssince the fall of Constantinoplein 1453. Since then, countlessbooks have been written aboutthe siege and the fall of the city.Recent books have focused onthe military history, as well asthe cultural and religious impli-cations. The historiography isalso a feature of more recentstudies, examining the historyof the historical writings on thesubject. Two recent books offerexcellent insights into the his-torical, cultural, and militaryhistory of the fall of Constan-tinople.

The Siege and Fall of Con-stantinople: Historiography,Topography, and Military Stud-ies by Marios Philippides, Chairand Senior Professor of Classics,University of Massachusetts,Amherst, MA and Walter K.Hanak, Professor of History,Emeritus, Shepherd University,Shepherdstown, WV is a defini-tive study and at 816 pages, itis a hefty volume. The book is

insightful and the years of re-search that went into it are evi-dent in the extraordinary atten-tion to detail. All the originalsources available were con-sulted and critically evaluatedwith the authors examiningtexts in all the languages rele-vant to the event. Some of thesources used remain in manu-

script form only. The authorsalso included folk history frompopular Greek myths and folk-tales to medieval Russian, Ital-ian, and Turkish folktales. Liter-ature and secondary sourcesprovide insight and a depth ofunderstanding to the event thatwas a pivotal moment in worldhistory.

1453: The Holy War for Con-stantinople and the Clash of Is-lam and the West by RogerCrowley is another well-writtenhistory exploring the fall of Con-stantinople. The book considersthe implications of history forthe present day in a dramaticway. The graphic descriptions ofatrocities are not for the faintof heart, but it gives a vivid pic-ture of what the people sufferedat the time and the inhumanityto man that we often associatewith modern times is actuallyrooted in the past and provesthe constancy of human nature.The author gives both sides ofthe conflict, and some readersmay bristle at the idea of aimingfor an unbiased account, but the

author manages to bring out thehuman toll on both sides in amoving way. The book followsthe siege day by day, culminat-ing in the fall of the city and ex-amines the results of the con-quest and the ways theConstantinople managed to sur-vive the harrowing experienceand remain a multicultural andreligiously tolerant city even af-ter the fall.

The Fall of Constantinople1453 by Steven Runciman is aclassic history first published in1965. The book is elegantlywritten and explores the bittershock of the fall for WesternChristendom. The implicationsof the fall for both sides are con-sidered, the Ottoman Turksgaining a capital city for theirempire while the Greeks con-fronted with the end of civiliza-tion as they knew led many tomove west, the expansion ofGreek studies inspiring the Re-naissance in Western Europe.Available in paperback and on-line, the book is a must read ofnarrative history on the subject.

LITERARY REVIEW

Books on Fall of Constantinople for Your Reading List

This week in history, on June7 exactly 120 years ago, PavlosCarrer (Karreris) died on theGreek island of Zakynthos, theplace he had been born 67 yearsand four weeks earlier.

Carrer studied music on Za-kynthos and nearby Corfu, andthen moved to Italy in the early1850s, where his first operasand ballets were performed atthe Teatro alla Canobbiana andthe Teatro Carcano, in Milan.

He returned to his native Za-kynthos in 1857, where his op-eras were performed, and thefollowing year his opera MarcosBotsaris was performed inAthens to an audience featuringOtto, King of Greece.

Carrer also taught and servedas an orchestra conductor.

Besides his immense popu-larity in Greece, Carrer was alsohighly acclaimed in Italy. In ad-dition to opera, Carrer focuseda great deal on Greek musicdealing with national issues ofthe times.

Among his best known op-eras are: Dante e Bice, Fior diMaria, Despo, I Kyra Frossyni,Isabella d’Aspeno, La Rediviva,Marathon Salamis, Marcos Bot-saris, and Maria Antoinietta.

This Week in Greek History:

Opera Composer Pavlos Carrer

TNH Staff

BURLINGTON, MA – Burling-ton MAYOR JOYCE DELIYIAN-NIS organized a charitablegroup, HELPIS to designate Mayas the MONTH OF KINDNESSin the state, the BurlingtonUnion reported.

The initiative was based onhelping children who lost theirbelongings in the LORD BARONAPARTMENT FIRE in October2013, the Union reported. Theyconvinced the state legislatureto pass the bill, which wassigned into law by GOVERNORCHARLIE BAKER.

The governor thankedDeliyiannis and the children,whom he invited to his officefor the signing, the Union re-ported, “for including me in thisterrific idea. We can use a littlemore kindness in this world. It’sa good idea. I know you allworked hard to turn this ideainto a bill and this bill into alaw,and I’m proud to be a partof it.”

“We didn’t want the familiesto feel like they lost control, thatthey were dependent on othersfor what they needed,” saidDeliyiannis, the Union reported.“So we never gave anything di-rectly to a child. We gave thingsto the parents. We let them pro-

vide for their children, so theirchildren knew they could counton their parents. And we alsotold the parents that our helpcame with a responsibility. Weasked them to show kindness toothers sometime in the future,and ‘pay it forward’ so that ouracts of giving would continue.”

Then, she told the childrenthat “I wanted to make May theMonth of Kindness. They lovedthe idea. This was the ultimate

way to show the communityhow much they appreciated thesupport they were given, in away they could accomplishwhile they were still children,”the Union reported.

The bill, co-sponsored bystate REPRESENTATIVE KENGORDON and state SENATORKEN DONNELLY, allowed thechildren the opportunity to wit-ness firsthand how a bill be-comes a law.

SOUTH CANAAN, PA – The ST.TIKHON’S MONASTERY in NewCanaan, PA began the 112thMEMORIAL DAY PILGRIM-MAGE with the venetarion ofthe HAWAIIAN MYRRH-STREAMING IVERON ICON OFTHE MOST HOLY MOTHER OFGOD, the Scranton Times-Tri-bune reported.

“The miraculous Iveron Iconof the Mother of God, whichcontinues to weep myrrh, willbe the main icon present forveneration throughout the pil-grimage,” monastery spokesmanthe REV. JOHN KOWALCZYKsaid, the Tribune reported.

Pilgrims had the opportunityto venerate the Hawaiian iconon May 30, Memorial day, theTribune noted.

ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOSreceived an honorary Doctor ofDivinity Degree at the ceremonyon May 28, followed by theSEMINARY BANQUET in nearbyDickson City.

On its website, sttikhons-monastery.org, the Monasteryoutlined its plans for buildinganew: “As God wills, we hopeto build a new monastic com-plex at St. Tikhon's. Phase oneof designing a prospective outlay of this new monastery com-plex is already completed (seelinks below). We hope to beginphase two within a couple ofyears, which would entail cre-ating more detailed plans for ex-act architectural specificationsfor each building. The third andfinal phase would be to beginbuilding the complex around

2018-2020 as funding and re-sources become available."Where there is no vision, thepeople perish." (Proverbs

29:18.) This fundraising effortwould also seek to pay off theexisting debt and create a main-tenance fund for the future.”

ACROSS1 False bible god5 Alphabet's first four9 In the lead14 Greek prefix meaning air or space15 Nat'l Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin. (ab-

brev.)16 Highborn17 Egyptian goddess worshipped by Ancient

Greeks18 Doggone it19 "He throws _ ____ curveball" (2 words)20 Foot unit21 Indian River Soccer Assn. (abbrev.)22 South southeast23 Heavenly body25 City of Tigers and Lions, but not Bears29 Famous TV maker of old (abbrev.)30 Hello!31 Highest or lowest card32 Organized crime35 Snaky fish36 Baby goat37 Freudian selves38 Father and son presidents40 Title41 Small Child42 Pros43 A Fonda44 Chrstina's tycoon dad45 Not any46 Golden Girls actress Arthur, for short47 Dirty clothes49 Charlie or Maria52 Gray sea eagle53 Dole's running mate in 199654 Rock group56 Run after59 Hook part60 Lugosi of Dracula fame61 Fourth Greek letter62 First Modern Greek King63 Type of dig. video broadcasting64 People from Switzerland65 Mexican money66 Wrote Eleni

DOWN1 Tempt2 Famous fabler3 The Little Mermaid4 ___ Angeles5 Signor Bocelli6 Tout7 Famous Irene?

8 Marino of the Dolphins9 Newsman Ernie10 Odyssey author11 Evidence Based Educ. (abbrev.)12 Chicken _ __ king - 2 words13 Lair21 S.A. Indian22 Elite naval force24 Greek soccer team25 Carpe __26 Made of oak27 Colder28 Toy30 Halt32 Barium33 Greek marketplace34 Greek-American Ranger38 Oak nut39 Refuse40 Agreement42 A Papandreou43 Aid46 Tropical wood48 Bird homes49 Breath mints50 Amphitheater51 Former Baseball Commissioner Bud53 Smith of "God Bless America" fame55 Cooked56 Disks57 Chop down58 "The Greatest"59 Jazz60 Lake

Solution:

A M M O H A S H A H E A D

S E A L E M U S N O B L E

A D H D L O I S A M E A N

P I E S M U T E S E

A R T H U R D E T R O I T

H U T K A R O F S U

A M M A N A R I S T A C

R Y A N B E T T E B E A K

E R R Z A C H Z I N C S

A R I A C H Y I E C

S H A M P O O C O R A D O

A O N B O N O H L A

S T A R T S E M I P A D S

A E R I E P L E A I K E A

X E B E C Y A R N P A R K

Solution to last week’s puzzle

THE HERALD SQUARETNH's Crossword Challenge

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40

41 42 43

44 45 46

47 48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63

64 65 66

www.CrosswordWeaver.com

QUESTION OF THE WEEKWhat is approximately the latest date by which you would

decide whether or not to visit Greece this summer?Please email your response to

scaros@thenationalherald.com We may publish some re-sponses as Letters to the Editor in a future issue.

The Myrrh-streaming Iveron icon at St. Tikhon’s Monastery.

HELLENIC HAPPENINGS FROM COAST TO COAST

n THRU SEPT. 10TARPON SPRINGS, FL – TarponSprings’ annual Night in the Is-lands tradition continues on thehistoric Sponge Docks once amonth from 6-11PM on the City’shistoric Sponge Docks, along Do-decanese Boulevard. Food,drinks, and the street is closedoff for live dancing: 6-11PM onSaturdays June 11, July 9, Au-gust 6 and September 10.

n JUNE 2-5HEMPSTEAD, NY – The GreekOrthodox Cathedral of St. Paul,110 Cathedral Avenue in Hemp-stead, invites you to its annualGreek festival June 2 to 5. Therewill be live music, dancing,rides, games, a giant flea mar-ket, arts and crafts, various ven-dors, a motorcycle blessing, acelebrity cooking contest, andmuch more! June 2 6-10PM,June 3 6-11PM, June 4 2-11PM,and June 5 1-9PM. There willbe tours of the Cathedral avail-able. Our rich history includesthe following: The establish-ment of a community on LongIsland was first nurtured onApril 21, 1944 when sixteenpeople attended a meeting inMineola, New York and formedan interim committee. On June13, 1945, The Orthodox GreekCatholic Community of Nassauand Suffolk Counties, New York,Inc. was founded. Father GeorgePapadeas was sent here by theArchdiocese to serve as its priestin 1950. A parcel of land waspurchased on Greenwich Streetin Hempstead, New York andthe first Saint Paul's Church waserected. On December 23, 1950services were conducted eventhough the building was not yetcompleted. On April 15, 1951,Archbishop Michael blessed thecornerstone of the new edificeand that evening the name ofSaint Paul was voted upon tobecome the Patron Saint of theChurch. On March 16, 1960, theicon of the "Lamenting Motherof God" was seen to tear in thehome of Peter and Pagona Cat-sounis in Island Park. The Phe-nomenon attracted worldwideattention and thousands fromnear and far came to witnessand to venerate the icon. TheEcumenical Patriarchate pro-claimed it to be a Sign of DivineProvidence. The icon is perma-nently enshrined in our Cathe-dral. More info about our his-tory, and the festival, is availableat: stpaulhempstead.org or bycalling (516) 483-5700.

n JUNE 6MANHATTAN – The AmericanHellenic Institute Business Net-work and the New York Chapterof the American Hellenic Insti-tute AHI invite everyone to theColonel’s retirement party. Joinus in celebrating the perfecthost, Andonis Neroulias, found-

ing President of the AHI NewYork Business Network and cre-ator of our monthly networkingreceptions. Monday, Jun. 6, 6 to8 PM in the Grand Salon of the3 West Club, 3 W. 51st Street atRockefeller Center. Guests mustRSVP to csirigos100@aol.comby June 2. The brief programemceed by Dean Sirigos will fea-ture a special presentation byAHI President Nick Larigakis.Guests will enjoy coffee/tea ser-vice and Hellenic desserts dur-ing the reception. Suggestedcontribution $20, complimen-tary for paid AHI members.NOTE: AHI will also hold its reg-ular second Monday of themonth gathering at AVRArestaurant on June 13.

n JUNE 9SEATTLE, WA – Glyka Stoiou,a Greek theater artist will bebringing her 2-woman adapta-tion of Don Quixote (presentedmostly in English with somesongs in Greek) to The PocketTheatre in Greenwood for onenight, Thursday, Jun 9. At8:30PM at The Pocket Theatre,8312 Greenwood Ave N, inSeattle. The unbelievable adven-tures of Don Quixote as told bytwo scamps, who go on a trip to16th century Spain and play al-most all the roles in an interac-tive show that creates an explo-sion of images reminding us ofa hero who gives courage tothose who wish to change theworld for the better. After visit-ing Greek schools and theatres,as well as presenting in Luxem-burg and Alaska, Don Quixoteslands in Seattle. Tickets are $10online at www.thepocket.org(online ticketing closes at 4pm)or $14 at the door.

n JUNE 10MANHATTAN - Join the Greek-American Writers Association onFriday, Jun. 10 for the final cre-ative blast of the year. Celebratethe end of the week and season(hiatus until October) withthese creative people: MarlainAngelides: a dynamic, multital-ented musician, composer andactress, the former lead vocal inGreece’s Hi-5 Girl Band, Marlainrepresented Cyprus in the Eu-rovision Song Contest. A fre-quent performer on Off-Broad-way stages, Marlain will give asolo musical performance ac-companied by Iakov Kremenskyon guitar. Poet Nicholas Alexiouwill be back by popular demand.Dr. Alexiou, a sociology profes-sor at Queens College, is the au-thor of five books of poetry in-cluding the exciting Astoriafrom Somerset Hall Press. TheOpen Mik: a bevy of talent willstep up including: Chris Sal-boudis doing standup; Irene Ar-chos with original poetry; An-drew DeMetre will tell you astory. Harry Dounchis will read

excerpts from his new novel,Sand Hill Interns. CorneliaStreet Café, 29 Cornelia Street,between West 4th and BleeckerStreets. $9 admission includesa glass of wine, beer or a softdrink.

n JUNE 11BALTIMORE, MD – The St.Nicholas Greek Orthodoxchurch of Baltimore presents aspart of its Special AfterhoursGreek Night Concert, GiorgosTsalikis on Saturday, Jun. 11 at10PM at the Greektown Square,701 S. Quail St. in Baltimore.All Proceeds will go to benefitSt. Nicholas Greek Church. Tsa-likis is a renowned Greek singerwhose music includes the fol-lowing albums: An EimounaPaliopedo, Gia Sena Kseniktao,Ekana Tin Nykta Mera, OTeleios Antras, Pyretos, AgapiAharisti, Enoha Vradia, and StoYpografo, and singles such:“Para Poly,” “Sta Patomata,” “TaPerastika Mou,” “Par'to Apofasi,”“An Isoun Agape,” “Paniko,”“Ksexna ta Palia,” and “Den SouKano Ton Agio.” Tickets may bepurchased securely via: tick-ets@dcgreeks.com. All majorcredit cards and PayPal ExpressCheckout accepted. Pricingavailable online - make sure toreserve your table now!

n JUNE 24-26OCEAN, NJ – The St. GeorgeGreek Orthodox Church, 1033West Park Avenue in Ocean, in-vites you to its annual Greek fes-tival, June 24 to 26! Highlightsinclude: Church Tours, Gamesand Rides, Greek Folk Dancing,Authentic Greek Foods and Pas-tries, Gift Shop, Religious Gifts,Books, and Icons, Greek FoodStore, and Little Kids Playgroundand Activities. Free parking atOcean Township High School 550W Park Ave, Oakhurst, ANDOcean Township IntermediateSchool 1200 W Park Ave, OceanTownship. Free shuttles from bothschools! We are an 83-year-old,community, but for over twenty-five years, a new Church Homewas a dream and the members ofour community were dedicatedto making this dream a reality. Atract of land was purchased, andwe broke ground in the summerof 2008, and on Sunday, April 1,2012, we were proud and hum-bled to celebrate the Thyranixia,the official opening of the doors,of our new House of Worship at1033 West Park Ave. This mo-mentous celebration officiallyopened the doors to our longawaited new St George Greek Or-thodox Church and its surround-ing campus which includes a Cul-tural Center, AdministrationBuilding and Education Center,and Athletic Center. For more infoabout our Church and the festival,please visit our website: stge-orgeap.org.

GOINGS ON...

FEATURE10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

A statue of Pavlos Carrer in Zakynthos.

St. tikHoN’S moNAStery

AP

PHo

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ATHENS – With a near-shut-down in the number of refugeesand migrants arriving in Greecefrom nearby Turkey fueling hopesa swap deal with the EuropeanUnion was working, there’s beenan uptick with arrival of warmerweather.

The newcomers use Turkey asa jumping-off point althoughTurkish President Recep TayyipErdogan said he would cease theoperations of human traffickersafter he got a deal for six billioneuros, fast-track entry into theEU and visa-free travel in Europefor Turkish citizens.

The deal went into effect inMarch but was quickly sus-pended because Greece couldn’tkeep up with an overwhelmingnumber of asylum applications,stranding scores of thousands inthe country until it could besorted out.

Now, a spike in arrivals is rais-ing concerns among authoritieson Greece’s Eastern Aegean is-lands, SKAI reported. The TV sta-tion also said it was told bysources that hundreds keep gath-ering on the coast of Izmir ready-ing to use small, overcrowdedrickety craft and rubber dinghiesto get to islands such as Lesbos,Samos, and Chios. Hundredshave drowned in the last year try-ing to do so.

According to Skai, 160 mi-grants and refugees landed onLesbos in five days last year,marking an increase after a fewweeks of almost no arrivals,bringing the total number beinghosted on the island to just under4,000 and stretching resources.

In Samos, recent arrivals havecome to 64, bringing the island’stotal to 954, according to gov-ernment sources.

The total number of migrantsand refugees awaiting processingon the islands of the EasternAegean on May 31 was 6,627,authorities said, adding that thecountry total reached 52,674.

The recent surge in arrivalssuggests that Turkey has relaxedthe terms of a deal it signed withthe EU – as Erdogan warned hewould do unless the bloc bent tohis demands, SKAI added.

The same sources earlier re-ported sightings of buses unload-ing migrants and refugees at a

central square in Izmir, as wellas large numbers of small boatsalong the coast.CLEARING THE CAMPS

That could be more bad newsfor Greece as it swings into thetourist-dependent summer sea-son after hopes the refugee surgehad subsided.

During the lull, backed byhundreds of police, Greek author-ities removed almost 7,000refugees and migrants from acamp at Idomeni on the FYROMborder and said they will do thesame at the old Hellinikon inter-national airport site on Athens’southern coast.

The rail lines blocked atIdomeni for two months byrefugees, costing businesses some$7 million in lost business withcargo traffic stopped will reopenon May 30, officials said.

Some 3,000 left voluntarilyand camped elsewhere, fearingthey would be trapped in the newcamps.

But Alternate Citizens’ Protec-tion Minister Nikos Toskas said

they too will “soon be relocatedto organized centers,”Kathimerini said.

Immigration Policy MinisterYiannis Mouzalas said the over-crowded camp at Elliniko inAthens, another site where sev-eral thousand more refugees andmigrants stuck will also becleared out.

“Conditions at Elliniko are notunsuitable, but they are not goodand certainly not the conditionswe should have for refugees andmigrants,” he told Parliament,adding that clearing the camp “isa priority.”

“Elliniko will be shut down. I

can’t tell you when. But it is ournext move to evacuate Elliniko,”Mouzalas said.

ETHNIC TENSIONGreek officials now are wor-

ried there will be more clashesin other centers where differentethnicities are packed together.

The refugees and migrants atIdomeni in northern Greece onthe closed FYROM border havebeen move to other camps butthe newspaper Kathimerini saidthey aren’t being segregated.

There is also bitter resentmentthat Syrians are being given pref-erence and a faster track for asy-lum applications that could lead

to them staying in Europe insteadof being shipped back to Turkeyunder a suspended EuropeanUnion deal.

Children are reportedly thebiggest population in the campswhich are near industrial areasand said to be in poor shape, cre-ating more anger among therefugees.

“Tension cannot be avoidedand the safety of refugees cannotbe guaranteed if Idomeni wasevacuated only to create littleIdomenis here and there,” Achil-leas Tzemos, the Deputy Coordi-nator of the Doctors Without Bor-ders team, told the newspaper.

Four Syrian refugees wererushed to hospital in northernGreece May 30 after allegedly be-ing attacked by a group ofaround 10 Iraqi nationals at acamp in Nea Kavala, Kathimerinisaid.

That was the latest incidentof violence between migrants liv-ing at cramped facilities that hu-man rights groups said weren’tsuitable for living.

The government of the Radi-cal Left SYRIZA and its partner,the pro-austerity, far-right Inde-pendent Greeks, insisted that thenew detention centers were fitfor use and sanitary.

GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 11

They’re Baaaaaack! Numbers of Refugee Arrivals in Greece are Back Up

Once home to more than 14,000 refugees and migrants, the makeshift camp at Greece's border village of Idomeni has now been evacuated and its formeroccupants transferred to other, supposedly better organized camps. Two picture combos showing the same locations after the camp was evacuated.

TNH Staff

NICOSIA— Talks to reunify theethnically divided island ofCyprus appeared to be back ontrack when its President saidhe’s ready to pick up wherethings left off following a haltafter a perceived attempt todiplomatically upgrade the is-land’s breakaway TurkishCypriot north.

A statement said PresidentNicos Anastasiades was pleasedthe United Nations has clarifiedthere’s no change to its policyof recognizing only the govern-ment of the Cyprus Republic,which is a U.N. member. Theclarification came in a telephonecall from U.N. Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon.

Anastasiades called off a May26 meeting with Turkish Cypriotleader Mustafa Akinci followinghis appearance at a heads ofstate dinner during a U.N.-spon-sored summit May 22 in Con-stantinople. The Cypriot govern-ment saw a meeting betweenBan and Akinci in the Turkishcity as adding insult to injury.

A Turkish invasion in thewake of a 1974 coup aiming atunion with Greece split Cyprusinto an internationally recog-nized Greek Cypriot South anda breakaway Turkish CypriotNorth. Only Turkey recognizesa Turkish Cypriot declaration ofindependence and maintainsmore than 35,000 troops in thenorth.

The statement said the U.N.rebuffed “those who strived inIstanbul to portray and promotethe erroneous picture of the up-grading of the illegal regime inthe occupied areas.”

Akinci attended the dinner atthe invitation of Turkey’s Presi-dent. But the Cypriot govern-ment insisted the U.N.’s “badhandling” of the matter wasmainly to blame for the falloutbecause the world body havegiven assurances the TurkishCypriot leader wouldn’t show up.

The Cypriot governmentstrongly opposes any attempt toput the breakaway north on anequal diplomatic footing be-cause it considers the TurkishCypriot government the productof an act of war which violatedinternational law.

Neither Turkey nor the Turk-ish Cypriots recognize theCypriot government.

Anastasiades said negotia-tions could be stepped up aslong as there are no more “sim-

ilar phenomena by whomever isinvolved in the process whichwould only serve to undermine”peace efforts.

Cyprus governmentspokesman NicosChristodoulides said no date hasbeen set for the next Anasta-sides-Akinci meeting.

Much progress has beenachieved in a year of talks andboth leaders say they aim toreach a deal reunifying the is-land as a federation by the endof 2016.

FAR RIGHT: ODDBEDFELLOWS

The entry into Parliament bya far-right group opposed tounity with Turks on Cypruscould provide an impetus for aresolution.

The ELAM party took twoseats in the 56-member Parlia-ment in what was seen as aprotest against ruling partiesand harsh austerity measuresbut also an indicator about re-sumed unity talks that Anastasi-ades and Akinci hope will bringa solution.

Analysts told the newsagency Reuters that the processcould now be accelerated beforecritics and ELAM make anymore headway or gain supportthat could undermine the fragiletalks and upset hopes to unifythe island divided since an un-lawful Turkish invasion in 1974.

While the vote in the May 22elections won’t change the gov-ernment and was seen more ofa protest against Anastasiadesfor reneging on campaignpromises not to confiscate bankaccounts, it could jeopardize theunity talks even as the EU hasmoved to appease Turkish Pres-ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of-fering a fast-track entry as partof a refugee swap deal.

After the election of the mod-erate Akinci last year, and thewithdrawal by Turkey of a war-ship and energy research vesselfrom Cypriot waters, there wasrenewed optimism for an an-swer with Anastasiades offeringconcessions – too many, his crit-ics said.

The Cypriot President’s termexpires in 2018, so the talksneed to move forward beforeanother year of electioneeringbegins, James Ker-Lindsay, a Se-nior Research Fellow at the Lon-don School of Economics whofocuses on southeast Europe.

(Material from the AssociatedPress was used in this report)

With Diplomatic Spat Over, the Cyprus UnityTalks Look to Resume

By Andy DabilisTNH Staff

ATHENS – After reaching abailout deal with its creditors,Greece’s coalition governmentsaid it cannot implement someof the reforms that are politicalhot potatoes, such as pensioncuts and privatization of somestate enterprises.

“We cannot make any sub-stantial changes. But we will pro-ceed with the technical amend-ments discussed. Some of themare right,” a government officialtold Reuters.

Prime Minister and RadicalLeft SYRIZA leader AlexisTsipras, reneging on more cam-paign promises, agreed to morebrutal pension cuts and austerityas well as automatic spendingcuts if Greece fails to meet fiscaltargets as it has for the past fewyears.

That led to the creditorsagreeing to free up 7.5 billioneuros ($8.36 billion) from a de-layed third rescue package of 86billion euros ($95.8 billion) withpromises it could be 10.3 billioneuros ($11.47 billion,) almost allof which will go back to themand banks and not Greek soci-ety.

Reuters said Greece has toldits European and InternationalMonetary Fund creditors it can-not implement some of the extrachanges sought in exchange forfresh bailout loans, according tothree unnamed sources.

The move, if confirmed, couldfurther delay the disbursement

of the bailout funds whichAthens badly needs to pay offIMF loans in June and EuropeanCentral Bank bonds maturing inJuly and growing state arrears.

Among the changes agreedwere letting banks go after peo-ple who can’t pay their creditcards, mortgages or loans be-cause of big pay cuts, tax hikes,slashed pensions and worker fir-ings and accelerated sell-off ofstate enterprises that Tsipras hadvowed to stop.

In a letter sent to the lenderslast week, Finance Minister Eu-clid Tsakalotos said some of theadditional demands could not befulfilled, the sources said.

The Finance Ministry had noimmediate comment and it wasnot immediately clear whetherthe release of the funds was atrisk.PEOPLE AREN’T HAPPYAfter reaching the deal that

will bring more austerity mea-sures, Tsipras’ handling of theproblem found 86.5 percent ofGreeks disapprove of what hedid.

That was the result of a sur-vey taken by Macedonia Univer-sity on May 27 which also found41 percent would like snap elec-tions being demanded by NewDemocracy Conservative leaderKyriakos Mitsotakis, who hastaken his party to a big lead inpolls.

Having surrendered to theQuartet of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-Eu-ropean Central Bank-EuropeanStability Mechanism (EU-IMF-

ECB-ESM) which put up the res-cue package,Tsipras now willlikely turn to shaking up his Cab-inet, Kathimerini reported.

That comes at the same timehis coalition government withthe the pro-austerity, far-right,nationalist Independent Greeks(ANEL) is scrambling to wrap upthe details of the deal.

Tsipras is hustling to let banksgo after Greeks who can’t paytheir loans, credit cards or mort-gages because of big pay cuts,tax hikes, slashed pensions andworker firings he opposed whileout of office and implementedwhen he got in.

He’s also agreed to cutting theEKAS benefits given to the low-est-income pensioners, the peo-ple he swore to protect.

Competing the reforms in thisround will lead to the release ofsome 7.5 billion euros ($8.34 bil-lion) in more monies from thethird rescue package, almost allof which will go back to the samepeople who lent it without ben-efiting Greek society.

Successive governments sincethe first of the bailouts began sixyears ago have embarked on apolicy of borrowing to pay pre-vious loans without effectively

implementing structural reformsor the growth they admitted wasneed to create a recovery.

While raising taxes on almosteverything, Tsipras hopes now topass some other measures tryingto lure back investors scared offwhen a previous government cutthe value of Greek bonds 74 per-cent and didn’t provide incen-tives.

His government so far hastwice abandoned promises toprotect the most vulnerable insociety and has taken almostonly measures demanded by thecreditors.

TOUGH CALLSGreece must also legislate a

series of extra actions which thegovernment resists due to grow-ing dissent at home after sixyears of belt-tightening. One ofthe measures is phasing out atop-up benefit to pensioners.

“It’s a matter of parliamentarydignity. We cannot ask lawmak-ers to vote over the same issuesagain and again,” a governmentofficial told Reuters. “Some ofthe actions demanded are alsoworsening the impact of themeasures already adopted andhurt sensitive groups further.”

Greece wants the ECB to onceagain accept Greek governmentbonds as collateral when it lendsmoney to banks—a move thatwould boost Greek banks’ accessto cheap liquidity and, indirectly,the Greek economy. But the ECBisn’t expected to take this stepuntil remaining disputes overGreece’s bailout compliance areresolved.

pected to see was a piece of goldfrom antiquity.

“It is notoriously difficult todate gold wreaths of this type.Stylistically it belongs to a rar-efied group of wreaths dateableto the Hellenistic period and theform may indicate that it wasmade in Northern Greece,” hesaid.

The piece is about eightinches across and weighs about100 grams, less than a quarterof a pound. It’s pure gold andhandmade and Schwinge said itwas hammered out by a gold-smith during one of Greece’sgreatest periods of world civiliza-tion, at a time when beauty wasdeified.

“It’s a very rare antiquity tofind, they don’t turn up often.I’ve never seen one in my careerbefore,” he said.

It’s of a type of work meantto mimic the wreaths of realleaves and awards given in An-cient Greece during religious cer-emonies or athletic competitionswhere the winners were reveredand rewarded for their prowess.

They usually depictedbranches of laurel, myrtle, oakand olive trees, which were sym-bolic of concepts such as wis-dom, triumph, fertility, peace andvirtue, attributes equally cher-

ished at that time of flourish. Many were dedicated to the

Gods in sanctuaries or placed inthe graves of royal or aristocraticpeople as funerary offerings aswell and the bits of dirt foundon the wreath suggest it wasburied, although unknownwhether as part of a funeral.

Most date to the Hellenisticperiod (323BC to 31BC), whichthis one is also thought to datefrom, and show the exceptional

skill of goldsmiths at that time,he said.

Some were made during ear-lier periods but the wreaths be-came more frequent afterAlexander the Great’s Easternconquests, when gold was moreavailable in Greece.

A gold wreath similar to thislatest one sold at auction in 2012for almost 200,000 pounds orabout $222,760 in today’s worth.This piece will be auctioned off

on June 9.The current owner said his

grandfather was a great collectorwho was fascinated by archae-ology and the ancient world.

The man said: “I knew mygrandfather travelled extensivelyin the 1940s and 50s and hespent time in the northwest fron-tier area, where Alexander theGreat was, so it’s possible he gotit while he was there. ‘But henever told me anything aboutthis wreath.

“I inherited quite a lot ofthings from him and I just putthis to one side for almost adecade and didn’t really thinkanything of it. Recently I decidedI needed to sort through thingsand called in Duke’s to have lookat some of the items he’d passedon to me,” he said.

He said he was stupefied tolearn what he’d had and keptaside for a decade without real-izing its worth. “The wreath is abeautiful piece but I never ex-pected it to be so valuable. It wasa mixture of excitement and justdisbelief when they told me whatit was.”

The most famous of thesetypes of wreaths is one that wasfound at Vergina in the tomb ofAlexander the Great’s fatherPhilip II of Macedon in the1970s, which is in a Greek mu-seum.

Ancient Greek Gold Wreath is Found under English Bed

Before:

After:

AP PHotoS

Continued from page 1

An incredibly rare gold crown believed to be more than 2,300years old has been discovered under a bed in a Somerset cottage.

PHilyeoAmNS/BNPS

Greece Backs Away from Reforms, Bailout $$ Uncertain

Tsipras’ handling of the problem found 86.5 percent of Greeks disapprove of what he did

EDITORIALS LETTERS12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016

The Audacity of Tsipras

To the Editor:I cannot believe the arro-

gance of Greek Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras.

The only thing I can comparehis behavior to is TheManchurian Candidate.

Mr. Tsipras comes back fromBrussels with a horrible deal forGreece and its people and nowsays that Greece is on the roadto recovery.

When I think of AlexisTsipras, I cannot help but recallthe Hans Christian Andersentale of The Emperor's NewClothes. While Tsipras contin-ues with his lies, a little Greekboy chimes in "but Mr. Tsiprashas no Clothes!”

As New Democracy LeaderKyriakos Mitsotakis simplystated, "you have never spokenthe language of truth, Mr.Tsipras.”

Evangelos A. Argyrakis, Esq.Omaha, NE

Does Ikarians' LongevityContinue to Endure?

To the Editor:Christopher Tripoulas (May

21, 2016), commentary on theBusiness Insider Films’ Docu-mentary “Ikaria: The IslandWhere People Live Forever,” wasquite interesting.

I was born on Ikaria in theearly thirties and I have spentmy childhood and teenage yearsthere. During that time-period Ihad come across several healthynonagenarians and centenariansin my village and nearby vil-lages.

Many of them perished dur-ing the famine of 1942-44 (WW

II). However, during our shortsummer visits to Ikaria, everytwo or three years, I have beennoticing fewer and fewerhealthy nonagenarians and cen-tenarians, possibly due to cur-rent diet, lack of physical activ-ity, anxiety, and many otherchanges in the lifestyle of pre-sent-day Ikarians. Healthylongevity is hard to predict andsomewhat poorly understood inspite of the extensive literature

on the subject. I have discussedhealthy longevity and its impactupon society, health care and so-cial programs, and natural re-sources, in my most recentbook, Longevity.

Dr. John ChrysochoosToledo, OH

John Chrysochoos, PhD, is Pro-fessor Emeritus of Chemistry atthe University of Toledo, andthe author of several books.

Million-Dollar AdviceIf you felt less rich in 2015 than you did in 2014, despite the

millions you earned, you are not alone.The 200 highest-paid chief executives of public American

companies with annual revenue of at least a billion dollars feelthe same way.

So, while the average pay in 2014 was $22.6 million, itdropped to $19.3 million in 2015.

And yet, what is impressive is not so much the amount theyearned, but rather that their income decreased.

Why did that happen?One possible answer could be the outrage over the vast

wealth gap in the United States. Other reasons could relate tothe stock market.

In our view, salaries of such magnitude are not justified.Their extravagance is a disincentive for these executives tomake meaningful contributions to the company, and may neg-atively impact employee morale overall.

But such outrageous earnings are not limited to CEOs; theyinclude athletes, singers, actors, etc. But in their case, they havea limited window of economic opportunity (athletes, for exam-ple, are not expected to excel at a professional level beyondtheir thirties).

CEOs, however, typically already earned mounds of moneyalong their climb to the top spot, and can expect to sit on thethrone for decades to come.

We searched the list of the 200 highest-paid U.S. CEOs re-cently published in the New York Times and identified fourGreek-Americans among them (although there may be more,whose names don’t give them away).

First, there is Andrew Liveris, Chairman and CEO of theDow Chemical Company, who received a total of $21,428.875from executive pay, stock grants, etc., 10% more than last year,even as his company had a 16% loss of revenue.

Second, James Dimon, Chairman, President, and CEO of JP-Morgan Chase, who was awarded a total of $17,221,060, 34%down from 2014 and with his company’s revenue down by 2%.

Third, George A. Scangos, CEO of the biopharmaceuticalcompany Biogen Inc., who took in $16,689,662, down 10%from 2014 and with a 10% decrease in company revenue.

And finally, Andre Calantzopoulos, CEO and Director of thetobacco giant Philip Morris International, with a package worth$14,500,558, up 18% from 2014, while his company dropped8% in revenue.

If they are having a difficult time spending all of that money,then we have a proposition to make, free of charge: how aboutfounding and founding a first-class Greek university here in theUnited States? Something along the lines of Brandeis.

National Insovereignty The Eurogroup’s recent decision to release the first dose of

Greece’s third debt relief package creates dismal thoughts.It was well known from the prolonged economic crisis’ onset

that the Greek government’s sovereignty, at least in terms ofshaping economic policy, would suffer serious restrictions.

It is common for creditors, in their attempt to salvage capitalthey have already invested, to lend further in order to avoidbankruptcy. But in doing so, they impose strict conditions offiscal discipline to ensure that the mistakes and unbridled policiesthat generated the crisis in the first place will not be repeated.

This is a well-known practice, based on unfortunate but nec-essary reasoning, and is applied internationally in similar situa-tions.

But the recent decision by the Eurozone (mainly Germany)and the IMF – with Greece essentially absent from the process –to give Greece further loans and regarding the country’s exorbi-tant debt, is unprecedented and exceeds all limits.

Although several statements and analyses provide detailednotions about the decision, the essence is one: it was decidedthat Greece would be granted one dose, gradually and undercontinuous inspection of the implementation of its weighty con-ditions, so that it would be able to pay its creditors initially andin the ensuing months.

In addition to other onerous measures, the creditors requestedand received from Greece future implementation of automaticcutbacks if the imposed fiscal goals are not met. They alsoachieved the essential assignment of the management of allstate-owned assets for 100 years to an independent body, withsubstantial participation by the creditors. And, finally, the ex-amination of restructuring the colossal, unsustainable Greekdebt was referred to 2018.

It is no exaggeration to say that from a fiscal, economic,social, and political perspective, all of these constitute a funda-mental reduction of Greek sovereignty.

Who will be outraged? Who will protest this new humiliationof the homeland? Who will shout out loud from every platformthat this new insult to the country’s dignity must become thereason to finally search for and correct the true causes of thisdownfall? For all these things are happening because the country,and mainly its leadership, has lost all credibility in the eyes ofthe international community and, of course, the creditors.

The refusal on Athens’ part up until now to face the miserablereality head on, its complete unwillingness, its inability to rightall the wrongs, have led the creditors and the international com-munity to coerce the Greeks to do so in a harsh and undignifiedmanner.

Meanwhile, the Greek government celebrates and speaks ofpositive developments.

“Dramatic Effect”In a recent documentary produced and edited by veteran jour-

nalist Katie Couric, titled Under the Gun, which depicts gun vio-lence in America, Kouric asks gun rights activists: "if there are nobackground checks for gun purchasers, how do you preventfelons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealerand purchasing a gun?" The documentary shows them staring atone another in silence for a full eight seconds before responding.

The only problem is, that’s not what happened; they actuallyanswered immediately.

As it turns out, Director Stephanie Soechtig acknowledgedthat she inserted that eight-second “beat” for “dramatic effect.”Kouric initially defended the action, but has since denounced itas “not accurately representing” the interviewees’ responses.

Whatever one’s views on gun rights and gun control are, wehope that Americans can unite in demanding accurate and re-sponsible reportage.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMENTARY

By Constantinos E. Scaros

In the year 2000, incumbentVice President Al Gore, a Demo-crat, challenged RepublicanGeorge W. Bush, then-Texasgovernor and son of the epony-mous former president, in whatwas the closest election in thelifetime of anyone under 55years of age.

Readers of this column their60s or older might recall the1960 election, which DemocratJohn F. Kennedy narrowly wonover Republican Richard Nixon.There were plausible, if incon-clusive, allegations of fraud inIllinois and Texas, two statesthat had Kennedy lost insteadof winning would have giventhe election to Nixon. But whengiven the chance to demand arecount, Nixon flatly refused,stating that for the good of thecountry, the election was over.

But Al Gore wasn’t quite somagnanimous. On ElectionNight, after virtually all of thepundits had called the race forBush, Gore phoned his oppo-nent to concede and to congrat-ulate him. But before Bush hadthe chance to emerge and de-liver his victory speech, Gorecalled him back and retractedthe concession.

Gore wanted to wait for theofficial results before admittingthat he lost. When those camein, Bush had won. That still was-n’t good enough for Gore; hewanted to wait for the officialrecount. Bush won that as well.

But Gore wasn’t quitethrough yet. He asked for amore detailed recount, one thatwould more closely examine“hanging chads,” “dimpledchads,” “butterfly ballots,” andother vagaries of the differenttypes of voting machines used.Once again, the Bush camp ac-quiesced. And once again, Bushwas declared the winner.

It was now the last week ofNovember. Thanksgiving Dayhad passed, Christmas wasaround the corner, and we hadyet to determine who our nextpresident would be. But none ofthat was enough to deter AlGore. Never mind that on Elec-tion Night he lost unofficially,and then officially, and then bytwo recounts. Doggone it, hewanted to win!

Gore demanded a third re-count, one that would involve awider selection of ballots. TheSupreme Court stepped in andsaid enough is enough. It put anend to any more counting anddeclared Bush the winner.

Naturally, the nation – essen-tially split right down the mid-

dle between Bush and Gore –was divided on the Court’s de-cision as well. The Bush sup-porters applauded it, reasoningthat Gore can’t just keep askingfor recount after recount untilhe gets his way.

The Gore crowd, however,saw it differently charging thatbecause the Supreme Court hadmore Justices appointed by Re-publican presidents, they ruledin favor of Bush based on parti-san loyalty. Of course, if therehad been any merit to thoseclaims, then surely someone inCongress would have taken upthe cause of impeaching ChiefJustice William Rehnquist and

Associate Justices Sandra DayO’Connor, Antonin Scalia, An-thony Kennedy, and ClarenceThomas – because to render adecision based on political ide-ology or other personal loyaltyis unquestionably an impeach-able offense.

Not to mention that two ofthe Justices who ruled againstBush – John Paul Stevens andDavid Souter – were also ap-pointed by Republican presi-dents.

None of this is to suggest thatBush definitively won – or lost– the 2000 election. As I havelong maintained, if you ask 10people to count how many jelly-beans are inside of an enormousvat that estimates to hold about15,000 of them, you are likelyto get 10 different answers.Therefore, if people cannot berelied upon to count 15,000jellybeans all in one place, howabout 100 million votes scat-tered throughout the country(Florida was not the only statewhere a recount might havechanged things – it just hap-pened to me the tightest one,and therefore on the nation’sradar)?

In other words, when anelection is that close – andthankfully, it is rarely that close– meaning, within the margin

of error, there are too manyother variables involved, suchas human error, machine error,write-in votes lost in the mail,and actual fraud, that we’re justnever really going to know forsure – and that’s all there is toit.

What this stroll down mem-ory lane indicates, though, isGore’s inability to go away qui-etly, as Nixon did, and live towin the presidency another day(that Nixon ultimately resignedamid the Watergate scandal isanother story).

Al Gore sure made a pest ofhimself, but now Mitt Romneyhas outdone him in terms of be-

ing a nuisance.From the moment the Re-

publicans nominated Romney in2012, I knew he’d be a sureloser – and that was the basis ofmy book Grumpy Old Party –using that as a prime exampleof the GOP elite’s utter clueless-ness.

Sure enough, Romney lost. Ahuge part of Romney’s problemwas, as the Washington Post’sRuth Marcus put it so elo-quently: “he oozes inauthentic-ity.” But he had one very gen-uine moment: in his concessionspeech, he said: “I so wishedthat I had been able to…leadthe country.” The message of hisvoice and eyes matched the con-tent of his words in a rare in-stance of sincerity. Indeed, noneof us doubted how desperatelyhe wanted to be president.

As 2016 approached, someamong the clueless crowd whocouldn’t understand why Rom-ney simply couldn’t win ex-ploited his insatiable desire forthe top spot by encouraging himto run again. He tried to be coy,but it was clear he was intereste,until the polls indicated other-wise, and so he realized it wastime to step aside once and forall. Or so it seemed.

During the past year, as theRepublican primary wore on,

Donald Trump managed toknock off opponent after oppo-nent, formidable senator afterformidable governor. All of thisprompted Romney to make acolossal jackass of himself witha desperate “stop Trump” plea– in which he called upon votersto play the spoiler role, depend-ing on the state, so as to createa chaotic Republican conventionwhereby the party establish-ment would subvert the will ofthe people and anoint their ownhandpicked candidate – likeRomney, for instance.

That didn’t work, and nowRomney continues to standalone, stubbornly refusing to do

what just about every other Re-publican has done, join theTrump camp to help defeatHillary Clinton in November.

Like Lee J. Cobb, the lastholdout juror in 12 Angry Men,Romney continues to spew hisanti-Trump venom, brought onno doubt by his realization thatTrump has dismantled theGOP’s country club fiefdom – ofwhich he is a prominent mem-ber – and by his petty jealousythat Trump has already outper-formed him, and with one handtied behind his back.

Get over it, Mitt. You’ve be-come even more annoying thanAl Gore.

Constantinos E. Scaros' latestbook, Grumpy Old Party (aboutthe 2016 presidential election),is available for purchase onamazon.com and in bookstoresnationwide.

Mitt, You Have Become More Annoying than Al Gore

The National HeraldA weekly publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC.

(ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΡΥΞ),reporting the news and addressing the issues of paramount interest to the Greek-American community of the United States of America.

Publisher-Editor Antonis H. DiamatarisAssistant to the Publisher, Advertising Veta H. Diamataris Papadopoulos

Executive Editor Constantinos E. ScarosReligion Editor Theodore Kalmoukos

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The National Herald (USPS 016864) is published weekly byThe National Herald Inc. at 37-10 30th Street, LIC, NY 11101-2614

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TO OUR READERS

the National Herald welcomesletters from its readers in-tended for publication. theyshould include the writer’sname, address, and telephonenumber and be addressed to:the editor, the National Her-ald, 37-10 30th Street, longisland City, Ny 11101. letterscan also be faxed to (718) 472-0510 or e-mailed toscaros@thenationalherald.com.We reserve the right to editletters for publication and re-gret that we are unable to ac-knowledge or return those leftunpublished.

Correction:

in the may 28 edition, the storyabout Greece’s bailout referredto the correct amount, but theheadline did not. it is 11 billioneuros.

GeorGe SArAFoGlou / SPeCiAl to tHe NAtioNAl HerAld

Observations By Antonis H. Diamataris

Vladimir the “Savior”While Athens pays homage to him as a

“savior,” Russian President Vladimir Putin,an authoritarian leader, arrived at the air-port with an hour and a half delay. And itwasn’t because he missed his flight.

And, in any case, this wasn’t the firsttime that Russia has treated Athens withindifference, while Athens behaves as if Rus-sia is the Messiah.

Shall I remind you of Putin’s negativestance when Cypriot leaders ran to Moscow,offering land and water, requesting a fewbillions in exchange in order to satisfy Brus-sels’ demands?

Or about the time of Greek Prime Minis-ter Alexis Tsipras’ visit to Moscow – accom-panied by his former minister PanagiotisLafazanis – for the exact same purpose andwith the same results?

No, Moscow did not intervene so that

German Chancellor Angela Merkel mightadopt a softer policy regarding Greece.Something which it would not be able toinfluence, even if it wished to do so, as ithas become a red flag for the West, whereasthe American military considers Russia –not China – to be its most dangerous ad-versary, and the seizure of Crimea is remi-niscent of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

And yet, the luminaries in Athens con-tinue to be placed under the illusion thatPutin will save Greece.

Moreover, whoever continues to believethat the West will allow Putin to impose co-ercive control over the critical field of en-ergy in Europe is living in another world.

Does it matter that Putin is accepted inAthens, you may ask.

Certainly not, though is it clear that hisstopover in Athens was an afterthought.Putin’s primary purpose was his visit toMount Athos.

In any event, a little moderation in thereception of his visit would do no harm.

Now, as far as Putin’s visit to MountAthos is concerned, that truly is an exampleworth following, one from which the gov-ernment could greatly benefit.

For his part, Putin does well in honoringthe Russian monastery of St Panteleimon,which is celebrating 1000 years on MountAthos.

Besides, ever since the fall of commu-nism, the Russian people have massivelyshifted toward Orthodoxy.

However, I greatly fear that the Greekstate’s disregard for Mount Athos may pos-sibly open the door for Putin to have greaterinfluence on the Monastic State than is de-sirable.

Surely, Athens could follow Putin’s ex-ample on the issue of religion. But instead,it wishes to abolish prayer from schools.

What more can one say?

Mitt Romney (L) has managed to become even more of a pest than Al Gore.

By Dr. Dimitra Kamarinou

The fifth of June is the WorldEnvironment Day. Even theword environment itself definesthe man’s attitude towards lifeon this planet. Since the mean-ing of the verb environ is toform a circle around, to sur-round, to envelop, the term en-vironment by definition puts theman in the center of the life andthe living organisms on planetEarth.

The term environment wasfirst recorded in an ecologicalsense in 1956. Before that peo-ple used words like nature,earth, field, land. They werecloser connected to the natureand respected it more, becausethey made their living directlyfrom it.

Myths, stories, and legendsof arrogant people who disre-spected the nature exist in manycultures. Environmentalists andecologists quite often refer to

Native American legends andquotes. Less well known, thoughnot less illuminating, is the an-cient Greek myth ofErysichthon, narrated by Ovidin his book Metamorphoses.

Erysichthon was a man of ir-religious temper, who decidedto the Earth goddess Demeter’ssacred forest and cut down oneof her ancient oaks. For count-less years memorials of prayers,ribbons, written vows andcrowns of flowers swayed fromhis boughs and wood nymphsdanced around his trunk thatmeasured fifteen yards. Thoughhis servants wavered as theystepped on holy ground,Erysichthon plucked an axefrom someone’s hand and cried“though this is Demeter’s sacredoak, though she herself may bealive within it, I’ll strike its top-most branches down to earth.”When the stroke fell, bloodgushed from the trunk like afountain from the neck of a sac-

rificed bull. The crowd steppedback in horror, except a coura-geous one who jumped inErysichthon’s way to stop hisblasphemous act. Erysichthon atone blow sheared off his headand continued hacking the oak,when the nymph who had madethat oak her home warned himof a punishment. Nor did herwarning end his ruthlessness.The tall tree shaken by countlessblows and dragged down byropes finally crushed on theground.

Erysichthon must have feltvery successful and powerfulenough to dominate the sacrednature. Despite so many warn-ings, despite the fear that mostpeople felt due to his action, de-spite the efforts of the coura-geous activist, despite the ex-pected curse, the action of theruthless man was not prevented.

But Demeter decided to tor-ture him with Famine, and yetno one would weep for him.

Famine was Demeter’s greatestenemy and she was not allowedto meet her. After all she wasthe goddess of food and agricul-tural production. Demeter gaveher dragons to a local nymphand sent her to Famine in theland of dark and sterile pas-tures, where Cold and Pallorand Fear live next to her. Therewas she. Tearing stray shreds ofgrass, eyes fallen in, pale face,skin stretched so thin one couldsee her vitals through it. Fromfar off the nymph raised hervoice to call out Demeter’s or-der: “Slide into Erysichthon’s en-trails. No feast on earth shouldease his hunger.”

Famine found him sleeping.Kissing his dreaming lips, sheplanted the kind of hunger thatis never stilled. WhenErysichthon waked, he felt awild desire to eat. The more heate the more he craved to eat.As ocean swallows rivers anddoesn’t overflow, as the raging

fire eats up countless logs, asboth take more as more fallsinto them, Erysichthon’s hungerincreased. “Great eating led togreater emptiness,” writes Ovid.Great consumerism too, andgreat greed for money, wewould add today.

At last when what he ownedhad been devoured, his daugh-ter was all he had to sell. Hesold her promptly. The girl, Mes-tra, escaped her buyer andprayed to Poseidon, who madeher seem like a fisherman. Po-seidon was her former lover andgave her the gift of shape-shift-ing into any creature at will toescape her bonds. WhenErysichthon found out that shehad that gift, every morningbrought her to the market andsold her as a bird, a cow, a mare,a doe. During the night Mestrawould become girl again and es-cape from the stable. Thoughher father would sell her at aprice of another meal, his greed

was kept alive. In the end whenFamine exhausted even the girl’sresourcefulness, Erysichthon indespair ate himself to death.

Does an insatiable marketsell our children’s future? Thevoracious greed for profit thatknows no bounds is contrary tothe fundamental interests of hu-manity. Have we realized that,if we don’t try to practice re-sponsible environmental behav-ior and strongly support thosewho hold values but are less po-tent to influence the actions offirms, of governments and en-tire economies, the outlook willbe bleak?

Dimitra Kamarinou, PhD, hasstudied philology and archaeol-ogy at the University of Ioanni-na,Würzburg and Bochum inGermany. She has beenhonored with the Academy ofAthens Award in Archaeologyand Homeric Philology.

On June 5, World Environment Day, Consider Myth of Erysichthon

VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016 13

One of the first acts – in a rareshow of decency – Greek PrimeMinister Alexis Tsipras did whentaking office after winning in Jan-uary 2015 was to hire back clean-ing ladies at the Finance Ministrywho’d been the victims of dis-graceful behavior from the NewDemocracy-PASOK coalition thatfired them.

They were let go shamelesslywhile political flunkies without awhit of talent or interest in thecountry continued to get big pay-checks, some of whom nevershowed up for work, and whilelegions of The Walking Dead inthe public sector protected by po-litical benefactors sat at theirdesks smoking, drinking coffee,ignoring people and called it aday at 1:30 p.m. unless they tookan early slide and left earlier. Noone was checking so why not?

Among the zombies weresome 2,500 people who had fakedegrees and fraudulent creden-tials, which seems to be a firingoffense and a felony in most civ-ilized countries. But not inGreece. While they were dis-missed, they are now on a fasttrack for rehiring, assuming theycan pass tests proving they canspell their names.

They should be banned for lifefrom working in the public sectorat the very least, but the rulingcoalition led by Tsipras’ LooneyLeft wants them back and doesn’tcare if they are frauds becausethey’ll be in good company withhim and his cadre of failed ama-teur café philosophers.

Now he’s being shamed him-self – by one of the cleaningladies – who has more integrityin her little finger than he’ll ever

have in his life.Olga Athanasiou

said her daughterwas deprived of a jobin the civil service tomake way for othercandidates withforged degrees andwrote Tsipras askinghim to live up to hispromise to “finallyrestore conditions ofmeritocracy andtransparency.”

He won’t, ofcourse, because hiskind never do andmistake the trap-pings of power for real power,which resides in the hearts andsouls of people who work hard,keep their noses clean, pay theirtaxes and, in Athanasiou’s case,clean the offices of people not fitto carry her mop.

In the letter – also signed byMichalis Kouroutos, the head ofthe Federation of Private SchoolTeachers (OIELE) – Tsipras isurged to see to it that “our younghave equal opportunities in edu-cation and the workplace, regard-less of the school they went toand their socioeconomic back-ground.”

The cockamamie scheme torehire criminals was hatched bythe country’s Education MinisterNikos Filis, a college dropout whocouldn’t spell education or de-cency but apparently knows howto spell forgery.

He said he wants to “legalize”the criminal act of forged degreesand fraudulent credentials in-stead of tarring-and-featheringincompetents who are taking upspace and air and depriving peo-

ple like Athana-siou’s daughter of ajob she would doinstead of drinkingfrappe.

This is akin topeople faking theirresumes and beinghired, being firedand then being re-hired, rewardingcheating and in-competency. Isthat transparencyand meritocracy?You can’t expectthat from Tsipras,who, under a mer-

itocracy, wouldn’t be Prime Min-ister.

Filis’ bogus reasoning wasthat he was following a 2007 lawwhen New Democracy was inpower under Costas “The Invisi-ble Man” Karamanlis, a trainwreck of a person who broughtGreece to ruin when his govern-ment lied about its economiccondition and was last seen hid-ing under a log with the othersof his ilk.

The bogus diplomas thatwere detected in this case mostlyinvolve matriculation in privatenight schools, although SYRIZAwill happily take one you printyourself or got from a school ona matchbook cover where youcould find ads for The Universityof SYRIZA – “We Take EveryoneWho Can Pay!”

Alas, the only voice beingraised against this chicanery isthat of New Democracy leaderKyriakos Mitsotakis, who doesn’thave a leg to stand on to supporthis otherwise correct argumentthat this is a fraud equal to that

of SYRIZA’s hacks being inpower.

As Administrative ReformMinister, Mitsotakis was incharge of firing workers and hedid so without giving them a re-view as promised while he neverwent after the forged degreeholders he’s now blaming Tsiprasfor wanting to bring back.

That undercuts his criticism –which is otherwise right – whenhe said, “I trust that the govern-ment will not reach the extremepoint of contemptibility by al-lowing, with any manner, civilservants with bogus diplomas toremain in the public sector.”

Filis, who apparently didn’tgo to any history classes beforehe dropped out of school, hasdenied the Pontian genocide everhappened. Guess it was mass sui-cide.

He followed in office anotherhelium head and fellowSYRIZAN, Aristides Baltas, whosaid, “Excellence in education isnot a virtue,” a given for his partywhich prefers ignorance.

So Athanasiou’s daughter andthousands of bright youngGreeks are doomed to die with-out ever having a job in theGreek public sector because withthe news that people with fakeddegrees can have one instead –most hired by New Demoracyand PASOK – there’s a long lineat the Copy Cop shop wherethey’re running out of templatesfor diplomas as doctors, lawyers,pilots, engineers, rocket scien-tists, and every other job you canthink of except Greek politician.

They don’t need diplomas.

adabilis@thenationalherald.com

By Art Dimopoulos*

The word “strategy” is de-rived from the word “stratiyeia,”comprising of two Greek words:“stratos” meaning army, and“ago” which in ancient Greekdenotes guiding, moving, andleading. Armies that is. The verystratagem the ancient generalsused to deploy their forces anddefeat the enemy, is “strategy.”A strategy defines goals andhow they are achieved withinthe limits of one’s resources.

Today’s Greek-Americancommunity has dramaticallychanged and if Hellenic heritageis to remain relevant, newstrategies are needed. Withinthe modern context of Hellenicheritage in America, the enemyis complacently born out of anevolving demographics and ex-isting institutions moving slowlyto adapt evolving changes. Thestrategy to connect future gen-erations to their Hellenic her-itage must be marked by inspi-ration and meaning.

NATIONAL HELLENICSOCIETY

The National Hellenic Soci-ety (NHS) comprises a small yetpotent army of leaders, vision-aries, and philanthropists com-mitted to preserving and passingon Hellenic heritage to the nextgeneration. NHS is the best ofthe best, likeminded, successfuldoers and achievers in their ownrespective fields/professionsleveraging their knowledge, skillsets, networks, and resources tocollectively develop programsthat inspire and engage theGreek-American community.

In mid-June, NHS will spon-sor 50 exceptional Greek-Amer-ican college students to partici-pate in an odyssey ofself-discovery of their respectiveHellenic heritage, roots, and cul-ture along with Greek studentsfrom the American College ofGreece/DEREE. This year marksthe seventh year of the HeritageGreece Program, and seven

years of sociological researchand findings quantify the in-credible impact the Program hashad on the participants andtheir families.

The Heritage Greece experi-ence continues beyond the stu-dents’ return from Greece byhaving the students matriculateinto the Heritage Greece AlumniNetwork. NHS members keepconnected to the studentsthrough mentorship, internship,and their involvement in otherprograms. The students in turnstay engaged within the NHSChapter system and NHS pro-gram implementation.

June kicks off a month of“greatness” and collaboration be-tween the NHS and National Ge-ographic (NatGeo). The epicsaga begins with the museum ex-hibit “The Greeks from Agamem-non to Alexander” – nearly 600artifacts from 22 Greek museumscovering a 5,000 year timespan.NHS member John Calamos, incollaboration with the NationalHellenic Museum and Field Mu-seum, ensured the exhibit’s

American tour, currently at theNational Geographic Museum inWashington, DC.

Along with the exhibit, Nat-Geo is producing a three-partdocumentary supported by theNHS that will air on June 21,28, and July 5 nationwide onthe PBS network. National Ge-ographic Magazine will also fea-ture a story on “The Greeks.”

NHS and NatGeo are produc-ing an online digital series de-veloped by the NHS entitled:“The Greek Guide to Greatness”– a digital series specifically tar-geted for the next generation.“The Greek Guide to Greatness”comprises of several short vi-gnettes superbly demonstratingancient themes within a moderncontext from social networking,free speech to entertainment,athletics, and other compellingtopics. “The Greek Guide toGreatness” will be available onthe NatGeo and PBS online net-works, and it will also be com-piled into a DVD format that willbe distributed with history textbooks and to accompany lesson

plans and teacher guides forgrades 8-11 nationwide. A WINNING STRATEGYIn business, dramatic tech-

nological change and newglobal dynamics representgame-changing challenges forcompanies. The current stakesare no longer market shareshifts, but rather “all-in” realitiesseeing clear-cut winners andlosers in the high-stakes gameof competition. Iconic brandslike Kodak, Borders, and Block-buster are examples of these for-mer giants’ failure to adapt.

Leveraging NHS members’collective knowhow, skill sets,and resources with a mission-oriented focus will continue toyield long-term tangible results.The NHS is inspiring, energiz-ing, and engaging the next gen-eration to continue to keep Hel-lenism’s torch blazing bright. Inturn, NHS members are inspiredand engaged in being be part ofa winning team.

* Art Dimopoulos, JD, LLM, isNHS Executive Director.

Strategy is a Greek Word: Nat’l Hellenic Society Initiatives

LETTER FROM ATHENS

Get Your Real Fake Degree Now from SYRIZA University!

by ANDYDABILIS

Special to The National Herald

Less than amonth ago, the St.Spyridon Church inthe Upper Manhat-tan neighborhoodof WashingtonHeights made head-lines (again), whena man walked intothe Church fromthe street and stolean icon of theChurch’s patronsaint. Although theculprit was caughton camera and sub-sequently arrested,the whereabouts of the icon re-mained a mystery. This is ratherironic when you consider a quoteby Mark Twain that “every timeyou stop a school, you will haveto build a jail,” and then apply itto the hasty and unfortunate de-cision by this same parish com-munity to cease the operation ofits school at the end of thisschool year and lease out thebuilding.

The St. Spyridon communityalso received bad press back inthe fall because of a scandal in-volving its former priest, whichled to his defrocking…but in-creasingly one is tempted toqualify this statement with theconcession that… at least he did-n’t shut down the school!

Setting aside the titillatingheadlines, there should at somepoint be a debate about whichof the two actions was moreharmful to the community as awhole.

Of course, the aforemen-tioned parish was not the first tosuccumb to the temptation ofeasy money over the difficult, buthonorable labor of maintaininga school. It was preceded by twoparishes in Queens and one inBrooklyn. What makes this du-bious distinction particularly ig-nominious is not so much thattheir business plan was loss-mak-ing and supposedly untenable,but what they have (or betteryet, have not) done since then.Rather than recalibrate and tryto reopen their schools under asounder administrative plan orseek out partnerships with otherneighboring Greek parochialschools, they instead opted to al-ter the mission and use of theirschool building and exploit itsimply to collect rent – as if thiscould have ever been the initialpurpose/inspiration of the build-ing’s founders.

There was yet another schoolin Brooklyn that closed downprior to any of the others, but ithad the foresight to successfullymorph into a Hellenic charterschool. Ideally, the latter’s ad-ministrators should be planningto launch similar initiatives inthe other vacant buildings, likethe ones mentioned above.

This newfound practice ofsuddenly throwing in the toweland closing up shop has set anegative precedent and disturb-ing trend in the Archdiocesanparish communities. Although itwould be interesting to also hearthe legal arguments regardingthe uses and (mis)uses of prop-erties that were built – by enlarge through donations – toserve a specific mission, there arecertainly ethical arguments thatcan be made. People who do-nated various sums of money toconstruct these building did soin good faith that the buildingwould continuously serve as aschool for the propagation of theGreek language and culture, andthe Orthodox faith.

Had fundraisers included anasterisk stating that the buildings

could at some timein the future berented elsewhere toentities teachingthings that mayvery well be in di-rect conflict withthe founding beliefsof the school, themonies collectedwould most likelyhave been sizablysmaller. After all,the same argumentcould be made forchurch buildings. Itwould be interest-

ing to note the Archdiocese’s re-action if a small parish suddenlydecided to cease the operationof its parish and rent it out as abusiness property, while spend-ing the revenue wherever theypleased.

And yet, a parish school is inmany ways the extension of thechurch. At the very least, it rep-resents a dynamic ministry serv-ing Orthodox students and rig-orous missionary work fornon-Orthodox students. Everyclassroom is adorned with a holyicon, in addition to the presenceof a Greek flag. Thanks toschools like this, Hellenism/Ro-manity in America becomes im-plicitly intertwined with knowl-edge and learning, and not justsouvlakia, loukoumades, andcries of “opa!” Now that theseschools have been shut, whatsymbols will they be replacedby? Instead of icons, studentswill undoubtedly be seeing signsfor transgender restrooms orchildren’s books about same-sexparenting. And while theirpriests may deliver sermons de-nouncing these practices, theirrather hefty salaries are going tobe paid by institutions imple-menting these very same things.

And while this column hasvoiced criticism over such plainlymaterialistic administrative de-cisions by parish leaders andchurch hierarchy, the respectiveshare of the blame (although cer-tainly not the majority, however)must also be placed on teachers’associations and other public or-ganizations if they don’t speakup. Rather than playing theperennial role of the victim,teachers and school administra-tors need to bring this issue tolight and present proposals forviable solutions. Otherwise, theirsilence may well be (mis)takenfor complicity. For all the lip ser-vice and countless gallons of inkdedicated to Hellenic Paideia, tonot speak while a small minorityunilaterally closes down schoolsthat were built and sustained byso many persons is truly inexcus-able.

At the very least, the inter-ested teachers’ organizationsshould try and formulate a pro-posal ahead of the Clergy-LaityCongress this July. A logical start-ing point would be to request thelevying of a “luxury tax” of atleast 50 percent on the parishcommunities that have seenwindfall profits as a direct resultof school closures. These moniescould then be redistributedamong the communities thatcontinue to operate day schoolsso as to lower tuition costs andboost the operational budget.This way, the temptation to shutdown a school will become lesstempting because the revenuewill no longer be unchecked,while the buildings being leasedcan still serve the vision of theirfounders on some level.

Based on the minimal atten-tion that’s been given to GreekEducation at previous Con-gresses, this might seem likewishful thinking, but if even onelarge community adopts it, thelong overdue public debateabout the future of Greek Edu-cation in America can at leastcommence.

Follow me on Twitter@CTripoulas

A Proposal for Clergy-Laity:More Schools, Less Prisons

by ChristopherTRIPOULAS

Special to The National Herald

Pay heed to the famous Mark Twain quote: “Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail.”

NHS sponsors the Hellenic Heritage program, whereby it sends 50 exceptional Greek-Americancollege students to share their shared cultural roots with DEREE students.

NHS

14 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JUNE 4-10, 2016