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The National Herald A WeekLY GReek-AMeRicAN PUbLicATiON May 10-16, 2014 www.thenationalherald.com VOL. 17, ISSUE 865 $1.50 c v Bringing the news to generations of Greek-Americans O C V ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915 NEWS TNH Staff NEW YORK – Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, welcomed guests at the Edge- wood Gallery on May 1 for a celebration of the university’s relationship with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Andreas Dracopoulos, SNF co-President, noted that the event, which formally recog- nized the Foundation’s $5 mil- lion donation in February, 2014, was a “new and important chap- ter in the relationship between our Foundation and Yale Uni- versity.” According to Yale, “A second gift of $900,000 will supple- ment three existing endow- ments for the school that were created by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in 2010; to establish an artist’s residency; fund schol- arships for international stu- dents; and create a dean’s re- source fund.” Dracopoulos also noted that the occasion was an opportunity to “reflect upon and recognize what has been a long and very productive relationship between our two institutions.” During the past decade SNF’ contributions to Yale total nearly $14 million. The 2014 grant creates a per- manent, unrestricted endow- ment that will support core pri- orities of the Yale School of Art, while naming in perpetuity the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Dean. During his brief remarks Dra- copoulos noted that “we are very proud of the fact that our support helped establish the SNF Center for Hellenic Studies at Yale, one of the premier cen- ters for the study of Modern Greek Culture in North Amer- ica.” He added that “it is impor- tant to recognize and thank pro- fessors John Geanakoplos, Stathis Kalyvas and George Syrimis for their important con- tributions,” to the Center. Among the guests represent- ing the Greek-American com- munity were Antonis H. Dia- mataris, publisher of The National Herald, and Antonis Argyrides. SNF has also supported the Yale Center for the Study of For subscription: 718.784.5255 [email protected] By Constantine S. Sirigos TNH Staff Writer BOSTON, MA – Retired U.S. Ambassador Monteagle Stearns was recently made a Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix by the President of Greece. He is the first American Ambassador to receive the award, which is given to both Greeks and non-Greeks “who have increased understanding and appreciation of Greece and its culture throughout their ca- reers.” In a touching ceremony at his home, he received the medals and documents from Iphigenia Kanara, the Consul General of Greece in Boston, in the presence of his wife, Anto- nia, and two of his four chil- dren, Christopher and Jonathan, who happened to be visiting at the time. Amb. Stearns served three times in Greece between 1958 and 1985, telling The National Herald that he declined an as- signment during the rule of the colonels. He brought unique personal and professional qualifications to his tenure as ambassador from 1981-85, a challenging pe- riod in U.S.-Greece relations en- compassing the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the premier- ship of Andreas Papandreou. His wife was the daughter of a previous U.S. Ambassador to Greece, James Riddleberger, and he knew Papandreou per- sonally, whom he met in 1959 when the latter was in Greece on fellowships. “We lived on the By Constantinos E. Scaros If chasing Maria Menounos is your task, you had better lace up your running shoes and be prepared for a long run. Because the Greek-American journalist, actress, television hostess, pro- fessional wrestler, celebrity dance contestant, and philan- thropist, whose early years were spent working as a janitor at Dunkin’ Donuts, does so much and at such a frenzied pace – but seemingly without even a hair out of place – that it’s hard to imagine that at 35 she has al- ready accomplished what might take the average person two or three entire lifetimes. We managed to catch up – barely – to the star of Chasing Maria Menounos, a new reality TV series on the Oxygen Chan- nel about her life on the go, cen- tered around her home, with her boyfriend of 15 years Keven Undergaro and…her parents! MARIA THE MULTITASKER “I get that from my dad,” Me- nounos told TNH, about how she seems to be doing just about everything. With a career cen- tered primarily in television, Menounos can add “author” to her list of accomplishments. “My latest book The EveryGirl’s Guide to Diet and Fitness comes out June 3 (she also wrote The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life [2010].) It’s available for pre- order now on amazon and chronicles my 40 lbs. weight- loss journey. It’s for the everyday woman who lacks time, money, and willpower. I will help you get there!” And it doesn’t seem that she’s going to slow down anytime soon, said Menounos, who also hosts the TV show Ex- tra. She loves life, learning, and experiencing. “SETTLE DOWN, MARIA!” A description of the show in- dicates that Menounos is at a crossroad in her life, and we soon learn what that is: whether or not to have a baby now as opposed to later. But first things first. Her very Greek parents, Costas and Litsa – both Peloponnesians, who hail from Akovos and Kalamata, re- spectively – ask that same ques- tion that generations of Greek- American sons and daughters Chasing Maria Menounos: You Must Be Quick! Visitors to the Acropolis Museum look at the Caryatids, carved around 420 BC. Each statue is undergoing a seven-month clean- ing operation. Conservator Costas Vassiliadis uses a laser to clean them. “The laser beam hits the black crust formed on the surface of the statues over the years, and that absorbs en- ergy and disintegrates,” said Vassiliadis, who heads the team. Work began in 2011, and is expected to be finished in June. One sister remains in the British Museum. Boston College Alumni Network Hosts FBI’s George Venizelos George Venizelos, the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge-NY Field Office, was the featured speaker of a joint reception held by the Boston College Hellenic Alumni Network (HAN) and the B.C. Law Enforcement Alumni Network on May 7. (L-R) Bob Sherwood, retired Dean at B.C., John Griffin, NYPD, George Venizelos, Drake Behrakis, who spearheaded the HAN and Joseph Coutlis, who or- ganized the event. Venizelos spoke about the rewards and challenges of working for the FBI. Yale University Professes Niarchos Foundation Link By Theodore Kalmoukos NEW YORK – Theodore P. Kusu- las was appointed new principal of the School of the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral of New York, replacing Sonia Celestin. He will begin on June 15. Kusulas has four decades of experience and many accom- plishments as a dedicated edu- cator and administrator in both private and public schools, with students K-12, in the New York Metropolitan Area. Kusulas’ cur- rent post is District Administra- tor for the Monticello Central School District, where he con- sults. He was previously the Di- rector of English Language Arts, Social Studies & Library Educa- tion, K-12, in Monticello; and, Associate Superintendent for El- ementary Education in the Clarkstown Central School Dis- trict (New City, NY). His career started as a social studies teacher at the St. Demetrios School in Astoria, where he was employed for 12 years. Kusulas earned a bachelor of arts in history from Wagner Col- lege, a professional diploma in school administration and su- pervision from Hunter College, and a master of arts in American studies from the University of Connecticut. The Cathedral’s an- nouncement letter notes that “He currently resides in White- stone with his wife Angela (Ger- manakos), a former principal of the Greek American Institute (Bronx, NY); their son, Matthew is a physician completing a Fel- lowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Philadelphia.” In an interview with TNH, Kusulas said “first of all I feel very humbled by the entire process and I feel like I am blessed and I am ready to serve the community that nurtured me initially forty years ago I started at St. Demetrios in As- toria as a novice teacher and now I am coming back home and I am able to give back to my community. I am very en- thusiastic about that and I am very humbled by the way I have been received by the Board, the students and the teachers. “Last June I retired from New York’s public school system and I was asked this past year to be a consultant back at the school district, and I continued to travel. Then I saw the ad and I said this is going to be a won- Kusulas, New Principal of Cathedral, Talks to TNH By Constantine S. Sirigos TNH Staff Writer NEW YORK – The Greek Cul- tural Center based in Astoria, also known by its Greek acronym KEP, celebrated its 40th anniversary with a thrilling concert dedicated to Mikis Theodorakis at the Assembly Hall of Hunter College on Man- hattan’s Upper East Side on May 3. The audience greeted the musicians, all dressed in black, with warm applause as they walked onstage, and after one thrilling rendition of Theodor- akis favorites after another, their night ended with a thunderous ovation, a tribute both to their performances and the commu- nity’s thirst for memories of bet- ter days for Greece, past and fu- ture. After 40 pieces, the audience, which approached 1500 people, was on its feet for the encore, “Tis Dikeosinis Ilie Noite - Son of Justice.” And they wanted more. The concert began with bouzouki rifts and pounding on drums for “Kratisa ti Zwi Mou,” followed by the choir singing “Arnieme.” The guest vocalists entered last and Nikos Kouroupakis, Anna Linardou, Vasilis Lekkas, Giota Negka, and Gerasimos An- dreatos each took a turn singing parts of Theodorakis’ point poignat songs, backed up by the other four. Lekkas then sang “Oi Dromoi tou Archangelou,” and then Linardou was left alone onstage to sing “Nichta Magikia.” Andreatos’ first song was “Braxo Braxo” and the first of many opportunities for the au- dience to clap along came with Kouroupakis singing “Mana Mou kai Panagia,” with the poignant lyrics – You were the morning sun and the evening moon...my mother is crying at your grave; the Virgin Mary is Crying too.” Negka followed with Xathika, with its sad lyrics and music, with Myrtia, with music that fuels hope – some of the most upbeat in the Greek reper- toire – but lyrics that breathe hopelessness. Costas Baltazanis was the music director and he played guitar. The orchestra included Panagiotes Andreou on base, Kostas Psaros and Christos Pa- padopoulos on bouzouki, Yorgos Maniatis on drums, George KEP’s 40th a Tribute to Theodorakis TNH Staff BROOKLYN – No matter how brilliant the performers and spectacular the productions, modern music and dance lives and dies, especially in America, by the energy, passion, and imagination of its presenters. On May 6 Yorgos Loukos, the artistic director of the Lyon Opera Ballet, a leading force in contemporary dance, was the featured speaker in a discussion about dance at the Hilman Stu- dio of the Brooklyn Academy of Music co-presented by BAM and the Onassis Cultural Center NY. According to the program, under Loukos’ direction the Lyon Opera Ballet “has wel- comed an incredible diversity of choreographers.” He has forged strong ties with international lovers of dance, including the United States . Loukos began dancing in 1972 with the Theatre du Si- lence. He experienced the thrilling period of political and artistic upheaval of late 1960s Paris, but his outside-the-box thinking was also stimulated by studies in Architecture in the University of Paris and philoso- phy at the University of Aix-en- Provence. During his onstage discus- sion with Jennifer Homans, a dancer and dance critic, he won- dered out loud about the roots of his relationship with artists and audiences in America, re- ferring to developing his English as a boy speaking with Ameri- cans in the Athens suburb of Glyfada. Homans and Loukas dis- cussed the history and develop- ment of modern dance, which the audience followed up during Q&A with questions about its Ballet Guru Loukos Talks at Brooklyn Music Acad. Stearns 1st US Amb. Greece Has Made a “Grand Commander” Monteagle Stearns was the U.S. Ambassador to Greece from 1981 to 1985. Modern Technology in the Service of Ancient Maidens at the Acropolis Museum Continued on page 11 Continued on page 8 Continued on page 8 Continued on page 8 Continued on page 10 Continued on page 7 AP PhOTO/ThANASSiS STAVRAkiS
Transcript of The National Herald - American Hellenic Educational ...ahepa.org/uploads/pdf/NTH Week_May 12.pdfThe...
The National HeraldA weekly Greek-AmericAn PublicAtion
May 10-16, 2014
www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 17, ISSUE 865 $1.50
c v
Bringing the newsto generations ofGreek-Americans
o C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915NEW
S
TNH Staff
NEW YORK – Robert Storr,Dean of the Yale School of Art,welcomed guests at the Edge-wood Gallery on May 1 for acelebration of the university’srelationship with the StavrosNiarchos Foundation.
Andreas Dracopoulos, SNFco-President, noted that theevent, which formally recog-nized the Foundation’s $5 mil-lion donation in February, 2014,was a “new and important chap-ter in the relationship betweenour Foundation and Yale Uni-versity.”
According to Yale, “A secondgift of $900,000 will supple-ment three existing endow-ments for the school that werecreated by the Stavros NiarchosFoundation in 2010; to establishan artist’s residency; fund schol-arships for international stu-dents; and create a dean’s re-source fund.”
Dracopoulos also noted that
the occasion was an opportunityto “reflect upon and recognizewhat has been a long and veryproductive relationship betweenour two institutions.”
During the past decade SNF’contributions to Yale total nearly$14 million.
The 2014 grant creates a per-manent, unrestricted endow-ment that will support core pri-orities of the Yale School of Art,while naming in perpetuity theStavros Niarchos FoundationDean.
During his brief remarks Dra-copoulos noted that “we arevery proud of the fact that oursupport helped establish theSNF Center for Hellenic Studiesat Yale, one of the premier cen-ters for the study of ModernGreek Culture in North Amer-ica.” He added that “it is impor-tant to recognize and thank pro-fessors John Geanakoplos,Stathis Kalyvas and GeorgeSyrimis for their important con-tributions,” to the Center.
Among the guests represent-ing the Greek-American com-munity were Antonis H. Dia-mataris, publisher of TheNational Herald, and AntonisArgyrides.
SNF has also supported theYale Center for the Study of
For subscription:
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
BOSTON, MA – Retired U.S.Ambassador Monteagle Stearnswas recently made a GrandCommander of the Order of thePhoenix by the President ofGreece. He is the first AmericanAmbassador to receive theaward, which is given to bothGreeks and non-Greeks “whohave increased understandingand appreciation of Greece andits culture throughout their ca-reers.”
In a touching ceremony athis home, he received themedals and documents fromIphigenia Kanara, the ConsulGeneral of Greece in Boston, inthe presence of his wife, Anto-nia, and two of his four chil-dren, Christopher and Jonathan,who happened to be visiting atthe time.
Amb. Stearns served threetimes in Greece between 1958and 1985, telling The NationalHerald that he declined an as-signment during the rule of thecolonels.
He brought unique personaland professional qualificationsto his tenure as ambassadorfrom 1981-85, a challenging pe-riod in U.S.-Greece relations en-compassing the presidency of
Ronald Reagan and the premier-ship of Andreas Papandreou.
His wife was the daughter ofa previous U.S. Ambassador toGreece, James Riddleberger,and he knew Papandreou per-sonally, whom he met in 1959when the latter was in Greeceon fellowships. “We lived on the
By Constantinos E. Scaros
If chasing Maria Menounosis your task, you had better laceup your running shoes and beprepared for a long run. Becausethe Greek-American journalist,actress, television hostess, pro-fessional wrestler, celebritydance contestant, and philan-thropist, whose early years werespent working as a janitor atDunkin’ Donuts, does so muchand at such a frenzied pace –but seemingly without even ahair out of place – that it’s hardto imagine that at 35 she has al-
ready accomplished what mighttake the average person two orthree entire lifetimes.
We managed to catch up –barely – to the star of ChasingMaria Menounos, a new realityTV series on the Oxygen Chan-nel about her life on the go, cen-tered around her home, withher boyfriend of 15 years KevenUndergaro and…her parents!MARIA THE MULTITASKER
“I get that from my dad,” Me-nounos told TNH, about howshe seems to be doing just abouteverything. With a career cen-tered primarily in television,
Menounos can add “author” toher list of accomplishments. “Mylatest book The EveryGirl’sGuide to Diet and Fitness comesout June 3 (she also wrote TheEveryGirl’s Guide to Life[2010].) It’s available for pre-order now on amazon andchronicles my 40 lbs. weight-loss journey. It’s for the everydaywoman who lacks time, money,and willpower. I will help youget there!” And it doesn’t seemthat she’s going to slow downanytime soon, said Menounos,who also hosts the TV show Ex-tra. She loves life, learning, and
experiencing.“SETTLE DOWN, MARIA!”A description of the show in-
dicates that Menounos is at acrossroad in her life, and wesoon learn what that is: whetheror not to have a baby now asopposed to later.
But first things first. Her veryGreek parents, Costas and Litsa– both Peloponnesians, who hailfrom Akovos and Kalamata, re-spectively – ask that same ques-tion that generations of Greek-American sons and daughters
Chasing Maria Menounos: You Must Be Quick!
Visitors to the Acropolis Museum look at the Caryatids, carvedaround 420 BC. Each statue is undergoing a seven-month clean-ing operation. Conservator Costas Vassiliadis uses a laser toclean them. “The laser beam hits the black crust formed on
the surface of the statues over the years, and that absorbs en-ergy and disintegrates,” said Vassiliadis, who heads the team.Work began in 2011, and is expected to be finished in June.One sister remains in the British Museum.
Boston College Alumni Network Hosts FBI’s George VenizelosGeorge Venizelos, the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge-NY Field Office, was the featured speakerof a joint reception held by the Boston College Hellenic Alumni Network (HAN) and the B.C. LawEnforcement Alumni Network on May 7. (L-R) Bob Sherwood, retired Dean at B.C., John Griffin,NYPD, George Venizelos, Drake Behrakis, who spearheaded the HAN and Joseph Coutlis, who or-ganized the event. Venizelos spoke about the rewards and challenges of working for the FBI.
Yale University ProfessesNiarchos Foundation Link
By Theodore Kalmoukos
NEW YORK – Theodore P. Kusu-las was appointed new principalof the School of the Holy TrinityArchdiocesan Cathedral of NewYork, replacing Sonia Celestin.He will begin on June 15.
Kusulas has four decades ofexperience and many accom-plishments as a dedicated edu-cator and administrator in bothprivate and public schools, withstudents K-12, in the New YorkMetropolitan Area. Kusulas’ cur-rent post is District Administra-tor for the Monticello CentralSchool District, where he con-sults. He was previously the Di-rector of English Language Arts,Social Studies & Library Educa-tion, K-12, in Monticello; and,Associate Superintendent for El-ementary Education in theClarkstown Central School Dis-trict (New City, NY). His careerstarted as a social studiesteacher at the St. DemetriosSchool in Astoria, where he wasemployed for 12 years.
Kusulas earned a bachelor ofarts in history from Wagner Col-lege, a professional diploma inschool administration and su-pervision from Hunter College,and a master of arts in American
studies from the University ofConnecticut. The Cathedral’s an-nouncement letter notes that“He currently resides in White-stone with his wife Angela (Ger-manakos), a former principal ofthe Greek American Institute(Bronx, NY); their son, Matthewis a physician completing a Fel-lowship in Pediatric EmergencyMedicine in Philadelphia.”
In an interview with TNH,Kusulas said “first of all I feelvery humbled by the entireprocess and I feel like I amblessed and I am ready to servethe community that nurturedme initially forty years ago Istarted at St. Demetrios in As-toria as a novice teacher andnow I am coming back homeand I am able to give back tomy community. I am very en-thusiastic about that and I amvery humbled by the way I havebeen received by the Board, thestudents and the teachers.
“Last June I retired from NewYork’s public school system andI was asked this past year to bea consultant back at the schooldistrict, and I continued totravel. Then I saw the ad and Isaid this is going to be a won-
Kusulas, New Principal ofCathedral, Talks to TNH
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – The Greek Cul-tural Center based in Astoria,also known by its Greekacronym KEP, celebrated its40th anniversary with a thrillingconcert dedicated to MikisTheodorakis at the AssemblyHall of Hunter College on Man-hattan’s Upper East Side on May3.
The audience greeted themusicians, all dressed in black,with warm applause as theywalked onstage, and after onethrilling rendition of Theodor-akis favorites after another, theirnight ended with a thunderousovation, a tribute both to theirperformances and the commu-nity’s thirst for memories of bet-ter days for Greece, past and fu-ture.
After 40 pieces, the audience,which approached 1500 people,was on its feet for the encore,“Tis Dikeosinis Ilie Noite - Sonof Justice.”
And they wanted more. The concert began with
bouzouki rifts and pounding ondrums for “Kratisa ti Zwi Mou,”followed by the choir singing“Arnieme.”
The guest vocalists enteredlast and Nikos Kouroupakis,Anna Linardou, Vasilis Lekkas,Giota Negka, and Gerasimos An-dreatos each took a turn singingparts of Theodorakis’ pointpoignat songs, backed up by theother four.
Lekkas then sang “Oi Dromoitou Archangelou,” and thenLinardou was left alone onstageto sing “Nichta Magikia.”
Andreatos’ first song was“Braxo Braxo” and the first of
many opportunities for the au-dience to clap along came withKouroupakis singing “ManaMou kai Panagia,” with thepoignant lyrics – You were themorning sun and the eveningmoon...my mother is crying atyour grave; the Virgin Mary isCrying too.”
Negka followed withXathika, with its sad lyrics andmusic, with Myrtia, with musicthat fuels hope – some of themost upbeat in the Greek reper-toire – but lyrics that breathehopelessness.
Costas Baltazanis was themusic director and he playedguitar. The orchestra includedPanagiotes Andreou on base,Kostas Psaros and Christos Pa-padopoulos on bouzouki, YorgosManiatis on drums, George
KEP’s 40th a Tribute to Theodorakis
TNH Staff
BROOKLYN – No matter howbrilliant the performers andspectacular the productions,modern music and dance livesand dies, especially in America,by the energy, passion, andimagination of its presenters.
On May 6 Yorgos Loukos, theartistic director of the LyonOpera Ballet, a leading force incontemporary dance, was thefeatured speaker in a discussionabout dance at the Hilman Stu-dio of the Brooklyn Academy ofMusic co-presented by BAM andthe Onassis Cultural Center NY.
According to the program,under Loukos’ direction theLyon Opera Ballet “has wel-comed an incredible diversity ofchoreographers.” He has forgedstrong ties with internationallovers of dance, including theUnited States .
Loukos began dancing in1972 with the Theatre du Si-lence. He experienced thethrilling period of political andartistic upheaval of late 1960sParis, but his outside-the-boxthinking was also stimulated bystudies in Architecture in theUniversity of Paris and philoso-phy at the University of Aix-en-Provence.
During his onstage discus-sion with Jennifer Homans, adancer and dance critic, he won-dered out loud about the rootsof his relationship with artistsand audiences in America, re-ferring to developing his Englishas a boy speaking with Ameri-cans in the Athens suburb ofGlyfada.
Homans and Loukas dis-cussed the history and develop-ment of modern dance, whichthe audience followed up duringQ&A with questions about its
Ballet GuruLoukos Talksat BrooklynMusic Acad.
Stearns 1st US Amb.Greece Has Made a“Grand Commander”
Monteagle Stearns was theU.S. Ambassador to Greecefrom 1981 to 1985.
Modern Technology in the Service of Ancient Maidens at the Acropolis Museum
Continued on page 11
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Continued on page 7
AP Photo/thAnAssis stAvrAkis
By Anthe Mitrakos
CHICAGO, IL – The PanHellenicScholarship Foundation will onceagain this year award a quarterof a million dollars in merit andneed-based grants to Greek-American students pursuing de-grees at universities across theUnited States.
Among the country’s mostnoteworthy Greek-Americanevents, this year’s Gala will beheld on June 14 at the HiltonChicago. As the largest privateinstitution providing significantmonetary awards to Greek-American college students since2002, the foundation this Junewill reach a milestone in havingawarded a total of 263 studentswith almost two million dollars.
“Education is my passion,”said PanHellenic ScholarshipFoundation Chairman ChrisTomaras. “I founded the PHSFto ensure that deserving studentsof Hellenic heritage will have themeans to complete their educa-tion and pursue their careergoals,” he added.
Honored as the 2014 Para-digm Award recipient for his ac-complishments as a Greek-Amer-ican will be Fidelity Investments’Executive VP & Chief MarketingOfficer James D. Speros. “This isa towering figure in the world ofmarketing, advertising, and com-munications, and we are happyto present him as a paradeigma,an example for our students toemulate,” Tomaras said. Pasthonorees include Dr. Peter H.Diamandis, CEO of the X PRIZEFoundation, John Calamos Sr.,president and CEO of CalamosInvestments, Senator Paul Sar-banes, and Academy Award-win-ning writer and director Alexan-der Payne.
Emcee for the evening will bePete Zervakis, past PanHellenicScholarship recipient and currentmultimedia journalist for theABC affiliate WKOW TV in Madi-son, WI. As customary, musicalentertainment will complementthe event. This year’s show willfeature energetic tunes by BabisTsertos, Eftihia Papageorgiou,and the Hellenic 5 Orchestra,while past performers have in-cluded Petros Gaintanos, Glyke-ria, and the Chris Sarlas Orches-
tra. A pleasant night of celebra-
tion, dining, and entertainmentawaits students and guests of the2014 PanHellenic ScholarshipFoundation gala, all in the nameof education and keeping strongGreek-American ties. For ChrisTomaras and his group of sup-porters, the greatest sense ofgratification is that students withfinancial needs are assisted withtuition in completing their stud-ies.
“Without our encouragementand support, some [students]would have probably discontin-ued their academic pursuits,”said PHSF Vice Chairman RobertA. Buhler. In future years, thefoundation will continue itscourse with offering merit andneed-based scholarships whileexpanding its current HellenicBirthright and Mentoring pro-grams. “Our plans include ca-reer-building opportunities andcultural immersion programs,”he added.
Running an organization ofsuch caliber comes with height-ened responsibilities, and withhis leadership and dedication,Tomaras has been able to accom-plish the necessary goals in se-curing financial support forGreek-American students. Oneof the greatest challenges faced,
he noted, is the pressure to keepup with the community’s grow-ing need for support as applica-tions from a number of deservingstudents pour in annually.
“Our biggest challenges havebeen the large volume of appli-cants and our inability to helpmore students than we could attimes, as we relied mostly on ourown (not adequate) finances,”Tomaras stated. “However, weconsider it an achievement tohave been recognized by thecommunity for the significanceof our cause, thus earning theirtrust and now receive their par-ticipation with some financialsupport so that, together withour own funds, we can achievehigher goals,” he added.
Tickets to the 2014 PanHel-lenic Scholarship Foundationgala at the Hilton Chicago are$250 per person. Tables of 10are also available. A $10,000grand prize raffle, including$5,000 and $1,000 prizes, willtake place that night, and pro-ceeds will benefit the founda-tion’s scholarships and educa-tional programs. To join thePanHellenic Scholarship Founda-tion in celebrating the achieve-ments of the 2014 PanHellenicAward recipients, contact 312-357-6432, or visit www.panhel-lenicscholarships.org.
PanHellenic Scholarship Foundationto Award a Quarter Million at Gala
The PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation by June will haveawarded almost $2 million in academic grants to undergradu-ate students. Pictured are Chairman Chris P. Tomaras withpast award recipient Lydia Souroufis.
n THRU NOV 1TARPON SPRINGS, FL – Night inthe Islands returns to the world-famous Sponge Docks of TarponSprings for 2014! Saturdays, 6-11PM, May 3, Jun. 7, Jul. 12,Aug. 2, Sept. 6, Oct. 4, and Nov.1. A free event of Greek music,dancing, and dining! And we willoffer an hour of free Greek dancelessons by the Levendia DanceTroupe from 6-7 PM. The festivalis supported in part by a grantfrom the National Endowmentfor the Arts. Come join us!
n MAY 9-24ASTORIA – The Ophelia TheatreGroup will present “RockabyeHamlet,” a rock opera by CliffJones, directed by Pep Speed.This legendary re-imagining ofHamlet has been revised and up-dated for the 21st Century. Filledwith memorable rock groovesand a heart as big as its hair,Rockabye Hamlet is a cult andcritical mega-hit not to be missed.The show is at 8PM on Fridays,Saturdays and Sundays fromMay 9 to May 24 at the BroccoliTheater at 21-12 30th Road inAstoria. Admission is $18. Fortickets visit: opheliatheatre.com
n MAY 15-18NORFOLK, VA – The Greek Fes-tival, is an annual event held un-der one of Hampton Roads'biggest tents on the grounds ofthe Annunciation Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral, 7220 Gramby St.in Norfolk, VA. The 2014 GreekFestival begins Thursday, May 15and will run through Sunday,May 18. Bring your family andfriends and have a “Greek-Time”!Phone: (757) 440-0500. Norfolk-greekfestival.com.
n MAY 16MANHATTAN – The HellenicUniversity Club of New York in-vites you to its Spring Celebrationto Benefit The Cyprus Children’sFund on Friday, May 16 6-10PMat The Cyprus House Consul-General of the Republic of Cyprus13 East 40th Str. (Between Madi-son & 5th Aves) in Manhattan.Buffet Dinner by Zenon Taverna.Admission: 2014 HUC Members:$30, Friends and Guests: $40.Reservations Required. Pleasemake reservations on or beforeMonday, May 12. Call: Paul Sa-pounakis: (718) 884-9224 oremail: [email protected].
n MAY 16-18LITTLE ROCK, AR – The 2014International Greek Food Festival
is looking forward to continuingthe tradition of serving food,friends, and the community! An-nunciation Greek OrthodoxChurch 1100 Napa Valley Drivein Little Rock. This year the Fes-tival is featuring an all new menuitem – the chicken gyro, alongwith our scrumptious medley ofGreek and Mediterranean menufavorites, including baklava, gy-ros, calamari, pastitsio, sourotaand much more. All of thismouthwatering cuisine can beenjoyed at the Festival or pickedup at the drive thru. The Festivalwill again feature our popularOld World Market, offering spe-cialty foods such as falafel, Greekolive oil, hummus, dolmades(stuffed grape leaves), cheesesand the popular Pete’s FamousSalad Dressing that is handmadeand bottled at the parish. Frozendinners to go, pastries, Russiancollectibles, fine jewelry and anarray of imported gift items fromaround the Mediterranean willalso be available in the Market.As in years past, one of the mostwonderful parts of the Interna-tional Greek Food Festival is you,our friends! When you visit theFestival with your family andfriends, a good time is guaran-teed. In addition, you can makenew friends at the Festival by en-joying a wide array of interna-tional entertainment while rev-eling in all of the food & shoppingavailable. You can even learnmore about your neighbors bytaking a tour of the AnnunciationChurch and discover the rich his-tory and tradition of the Ortho-dox Christian faith as well as en-joy the largest collection ofByzantine iconography inArkansas! Our Festival begins onFriday, May 16 from 11AM to9PM, continues on Saturday, May17 from 11AM to 9PM and wrapsup on Sunday, May 18 from11AM to 3PM. Admission, park-ing and trolley service to the In-ternational Greek Food Festivalare Free.Come & Join us! OPA!!!!
n MAY 17MANHATTAN – The Greek Or-
thodox Church of the Annuncia-tion 302 West 91st Street in Man-hattan will host the Greek Her-itage Festival on Saturday, May17 11AM-8PM. Live Greek MusicSinging and Dancing, AuthenticGreek Cuisine, Wonderful GreekDesserts, Children’s Games andActivities, Yiayia’s Attic Tag Saleand more! Join us again this yearto celebrate our faith and heritagewith our entire Upper West SideCommunity. This is going to be afun-filled day with lots of activi-ties for kids and adults. Guestswill enjoy live music, dancing,guided tours of our historic sanc-tuary, and of course... amazingGreek food! (212) 724-2070.
n MAY 31CHICAGO, IL – The Pontian Soci-ety of Chicago and The Asia Mi-nor and Pontos Hellenic ResearchCenter present Dr. Andre Geroly-matos, Director of the StavrosNiarchos Foundation Centre forHellenic Studies at Simon FraserUniversity in Vancouver in a lec-ture titled “Genocide or Massacre:the Politics of Death,” on Satur-day, May 31 at 3PM at the Cul-tural Center of the Hellenic Amer-ican Community of GreaterChicago, 5941 North MilwaukeeAve. in Chicago. Dr. Gerolymatos,a TNH columnist, was educatedin Classics and Modern Historyat McGill University in Montreal.In 1996 he received the HellenicCanadian Congress of BC Chairin Hellenic Studies at SimonFraser University. In addition tohis work in Greek Studies, he spe-cializes in Military and DiplomaticHistory. He has written severalbooks and articles including: Es-pionage and Treason in ClassicalGreece; Guerilla Warfare and Es-pionage in Greece 1940-1944;The Balkan Wars: Conquest, Rev-olution and Retribution from theOttoman Era to the TwentiethCentury and Beyond; Red Acrop-olis, Black Terror: The Greek CivilWar and the Origins of Soviet-American Rivalry 1944-1949;Castles Made of Sand: A Centuryof Anglo-American Espionage andIntervention in the Middle East.
GOINGS ON...GREEKS AROUND THE US
COMMUNITY2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
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COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 5
By Theodore Kalmoukos
BOSTON, MA – ArchimandriteRev. Dr. Cleopas Strongylis,Dean of the Cathedral of Boston,was elected unanimously Met-ropolitan of Sweden and AllScandinavia by the Holy Synodof the Ecumenical Patriarchateon May 5.
TNH has learned that ordi-nation will most likely takeplace on May 21, the Feast Dayof Sts. Constantine and Helen,at the Patriarchate, with Ecu-menical Patriarch Bartholomewpresiding.
Cleopas told TNH that “I amvery grateful to the Lord andalso to His All Holiness Ecu-menical Patriarch Bartholomewand the Holy and Sacred Synodof the Ecumenical Patriarchatefor their trust shown to me, andI will make every effort to beworthy of their expectations.”
He said that his elevation tothe Episcopacy was “unex-pected” and that he was “in-formed on Monday morning af-ter the proceedings of theelection”.
Cleopas expressed his grati-tude to Metropolitan Methodiosfor his longtime support. Hesaid “I am grateful to His Emi-nence Metropolitan Methodiosof Boston who entrusted me thelast five years with the congre-
gation of the Cathedral ofBoston, and I thank him for histrust and love that showed tome all the years that I serve nearhim. I also thank Parish Councilpresident Dr. Marika Arvanitisand the members of the Parish
Council, all the committees, theassociations, of course the entireCathedral family, and the entireGreek-American community ofBoston and of all New England.”
Cleopas also asks communitymembers “to keep me in theirprayers, as I will have them al-ways in my heart and in myprayers.”
Before serving at the Cathe-dral of Boston, Cleopas servedat the Holy Trinity parish inLowell, MA and Transfigurationin Corona. He had also servedas Director of Admissions atHoly Cross Greek OrthodoxSchool of Theology.
Cleopas was born in NeaSmyrni, Athens, in 1966. Hecompleted his junior high schoolstudies in the Evangelical Schoolof Nea Smyrni, and then wasadmitted on scholarship to theRizareios Seminary after suc-cessfully passing the entranceexamination. Between 1984 and1988 he studied at the Theolog-ical School of Athens, under theacademic supervision of the cur-rent archbishop of Albania, HisBeatitude Anastasios Gian-
noulatos. During his secondyear there, he placed top in hisclass, receiving a scholarshipfrom the Institution of State En-dowments. As a licentiate inTheology, he attended the Uni-versity’s two-year graduate pro-gram in the field of canon law.
In 1989, he was ordained adeacon and was sent on schol-arship to Durham University inEngland, and the following yearstudied under the supervision ofthe Rev. Dr. George Dragas.Having received a master of artsdegree in patristic theology, hereturned to Athens where hewas ordained a presbyter in Au-gust 1992, while also being be-stowed the office of Archiman-drite.
That summer, upon the invi-tation of the Rizareios Seminary,he undertook the arrangementof the seminary’s 150-year-oldhistorical archive. In September1992, he came to the UnitedStates to continue his studies atHoly Cross, with a full scholar-ship granted to him by the lateArchbishop Iakovos of Northand South America, under the
academic supervision ofDemetrios, the current arch-bishop of America. While study-ing, Cleopas worked as the per-sonal theological secretary ofMethodios, who was serving asPresident of the school at thetime. He graduated summa cumlaude, with a master’s degree insacred theology.
Immediately thereafter hewas appointed Director of theDepartment of Registry and Ad-junct Professor of Patristics,teaching at the Seminary’s grad-uate school for three years, in-cluding courses on patristic in-terpretation of the Bible, theBook of Psalms, and St. Nectar-ios of Pentapolis.
In 1994, completing tenyears of research and study, hereceived his doctorate from theTheological School of the Aris-totelian University of Thessa-loniki, following examinations,with highest honors, writing onthe subject St. Nectarios and thePatriarchate of Alexandria, un-der the guidance of the Rev. Dr.Theodore Zesis and Metropoli-tan Panteleimon of Tyroloa.
V. Rev. Celopas Strongylis to be Metropolitan of Sweden & All Scandinavia
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Dr. Maria G. Vo-giatzi was honored with thefourth annual MaryKalopothakis Award at the 2014Distinguished Physician/Scien-tist Award Symposium of theHellenic Medical Society of NewYork on April 30 at the EinhornAuditorium of Lenox Hill Hospi-tal.
Mary Kalopothakis was thefirst Greek-American woman topractice medicine in ModernGreece and the Award recog-nizes the contributions of femalephysicians and scientists of Hel-lenic descent.
The guests were welcomedby Dr. Eleni Andreopoulou, As-sociate Professor of Medicine atMontefiore/Albert Einstein Col-lege of Medicine and greetingswere also offered by Dr. StellaLymberis, HMS’s 2nd Vice Presi-dent, who highlighted theprogress made by women inmedicine in recent decades.
“In the past women werebarred from medicine and nowthey are on a par [with men],”a fact she illustrated with thestory of the struggles andachievements of Dr.Kalopathakis, who fled insults inGreece and had to study at Har-vard and in Paris, but who nev-ertheless returned to make greatcontributions to her homeland.
The symposium consisted ofpresentations by Vogiattzi, NitziaLogothetis, Founder and CEO ofthe Seleni Institute, and Pana-giota Andreopoulou.
Lymberis introduced Vogiatzi,who is Chief of Pediatric En-docrinology and an Associate At-tending Physician at New York-
Presbyterian Hospital and Asso-ciate Professor of Clinical Pedi-atrics and Weill-Cornell MedicalCollege.
She gave an overview of themedical, social, and legal issuesrelated to Disorders of SexualDevelopment (DSD), with anemphasis on the difficultiesfaced by families after childbirthand by the children later in life.
The point of Vogiatzi’s lecturewith the provocative title of lec-ture “What makes a girl or a boy;is there room for a third gender,”was to warn against pre-maturedecisions regarding reconstruc-tive surgery in attempts to estab-lish a particular gender identity.
The challenge for parents andphysicians begins with the firstquestion they are asked: “is it aboy or a girl.”
The fact is that for a certainpercentage of births, gender isindeterminate, but the matter iseven more complex becausesome conditions will cause phys-ical changes in the genitalia overtime – as is illustrated in JeffreyEugenides’ book “Middlesex,”while the effect of sex hormoneson the brain can undo emotion-ally the decisions of parents anddoctors about what to do physi-cally.
Vogiatzi emphasized the im-portance of counselling for theparents and for more researchabout both the medical and psy-chological dimensions of the is-sues.
In cases where reconstructivesurgery is an option – to providea baby with either male or fe-male genitalia – the operationstypically take place six monthsafter birth, when gender assign-ment can only be implied. Shesaid gender is not in fact known
until an individual achieves aparticular level of psychologicaldevelopment and self-aware-ness.
The ultimate price for awrong bet by physicians andparents is the subject of thesurgery – Dr. Vogiatzi describedone tragic case that led to sui-cide.
For that reason, countries likeAustralia and Germany have al-ready passed laws permittinggender to be marked as intersexor indeterminate.
One of the reasons for this isto facilitate deferment of recon-structive surgery “but no oneknows yet the impact yet of rais-ing a child as intersex,” she said.
Logothetis, a trained psy-chotherapist with a professionalinterest in maternal mentalhealth, gave an overview of thepioneering Institute she co-founded with her husband NickLogothetis which seeks to trans-form mental health and conceptsof wellness for women. Amongthe health issues the institute ad-
dresses are post-partem depres-sion and depression in general,which Logothetis noted is thesecond leading cause of work-place disability for women.
She emphasized that muchwomen’s suffering “is stillshrouded in silence and stigma.”
Relying on the combined wis-dom and experience of an ex-
traordinary team, and thoughbringing together women whoare struggling alone with theircondition, the Institute is effect-ing a shift in women’s experi-ence “ from feeling different andashamed to feeling normal andsupported.”
The final presentation wasmade by Dr. Panagiota An-dreopoulou, Attending Endocri-nologist in the Department ofMedicine at the Hospital for Spe-cial Surgery and Asst. Prof. ofMedicine at Weill Cornell Med-ical College. She was introducedby the Emcee, Dr. Eleni An-dreopoulou, who praised her sis-ter’s “passion for medicine, in-tellectual curiosity and sense ofmission.”
The topic was “Spotlight onVitamin D” and Andreopoulousummarized the latest researchon the importance of vitamin D,especially for women, includingits impact on osteoporosis andneuromuscular function.
The event concluded withgreetings from Dr. George Li-akeas, the 2nd Vice President,on behalf of HMS PresidentNicholas Mezitis, who was un-able to attend. He emphasizedthe commitment of HMS’s offi-cers to helping the organizationevolve from the “old boys club”some perceive it to be, to a moreinclusive and younger move-ment.
Hellenic Med. Society Honors Maria Vogiatzi with Kalopothakis Award
Metropolitan-elect Cleopas of Sweden, who served as presidingpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral of Boston the last 5 years.
Cyprus-U.S. Chamberof Commerce JobFair Brings Together Seekersand Opportunities
The Cyprus-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AndreasComodromos, Honorary Chair (2nd from R)and The Cyprus Young Professionals, NicoleNeroulias, Pres. (6th from R), in cooperation withthe American Hellenic Institute, the HellenicAmerican Bankers Association, the Hellenic LawyersAssociation, and Hellenic Organizations of UniversityGraduates of America held their Career & InternshipFair at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Job seekers armedwith resumes and enthusiasm discussedopportunities with the representatives ofparticipating companies. Peter Stavrianides, PhD,(4th from R) presented the traditional jobsearch/interviewing tips seminar. The annual eventis coordinated by Despina Axiotakis, the Chamber’sExec. Dir. (5th from R).
(L-R) Dr. Eleni Andreopoulou, Nitzia Logothetis, Dr. Alexander Sotiropoulos, Dr. Stella Lymberis,Dr. Maria Vogiatzi, Dr. Konstandinos Plestis, Dr. George Liakeas and Dr. Panagiota Andreopouloupause for a photo as Dr. Vogiatzi receives the Mary Kalopothakis Award.
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COMMUNITY6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
By Steve FrangosTNH Staff Writer
CHICAGO- No short account canhope to even outline every clash,engagement, or battle of the ex-tended Sponge Wars. For nearlyfifty years, Greek immigrantsponge divers fought American-born fisher folk over the richestsponging grounds on the planet.Spanning literally thousands ofmiles of water, these deadly en-gagements in the waters of Gulfof Mexico and the Caribbeanhave seen retelling in motion pic-tures, regional history and evenfolk songs.
Since this war was never offi-
cially declared, its beginning canbe arbitrarily given as 1905 thedate of the first mass influx ofGreek immigrant divers toFlorida. A clash of vitriolic racialprejudice as much as commercialcompetition the end of the mas-sive sponge trade after WorldWar II can serve as the termina-tion date of these undeclared butquite bloody series of “wars.”
If you have never heard ofthese sponge wars it is not nec-essarily your fault. Lynne S.Brown in Gulfport, her book onthe establishment of Gulfport FL,wrote: “[T]hese so-called ‘wars’represent a series of events, notalways considered importantenough to mention in many his-
tories, but which were in fact acomplex and crucial factor in thefounding of this and other local-ities (Charleston, SC: Arcadia1999).” Not important enoughto mention, for whom?
Prior to the arrival of theGreeks local Floridians hadworked the shallow sponge bedsusing small two-man boats. Asone man rowed and steered theboat, the sponges were locatedby another man looking througha bucket (or wood box) with aglass bottom. Next, taking a 12-foot (or longer) pole with athree-pronged hook at its end,the sponges were pulled from theocean depths. Using this time-honored method, these fisher-men were known as “hookers.”By the mid-1880s, hook boatswere found throughout the Gulfof Mexico, all along the shore-lines of Florida and throughoutthe Caribbean.
In the 1880s, John Cheyney,a Tarpon Springs businessman,hired Greeks to come and workthe Florida waters with their newsponging methods. Using thedeep-sea diving suit, (the"skafandro", as the Greeks calledit) enabled the previously-nakeddivers to gather larger quantitiesof sponges at greater depths (upto 70 meters), as well as the abil-ity to stay down for longer peri-ods than was previously possible.The Greeks employed the newtechnology and could use thehook method when appropriate– working from boats that hadboth engines and sails – and inso doing harvest four times thequantity and often better qualitysponges from deeper waters.
Aside from more advancedtechnology, the newly-arrivedGreeks had no trouble with thelocal African American spongeworkers, often known as “blackhooks,” and soon hired thesemen to work aboard their boatsand in all phases of the spongetrade. For whatever reasons, thelocal native-born White AngloSaxon fisher folk (known as“Conchs” after their habit of eat-ing that delicacy of the sea) con-tinued to hook sponges in theold manner and would not orcould not work with the newly-arrived Greeks. The Greeks alsoworked on their boats and onland in a collective manner thatoffered them a privileged eco-nomic and social base difficultfor random individuals to chal-
lenge.For their part the Conchs con-
tended that the Greeks’ use offifty-pound metal shoes, to keepthem working in the deep-wa-ters, killed the young spongesand so ruined the beds whereever they worked. Beds, in areasof water, the Conchs believed tobe exclusively their own. Whilethe waters of the Gulf of Mexicoand the high seas surroundingFlorida and the Caribbean is-lands are open to all fishermenby international law, the time-honored traditions of local fisherfolk have long trumped any andall such claims.
With these points serving asa rough sketch of existing cir-cumstances the 1914 burningsof the schooners Triton, Ameliaand the Edna Louise are sadlytypical of the protracted spongewars. On May 22, 1914 towarddusk at Key West, FL the Ameliawas dynamited and burned tothe waterline. The Amelia wasthe second Greek boat destroyedthat day. As it was discoveredlater, the Edna Louise, anotherGreek sponge schooner, had al-ready been destroyed earlier thatvery same day.
Harry Bell, owner and captainof the Amelia had pulled into KeyWest and dropped anchor. Hisaccount of events is as follows:“I went ashore with six of mymen. I left four of them with thesmall boat, and went into town.When I returned, I found that500 ‘of the enemy’ were riotingon the dock. They had driven myfour men into a store owned by
a Greek, and were held at baythere by two women armed withrevolvers. Part of the mob wasdestroying our small boat. Iprotested. They got mad andthrew me overboard. They firedtwo shots at me as I swam formy life. One struck me in the leftknee. The sheriff drew his pistol,called for help and carried me tothe county jail for protection.
At 11:30 o’clock that night a
big launch named Key West withtwenty-five men on board, allarmed proceeded to myschooner. They ordered the crewto get out, giving them no timeto take even their clothing. Theythen robbed the schooner ofeverything of value and fired her.A Negro named John Manis wasburned to death on board whenthey explored the dynamite. Therest of the crew was brought
ashore practically naked (FortWayne Sentinel June 15, 1914).”
Captain Michael of the EdnaLouise described the earlierConch attack near the Marquesaskeys: “the men on the launchtook the Louise’s crew by sur-prise, leaping aboard with pistolsdrawn. They robbed the men ofwhat money and other valuablesthey had appropriated some ofthe diving outfits, ruined the re-mainder, then drove the crewover side into the lifeboat (At-lanta Constitution May 27,1914).” The Conchs set the EdnaLouise ablaze.
During the days immediatelyafter these unwarranted attacksa report from Tampa circulatedwhich I have as yet to confirm:“There is a story, here, that athird schooner has been de-stroyed somewhere off GrandCayman.” Reports originatingout of Key West, at the time theAmelia and the Edna Louisawere destroyed, did assert thatthe Conchs “burned the Triton,one of the Greek boats, as awarning” prior to May 22nd.
Much ink was spilled in thenational press, in the days im-mediately following the destruc-tion of these sponge schooners,that that the Greeks wouldgather in large numbers andburn Key West to the ground.Nothing of the sort happened.Captain Bell did press for legalmeasures to be taken against thecriminals but if anything did hap-pen to these individuals it wasnot subsequently reported in thepublic press.
Bill Baggs, longtime colum-nist for the Miami Daily News,in his appraisal of yet another ofthe periodic sponge wars, “Whythe Conchs Declared War” ob-served that “[T]he conflict waslong and bitter – in fact, when[the Hollywood film about thesewars] Beneath the 12-Mile Reefwas shown in Key West in 1954,the audience loudly cheered forthe octopus to kill the [Greek]diver in the underwater fightscene (Miami Daily News July24, 1955).”
Why do Greek-American his-torical accounts continue to ig-nore this long-running series ofconflicts on the open seas? Whenwill the Conchs finally have theircrimes exposed in the pages ofhistory?
Sponge Wars: the 1914 Burnings of the Triton, Amelia, and Edna Louise
By Phylis (Kiki) SembosSpecial to The National Herald
I had an acquaintance I usedto meet up with in the park, Al-fred. He was proud of his an-cestors that, he told me oftenenough, came over on theMayflower. I never told him I’dnever feel pride in that! Theywere religious zealots whokilled the natives to get afoothold on the soil that didn’tbelong to them. They werepoachers and killers, to mymind.
He had a certain swagger, apomposity to him. He’d make acasual remark about someonein the neighborhood who’d beenarrested for drunk driving or akid that got into trouble. He’dsay, ‘It’s all in the breeding,” asubtle reference to his ‘puritanbackground. I told him not topre-judge anyone because, ‘wedon’t know what’s taken him tothat conclusion. “Maybe, an aw-ful life!” He’d wave his hands,“Nah! It’s in his dubious ances-
try.” Anyway, he decided to dohis DNA via a professional lab.It cost $100. I decided to do thesame. He promised to keep meinformed when the results cameback, I promised, too.
Meanwhile, I was thinkingthat had the Greeks come toAmerica before his mob they’dhave fared better with the na-tives. They’d have sharedphilosophies, beads, recipes forGalaktoboureko and, knowingGreek hospitality, would haveincluded the natives at that fa-mous feast, Thanksgiving. “IN-DIANS INVITED. NO BLACK TIEREQUIRED. There wouldn’t beThanksgiving Day, of course.Maybe, Efharistias Emera. Or,Kalos Irthame!
Three weeks later, I saw Al-fred in the park. He was sittingon a bench, looking forlorn, hisdog, ’Butch’ at his side. I satdown and asked, ‘How’s every-thing?” He said, “Alright.” Myfemale intuition told me he’dgotten the results of the DNAand was brooding. Did he find
out he was related to Attila, theHun? “So, Alfred? Did you findout about your illustrious ances-tors?” He bent over to pet his‘mongrel’ dog. I reminded himthat he’d promised to share. Ireceived my DNA, hoping that Iwas related to Aristophanes.(Anyone but Ephialtes – thebum that ratted on the Greeksto the Persians at Marathon thatcost them their lives.) He tookhis time answering me; proba-bly, deciding how much to tellme. “Well “, he began.“I am72.5% from northern Europe.”I smiled. “That’s England, Al-fred. You must be glad. That ver-ifies your Pilgrim origins.” Henodded, again. “Yeah! But, Ihave 20. 2% Scandinavian ori-gins.” I shrugged, “So? There’sa connection there. Nothingwrong with that!” I was tryingto ease his disappointment. Hewasn’t finished. “Yeah! But, Ihave 1.9% southern Europe,too. The little map that camewith it pointed to Italy.” I triednot to laugh. Could he be re-
lated to Guido, Pizza guy downthe block? He shook his head,“How th’ hell did that happen?”Butch, sensing his mood, wastrying to tell him, ‘let’s go home,now’. He turned, “What aboutyours?” Well, here it comes. “I’m75.03% southern Europe –which takes in Greece; 20.7%Middle East and 2.08% some-where in Northern Africa – thelittle map showed whereMesopotamia and Babylon oncewas.” Somehow, Alfred lookedrelieved that, at least, NorthernAfrica wasn’t in his DNA. Hesmiled, “What d’ you thinkabout that?” he asked. I wasn’tgoing to go into a diatribe about
how Northern Africa was popu-lated by highly intelligent peo-ple. I said, “It’s O.K. with me.”He grinned, got up, bade me agood day and left with a newspring in his step. Didn’t heknow that people have been im-migrating over the earth for mil-lions of years? Like playing mu-sical chairs.
I thought that if we all goback far enough we’d all havesome kind of connection. Al-fred’s Italian connection couldhave been Greek. After all, Ro-mans were kidnapping Greeksall the time – to educate theirchildren, serve the Emperor.Think of Archimedes, Aeschylus,
Daedalus, Arethusa, Persephone- they were all Greeks born inwhat is now Sicily, then, calledMega Grecia. Anyway, I may notbe a descendant of Aristophanesbut I’m not Ephialtes’ kin, either.But, we’re all human, all fall inlove, have a bunch of faults, allwant to be happy, want to livein peace and not get fat. Oneafternoon, I saw Alfred whiledoing my two miles in the park.He smilingly greeted me, faith-ful Butch at his side. He didn’tmention those Pilgrim ancestorslike he used to. He seemed morefriendly and, definitely, moretolerant than he used to be, es-pecially, to Guido, the pizza guy.
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CHICAGO, IL – As millions ofpeople throughout the world ob-serve Earth Day, Chicagoans arecertainly doing their part as well.Mariyana Spyropoulos, Commis-sioner of the Metropolitan WaterReclamation District (MWRD)spoke to approximately 200 stu-dents from Chicago’s City Col-leges about the importance ofprotecting drinking water, aswell as how the MWRD investsin sustainability.
"It was refreshing to see somany students engaged in EarthDay activities and genuinelywanting to make a difference,said Commissioner Spyropou-los, according to a MWRD pressrelease. “Each of us can do asmall part that will make a hugeimpact on the planet. At MWRD,every single day is Earth Day.We are continually looking forways to protect the environmentand be good stewards of ournatural resources.”
The MWRD, according to thepress release, “is an award-win-ning special purpose govern-ment agency responsible forwastewater treatment andstormwater management.MWRD's mission is to protectthe health and safety of the pub-lic, the quality of the water sup-ply source (Lake Michigan) andprotect businesses and homesfrom flood damages.”
Spyropoulos’ biography, as itappears on the Public Building
Commission of Chicago’s web-site, follows:
“Mariyana Spyropoulos is acurrent Commissioner at theMetropolitan Water Reclama-tion District of Greater Chicago.She is also an attorney with anMBA. As the only attorney onthe Board, she brings a uniquelegal and business perspectivecombined with her environmen-tal activism. Mariyana is theChair of the Municipality Com-mittee, Budget and Employmentand Monitoring and Research atthe MWRD. She has spoken tomany community groups on theissues of the environment andspecifically water issues.
“Mariyana Spyropoulos is anattorney with the Law Offices ofMariyana Spyropoulos & Asso-ciates which is a general prac-tice. She is a member of the
Chicago Bar Association, IllinoisBar Association, American BarAssociation, Hellenic Bar Asso-ciation, and Women's Bar Asso-ciation.
“Prior to opening her ownlaw office, Mariyana worked asan Assistant Cook County State'sAttorney and then as a HearingOfficer for the State of Illinois.
“Before law school, Mariyanalived in London, England whereshe worked at Nomura ResearchInstitute. “Her work focused onprivatization efforts in EasternEuropean countries.
“Mariyana received her lawdegree from The John MarshallLaw School and her MBA fromLoyola University Chicago. Shealso completed graduate workin American government atGeorgetown University, Wash-ington, D.C.
Mariyana Spyropoulos Protects Water
Mariyana Spyropoulos, Commissioner of the Metropolitan WaterReclamation District, protects water, promotes sustainability.
A boat filled with freshly-caught sponges on the world famousdocks of the Sponge Capital of the World, Tarpon Springs, FL.
Sponge Wars 3: The MiamiDaily News reported thatwhen the film Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was shown in KeyWest, FL in 1954, the audi-ence cheered for the octopusto kill the Greek sponge diver.
A beautifully-decorated storefront in Tarpon Springs, where tourists visit year round and buynatural sea sponges from Florida’s Gulf Coast.
same street in Psychiko and webecame friends.”
Asked to respond to criticismthat Papandreou took advantageof his friendship, and was ableto take American support forgranted, he said in no uncertainterms that,
“Our vital concern was tokeep American facilities func-tioning and we succeeded inthat.” He pointed out that SoudaBay in Crete continues to be avery important NATO base.
“The fact that we knew eachother before made our personalcontact easier. He was quite ac-cessible when I needed to talkto him. “
After the fall of the junta heserved 1974-76, a difficult pe-riod because the general feelingin Greece was that the U.S. hadbeen far too acquiescent in deal-ing with the colonels,” he said,and noted that the perceptionwas strengthened by the visit ofVice President Spiro Agnew.
Asked whether Agnew’s visitprovoked debate in the StateDepartment, he reminded thathe was then in East Asia, “butknowing how foreign policy isformulated in the United StatesI would be surprised if there hadmet been discussion and disputeover that.”
GREEK-AMERICAN DIVI-SION A BOON TO JUNTA
Told that Greek-Americansstill argue over whether astronger community standagainst the junta might havemade a difference under Presi-dents Johnson and Nixon, hereplied, “I think pressure wouldhave been helpful, and the factthat the Greek community in theU.S. was itself split, with someconservative Greeks favoringmilitary rule, certainly relaxedpressure that would otherwisehave existed.”
The Ambassador’s distin-guished foreign service careerwas an accident. In his youth hewas a documentary film makerand signed on with the State De-partment as a motion picture of-ficer.
His first assignment wasTurkey, where his work at-tracted the attention of the U.S,ambassador, who convincedStearns to take the Foreign Ser-vice exam around 1953.
Stearns traveled all overTurkey during what he calledthe honeymoon period in U.S.-Turkish relations after Ankara’sneutrality in WWII.
The opportunity to visit East-ern Asia Minor taught him that“life in Turkey was very differentfrom what was being discussedat embassy staff meetings...theroots of Kemalism might not beas deep as we supposed…wetended to simplify,” he said, andagreed the still-deep roots of Is-
lam we not properly appreci-ated.
He noted “that turned out tobe true and probably explainsthe success of Erdogan.”
Stearns emphasized thatwhat appears to be the case af-ter recent elections, despite thetumult amid reports of corrup-tion of the past year, is that “Er-dogan continues to enjoy a greatdeal of popular support. Onecan hope he does not overplayhis hand by continuing to makewhat seem to be arbitrary deci-sions.”
Asked if he agrees Greeksshould not pray to hard for Er-dogan to disappear, whether theTurkish leader sincerely wants
to maintain good relations withGreece and may even be a bul-wark against forces that mightwant to take advantage ofGreece and Cyprus’s currentweaknesses,” he said, “Ab-solutely. You never know whatmight come afterwards,” and hegave the Arab Spring as an ex-ample.
Given the fizzling of dreamsfor greater Turkish influence inthe Middle East, Stearns agreesthat Erdogan now has an oppor-tunity to mend fences with theEU and US. “He is by no meansanti-Western in temperament,”he said, and noted that all ofthe Turkish leader’s childrenhave been educated in the
United States. Stearns has met Erdogan’s
son when he was studying atHarvard and called him “a veryrational young man, very con-versant with the history of theWestern world. We just have tosee what Erdogan does now thatthe election is behind him.”
The Ambassador distilled hisknowledge of the EasternMediterranean into his 1992book, Entangled Allies: US Pol-icy Toward Greece, Turkey, andCyprus.
GREECE WILL RISE AGAINRegarding Greece, he said “I
have always said Greece has anextraordinary ability to recoverfrom disasters, whether it’s win-ning the Battle of Salamis afterthe burning of the Acropolis, orthe current financial crisis. Icontinue to be optimistic aboutthe future.”
He attributes the survival of
those qualities over 4000 years“to the depth of Greek culture,and the strong sense of Greekidentity – language, religion,history…all those factors con-tribute to the will and the abilityto survive in a dangerous worldover the centuries.”
He also credits the Diaspora.“It saps Greece in an immediatesense as population decline, butit repays in many indirect ways.”
Stearns was born in 1925 in
Cambridge, MA, where he nowlives. He grew up in California,earned his BA at Columbia Uni-versity, and was a Marine duringWW II.
In his youth, he was focusedon the arts, and his classics stud-ies entailed studying Latin, buthe developed his appreciationfor Greece over time.
The ambassador met Antoniain Greece during his first foreignservice assignment in Athens.She was visiting her family aftergraduating from college andthere is a photograph of the ex-
act moment when they met. “She was very attractive. A
blonde. She got the attention ofthe press in Greece and some-one took a photo of us being in-troduced when we were shakinghands – it happened, of allplaces, on the Acropolis, in frontof the Parthenon – at the Propy-laea!”
“It was a real Greek ro-mance,” he said. “We marriedin Athens and honeymooned in
Corfu and Paleokastritsa.”They have three sons and a
daughter, who is following hisfootsteps in the Foreign Serviceand is now serving in the Congo.
In 2004 the couple enjoyedspending a month in Thessa-loniki when Stearns was aDukakis Lecturer at AnatoliaCollege. When they were postedin Greece they loved to travelall over the country.
“We were very fond of theGreek way of life and the Greekpeople,” and they hope to returnsoon, he said.
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 7
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Amb. Monteagle Stearns Honored by Greece, Discusses US-Greece-TurkeyContinued from page 1
ABOVE: Amb. Monteagle Stearns, his wifeAntonia and two of their children, Christo-pher and Jonathan, after receiving hismedal from Iphigenia Kanara, Greece’sConsul General in Boston. RIGHT: Am-bassador Monteagle Stearns and his wifeAntonia in a photo dated 1984, duringhis tenure as Ambassador to Greece.LEFT: The Order of the Phoenix is a twopart award, a medal consisting of aPhoenix rising from flames at the centerof white enamel cross, and a medallionshowing a golden phoenix in the midst ofa silver starburst. There is also a pin forinformal occasions.
Spanos on percussion and LivioAlmeid on flute.
During Anna Linardos’ mov-ing performance of Asma Asma-ton from The Ballad Of Mau-thausen, with its lyric “KaneisDen Ixere Pos Einai Toso Oraia- Who knew you were so beau-tiful” the video screen showedimages of young Jewish womenin concentration camps.
As the first half of the concertwas drawing to a close,Kouroupakis and Andreatos andthe choir sang a rousing “ThaSumanoun oi Kambanes” ac-companied by a powerfulmarching beat.
After the intermission, theaudience watched a video of thegreat actor Manos Katrakis givea dramatic recital of the AxionEsti of Elitis.
The program noted thepraise of poet Giannis Ritsos,who said “the poetry sent to mu-sic by our composers turned thebeauty of poetry into the beautyof our lives.”
One of the evening’s high-lights began with the audiencewondering why a man dressedlike an early immigrant waswandering across the stage asLekkas was singing “Tis Xeni-tias.”
They were delighted to real-ize it was Petros Fourniotes,who then performed a
Zeibekiko.“Apones Exousies” was sung
as a duet by Negka and Lekkas,which they followed with an
equally touching Drapetsona. The concert’s climax song
was also its theme “RomiosiniMhn Thn Klais” – Romiosini be-
ing a complex word that encom-passes modern Greece’s classicaland Byzantine heritage – andmore. The choir joined the
singers on the lip of the stageand the entire audience rose asLekkas shouted, his kefi un-abated, “don’t sit, don’t sit – alltogether now.’
At that point some guests gotchills and were moved to tears,and that was before the danceperformance by Fourniotes andthree others the theme of Zorbathat triggered even more emo-tion and rhythmic clapping.
The music was tastefully in-terspersed with photos andvideo clips of Theodorakis talk-ing about his life, which in-cluded enduring torture for hisbeliefs and the pain of politicalexile, conducting his music, andeven dancing Zorba with An-thony Quinn.
Areti Giovani was the pianistand directed the vocal ensembleand Petros Fourniotis directedthe dancers.
The guests were welcomedby Iraklis Kremmidas, president,who spoke in Greek, “the lan-guage of my heart because I amvery touched by you support forKEP, and Eleni Drivas, vice pres-ident, greeting the audience,which included many non-Greeks who filled the entirelower level and half the balcony.
Kremmidas noted thatTheodorakis himself was one ofKEP’s first supporters. Hethanked the audience and theorganizers of the concert andKEP’s Board of Directors for its
work through the years, andLekkas later acknowledged eachof the dancers and musicians byname.
The organizers expressedtheir deep gratitude for thesingers who came from Greece,Lekkas, Negka, Linardou andAndreatos, who also developedthe program under Lekkas’ lead-ership.
Dino Avlonitis said it was oneof the community’s finest recentpresentations and declared that“for us, Theodorakis is life andsoul, and he is an inspiration fora new generation of young peo-ple, who are our hope for over-coming the current violations ofour country’s sovereignty.”
Timoleon Kokkinos saidTheodorakis’ artistic achieve-ments make him a personalitywho transcends Greece’s bor-ders, indeed April Renae, anAmerican musician and photog-rapher who loves Greek music,attended because her friendYianni told her she must attendthe concert.
Polys Kyriakou, who has or-ganized numerous communityconcerts and is himself a poetand lyricist, told TNH, “Tonightwe honored a great Greek com-poser, and I congratulate KEPfor organizing concertsgrounded with dignity and qual-ity, and for gathering us heretonight to sing our country’smost beautiful songs.”
Greek Cultural Center Marks 40th Year with Theodorakis Tribute Concert
COMMUNITY8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
derful opportunity I would beable to give back to my commu-nity. I had said to my wife thatwhen I retire I want to give backto my community”.
Kusulas has a vision for theCathedral School. He said “firstof all I want to spend 100 daysgetting to know what the Cathe-dral School is all about, how itoperates, and how it functions.My overall expectation is tomaximize its potential and tomake it a distinguished schoolnot only on the Upper East Sidebut among the Greek-AmericanSchools in the New York area.”
His sense about the Greek-American Education, the GreekPaideia, he said, “is the basis ofall that we’ve learned. The So-cratic method and the method
of inquiry it is clearly what weneed to do. Classics are essen-tial; it is the basis of Liberal Arts,the basis of Humanity.”
Asked why should a Greek-American family send its childor children to Cathedral Schooland not to any other school, hesaid:
“I think that there are twospecial things about the Cathe-dral School: the student facultyratio is very low so the individ-ualized attention that your childwill get is there. Secondly, Ithink that there is a real senseof being able to be proud in bothyour Hellenic and your Ortho-dox roots namely because mostof the students at the cathedralSchool are second or third gen-eration or Greco-files I thinkthat you will get the richnessand the appreciation of your
heritage both ethnic and reli-gious. Plus the family environ-ment, the safety, and the wholeissue of respect and responsibil-ity is going to be very much partof the model that I would be us-ing both with students and withparents.”
His first message to the par-ents, with whom he was sched-uled to meet on May 8, is that“I am humbled, I have 40 yearsof experience and I hope to de-velop a trusting relationshipwith them for the betterment oftheir own children, that to-gether we will nurtured an helpthe students grow and developinto global thinkers and respon-sible, respectful citizens to theworld and be strong Greek-American and Orthodox Chris-tians”.
Kusulas loves education. “I
can talk to you for hours abouteducation. It means preparing astudent at any level to be readyto meet the challenges of lifeand be ready to be a contribut-ing member the society and thecommunity to which they be-long.”
He described the character-istics of a good educator todayas follows: “Enthusiasm, pas-sion, understanding of children,and being a facilitator of learn-ing, being able to tap the indi-vidual strengths of every studentand take each of them to thenext level.”
Globalization, Yale Collegescholarships, the Yale PeabodyMuseum of Natural History, andthe Yale Child Study Center.
The relationship with Yale isfundamental to SNF’s missionbecause, as Dracopoulos noted“We are an international foun-dation. Since 1996 we have ap-proved 2676 grans to 110 coun-tries worldwide, committingover $ 1.4 billion in total.”
Both Dracopoulos and Storralso emphasized SNF’s strong
ties to Greece, highlighting ex-traordinary initiatives foundedon two $100 million donations,one for humanitarian relief forthe people of Greece s and onespecifically for addressing thecrucial issue of devastatingGreek youth unemployment.
Dracopoulos placed the YaleSchool of Art donations in thecontext of the “increased em-phasis on creativity,” which hesaid “is closely related to pros-perity and growth…our supportof the SNF Cultural Center inAthens…signifies our commit-
ment to and investment in cre-ative assets and explains...ourinvestment in the Yale School ofArt. “
Turning to Dean Storrs, Dra-copoulos said “The human ele-ment always plays a critical rolein our decisions to provide sup-port…our commitment to Yaleand the School of Art is also acommitment to Dean RobertStorr, the academic, the intel-lectual, the teacher, the humanbeing, the artist.”
Storr thanks Dracopoulosand the SNF amd said the gifts
will “provide a permanentsource of flexible funding thatwill help the school sustain itsinnovative teaching and practiceat the forefront of art and arteducation.”
The foundation’s gift will al-low the dean to direct funds tokey areas such as financial aid,faculty support, teaching, andexhibitions, “to keep things in-novative and fun,” he said.
The grants will support visit-ing artists from all over theworld and will help convey themessage that “we are not living
in a globalized world...it is stilla heterogeneous world and thatcosmopolitanism is our goal,not, homogenization.”
He then pointed out the cur-rent exhibit of the earthy andevocative paintings of LynetteYiadom Boakye, whose roots arein Ghana, which surrounded theguests in the gallery and notedthat was funded by the founda-tion.
Storr was pleased to be ableto introduce one of the benefi-ciaries of the donation, Non-stikelelo Mutiti, a young graphic
designer from Zimbabwe. Shetold TNH she had the privilegeof being taught in her youth byHelen Laras, a Greek galleryowner who supported and en-couraged young artists.
Storr’s wife, Rosamund Mor-ley, who performs on string in-struments for an early musicgroup called Parthenia, enjoyedthe reception. She and Storrsaid they wer looking forwardto their first trip to Greece andappreciated the travel tips theyreceived that night.
New and Important Chapter in Yale – Niarchos Foundation Relationship
Continued from page 1
The Greek Cultural Center celebrated its 40th anniversary at Hunter College with a concertdedicated to Mikis Theodorakis’ on May 3, attracting nearly 1500 Greeks and non-Greeks. Theconcert included 40 Theodorakis songs and a dance performance that included a zeibekiko byPetros Fourniotes as the instrumentalists and singers clapped with the audience.
Continued from page 1
New Cathedral Principal Kusulas Speaks to TNH
The new principal of the Holy Trinity
Archdiocesan Cathedral School,
Theodore Kusulas.
Continued from page 1
ABOVE: Andreas Dracopoulos, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Co-President address guests at theEdgewood Gallery as Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, looks on at far left. RIGHT:
Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art presents a citation to Andreas Dracopoulos, SNFCo-President and the reception celebrating the Foundation’s relationship with Yale.
TNH Staff
WASHINGTON, DC – The Arch-diocesan Council of the GreekOrthodox Archdiocese of Amer-ica convened for its regularspring meeting May 1-2 inWashington, DC, under thechairmanship of ArchbishopDemetrios of America. Attend-ing were Metropolitans Metho-dios of Boston and Savas ofPittsburgh, and Bishops Ando-nios of Phasiane and Sevas-tianos of Zela. The other mem-bers of the Synod, absent fromthe meeting, were unable to at-tend.
Held at the Washington Mar-riott Wardman Park Hotel, the
meeting began with the individ-ual committee work on May 1,while the Executive Committeeof the Council held a full daymeeting the day before. TheCouncil committees assessed theprogress, new initiatives, andproposals in the various fieldsof ministry of the Church andprepared their reports for thewhole body.
The next morning, the Coun-cil began its work with prayerand reflection on the Paschalseason by Demetrios. His Emi-nence in his opening remarks,apprised the body of theSynaxis, the meeting, of theheads of the Orthodox Auto-cephalous Churches, which took
place at the Ecumenical Patriar-chate last March. The arch-bishop said that the Synaxis de-cided on convening the Holyand Great Synod of the Ortho-dox Church, to be presided bythe Ecumenical Patriarch, in theSpring 2016, in the Church ofSt. Irene in Constantinople,where the Second EcumenicalCouncil was held on 381 AD.The notion of the universalityof the Orthodox Church, saidDemetrios, is important knowl-edge for our faithful and our lo-cal parishes.
Demetrios also informed theCouncil on the rebuilding of theSt. Nicholas Church, which isnow in its final preparatory
stages as “ground-breaking” isanticipated in a few weeks. Hesaid the fundraising campaignfor St. Nicholas has alreadystarted and he spoke of the im-pact this symbol church and itsvisibility would have on the in-ternational projection of the Or-thodox Church and Faith. HisEminence also discussed the up-coming 42nd Clergy Laity Con-gress to be held in Philadelphia,July 6-10. He spoke about thetheme of this Congress, “The Or-thodox Christian Family: ADwelling of Christ and a Witnessof His Gospel,” saying that thefamily today suffers and bleedsand we need to stand by thefamily and its members and sup-
port and care for all familymembers, children and adultsalike.
Council Vice PresidentMichael Jaharis shared histhoughts and proposals on a se-ries of administrative issues re-lated to the Archdiocese. Hesaid that the Council has to en-sure that the Archdiocese hasthe people and the tools to dothe job. He also said that thepotential for growth in theChurch is greatest here in theUnited States. Jaharis spoke ofthe importance of the rebuildingof St. Nicholas. He said that itshould not be a church built justby wealthy donors, but it is im-perative that the fundraising
campaign is successful with theparticipation and inclusion of allour faithful and parishes.
Eleven committee reports onthe National Ministries of theArchdiocese were presented tothe Council and discussed: Mar-riage and Family, Communica-tions, Ecumenical Office, GreekEducation, Religious Education,Administration, Finance, Stew-ardship, Outreach and Evange-lism, Clergy Outreach and De-velopment, and Youth andIonian Village.
It is noteworthy that the Fi-nance Committee reported thatall debts to banks and creditlines were eliminated as of theend of the first quarter of 2014.
Archdiocesan Council Spring Meeting Convened in Washington, DC
THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 9
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feel like they hear a hundredtimes a day: “when are you go-ing to get married?”
That is a particularly pre-dictable question for Menounos,considering she and Undergaroare “very much in love,” as shetold TNH, and have been to-gether for 15 years. They are sohappy together that on somelevel they are afraid a weddingmight jinx things, she said, “butthe main reason is that a wed-ding takes planning and time –which we lack very much.”
The main thing is that theyare happy and healthy, Me-nounos said, but “we are bothpretty sure there will be a wed-ding at some point in our fu-tures. At least for our kid’ssake.” The kid? Oh yeah, backto that crossroad.
The show’s first episode, ti-tled “Tick Tock BiologicalClock,” says it all. Menounos isvery happy with the way her lifeis going right now. She is livingher dream, and doesn’t want tochange that. On the other hand,at 35, she realizes “I have togrow up sometime,” and knowsthat she cannot put off mother-hood forever, as there will comea point when that won’t be anoption anymore.
The series focuses on thehappy couple’s intent to have achild, though they are not al-ways in sync about the timing.But “we’re a team,” Menounossays, which ultimately seems tobe most powerful force to com-bat any disagreement.
A NICE GREEK BOY“I gave my parents their way
so much,” Menounos says onanother episode, “but I wasn’tgoing to let them tell me who Ican fall in love with,” referringto Undergaro, who, as an Ital-ian, is not the “nice Greek boy”Costas always wanted her tomarry. Things were so bad thatMenounos’ parents threw herout of the house. “It was a diffi-cult time,” Menounos told TNH.
About a year later, however,“my dad came around when hesaw me on TV and saw that Iwas achieving my dreams.” And“when I saw how much Kevenloved her and took care of her,”Costas added, that changedthings, and from that point on,the Menounoses accepted Un-dergaro with open arms. ButCostas has not stopped bugginghim about becoming Greek Or-thodox.
ALL IN THE FAMILYHardly a grown woman “still
living with her parents” – it’smore the other way around, asMenounos is the family’s pre-mier breadwinner – the questionremains why a 35 year-oldwould live under the same roofwith parents who, albeit lov-ingly, bug her seemingly end-lessly about getting married andhaving babies. It is for practical
reasons – because while sheworks they take care of thingsat home? Not primarily, Me-nounos told TNH, it mainly hasto do with love. “If my parentsdidn't live with me they wouldbe in Connecticut and that's justtoo far.” Also, “my dad's had toomany bouts with death over theyears as you'll see on the show”(Costas has diabetes). There-fore, I want to enjoy my parentsas much as I can for as long as Ican. And they are the best peo-ple, too, and do so much tomake Kev's and my life so mucheasier.
MARIA AND THEPRESIDENTS
Menounos deals with farmore than fun-filled Hollywoodfluff. In fact, she has interviewedthree American presidents: BillClinton, George W. Bush, andBarack Obama. Clinton was “ab-solutely brilliant,” she told TNH.“So smart, so much to offer withhis words. Amazing.” Bush wasso “down to earth,” Menounossaid, which put her at ease dur-ing what was, at the time, the
most in-depth and prominentinterview of her career. And theObamas? “What a normal fam-ily! He was still a senator at thetime, and Michelle told me howthey just finished paying offtheir student loans a couple ofyears earlier. And the kids, justso normal.” If Hillary Clintonever becomes president, thatwould make four Commanders-in-Chief on Menounos’ list, asshe has already interviewed theformer First Lady: “I tried toshow a different side of her, onethat people hadn’t seen,” Me-nounos told TNH, and explainedthat is her goal in any interviewshe conducts, no matter who thesubject is.
IS REALITY “REAL”?Viewers often wonder how
“real” reality shows actually are.“The Osbournes was one of myfavorites,” Menounos told TNH,regarding one of the realityshow pioneers about rockerOzzy Osbourne and his family.“I believe we all loved them somuch because of how authenticthey were and what great char-acters they were. It still holdstrue today. I think the bestshows have those elements. Pro-ducers believed we had thoseelements, too, and that's whywe were approached. Once wedecided to do it, we knew wewould have to be as open andcandid as possible and to getused to having cameras roll 24-7. Once you get going, you ad-just and get used to it.”
But with all the Greek scenes,is this just My Big Fat GreekWedding redux? That movie“struck chords that resonatedwith all cultures and does so tothis day,” Menounos said. “Ithink our show does strike sim-ilar chords without overdoingit.”
The family patriarch’s show-casing Greek pride is certainlysimilar. Keven explains on oneof the early episodes that sincehe lost his own father 20 yearsago, Costas is “the only father Iknow,” and so he decides to con-vert to Orthodoxy after all.
And why not, adds Costas,“everybody should be Greek!”
COMMUNITY10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
By Demetris TsakasTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – "Tonight does notbelong to me, but to my par-ents,” Michael Psaros, the hon-oree, declared at the 32nd An-nual Executive of the YearAward Dinner of the HellenicAmerican Bankers Association(HABA). Adding that theevening was a living symbol of
the untranslatable Greek word,“Philotimo.”
The very touching speech ofthe Co-Founder and Co-Manag-ing Partner of the highly suc-cessful private equity firm, KPSCapital Partners, LP, was pre-sented at the renowned UnionLeague Club in Manhattan.
Psaros had tears in his eyesas he spoke and turned to hisparents, George and Maria
Psaros, and his wife, Robyn, andthe guests burst into applause.
This year the event manymembers of the community lookforward to surpassed expecta-tions, and ticket sales exceededthose of previous years accord-ing to Costas Kellas, HABA’spresident, and Demetri Papa-costas, the vice president.
The website listed the dinneras “Sold Out” for days.
Fox newscaster Ernie Anastoswas the Master of Ceremoniesand the program began with ashort film about the life andwork of Psaros, which also in-cluded the statements of Fr.Elias Villas, the pastor of theChurch of the Saviour in Rye,NY, who said "Michael Psaroshas taught us the meaning ofloving spouse, children, parents,community, church, and yourfellow man."
Psaros was introduced by hispartner David Shapiro, whopraised HABA for selecting himfor the award.
George Psaros quickly wipedthe tears from his face afterhearing his son’s words. Thehonoree also praised Robin, hiswife of 20 years and his threechildren. He called her his angeland his conscience, and quicklyshifting to Greek he said, “s’a-gapo,” and told his children,“God be with you always."
He then spoke of Shapiro –whom he considers to be amember of his family - and thefact that they are celebratingmore than 23 years of collabo-ration.
Psaros emphasized that whatthey accomplished, they did to-gether, that they built it to-gether, and that his partner isthe older brother he never had.“David thank you,” he said.“Panta axios - always worthy.”
He also spoke warmly abouthis other partner Raquel Palmer,whom he said believed in him
before he believed in himself,and that she believed in “us” be-fore “we" did.
Talking about the secret ofsuccess of the company and itsphilosophy, Psaros explainedthat he and his colleagues sharea value system and that theiraim is to give the companiesthey purchase a chance to re-turn to profitability.
As the firm improves thosecompanies it also gives investorsthe opportunity to find value inthem. They have investors in 18countries, two of which are inAustralia and which were rep-resented at the dinner.
They consider themselves arelatively new company andPsaros believes that the best isyet to come.
Psaros spoke warmly abouthis recent communication withJack Welch, the former Presi-dent of General Electric, whopresented KPS Capital Partnersit first $10 million when it
started up over 20 years agoDuring a private dinner he
asked Welch if he can believehow far they have come.
One of the keys to the firm’ssuccess is that they treat withrespect and dignity everyworker and employee whopasses through the doors andwalks onto the factory floors ofthe companies in which they in-vest.
Psaros said they are proudthat through their actions theyhave managed to save morethan 25,000 jobs in the UnitedStates and Canada, and addedthat he does not take it lightlythat 25,000 families have em-ployment because of them.
At the conclusion of hisspeech Psaros spoke with emo-tion about his friends at theChurch of Our Saviour in Rye."I love you," he told them, andsaid they inspired him made mefeel relaxed. He thanked themfor coming and declared, "Christ
is raised!"Papacostas expressed the ap-
preciation of the Board for theevent’s benefactors and toJames Orphanides, who under-took the organization of theevent at the Union League Clubfor the sixth consecutive year.
He also acknowledged thepresence of dignitaries includingthe Consuls General of Greeceand Cyprus, George Eliopoulosand Vassilios Philippou, respec-tively, and Nikos Papaconstanti-nou, the director of the GreekPress Office.
Ernie Anastos also shared hisjoy over the success of the re-cent Greek Parade on Fifth Av-enue and spoke with prideabout his Hellenic ancestry andthe importance of preserving theGreek language .
"The Greek language is im-portant and should be taught toour children so they can feelpride in their ancestry and cul-ture," said Anastos .
Michael Psaros of KPS Capital Honored as HABA Executive of the Year
At Manhattan’s Union League Club are seen the honoree, Michael Psaros, Costas Kellas, DemetriPapacostas, James Hansel, presenting the plaque to Psaros, and Emmanuel Caravanos.
ACROSS1 Settling out of ct. (abbrev.)3 Psychotic actor? (init.)5 Pulp Fiction actrss. (init.)7 Bjorn of Wimbledon11 Italians' "ouzo"13 Sang Happy Birthday to JFK (init.)15 Birmingham's St. (abbrev.)16 Crosby's comedic partner Bob18 Star of Green Acres TV show (init.)19 4 to Caesar21 Insctibed on Jesus' cross24 Continental club?25 Gross. Recpt. Tax (abbrev.)27 U.S. beer named after famous colonist (init.)28 Ralph's BFF on The Honeymooners (init.)29 Calif. city (abbrev.)30 Weak-heeled mythical figure32 Father and son presidents35 Where injured sports plyrs. are placed (init.)36 Flanked by D and G38 Klutz40 Distant41 Former House Speaker Gingrich44 Corn unit46 Stench48 Wrless. Inst. of Austrlia (abbrev.)49 Bogie's mot. picture costar (init.)50 Watergate journalist (init.)51 Bismarck's st. (abbrev.)53 Ray Robinson or Ray Leonard Nickname57 Grape soda brand59 "A likely story!"60 Edwin and Paul65 Whichever66 NY Strip/Filet Combination Cut68 Inst. for Policy Studies (abbrev.)70 "Fit __ a fiddle"71 Out's opposite72 "Original Gangster" (abbrev.)73 Fred and Ethel74 "Ti ___" Rome-antic words?75 Canada's Continent (abbrev.)
DOWN2 Charolotte of Facts of Life sitcom3 NBA'a answer (init.)4 Public Service Anncment. (abbrev.)5 Salt Lake City's st.6 "Delta Dawn" sngr. (init.)8 Woodwind instrument9 Golly
10 "Ultimate" wristwatch brand?12 Saint honored on July 2014 NBA Pau's brother17 Beat19 I'll homonym20 Actor Kilmer22 Golden Girls actress Arthur, for short23 Mumbai's country26 "______ the proud" Marines motto (2 words)31 The ____ of Night (soap opera)33 Bow and ______34 Ex-Maryland Governor Paul37 Animal abode39 "__ apple a day keeps the doctor away"42 Internet on the go43 Cowboys' Super Bowl QB (init.)45 Int'l casualty co. (abbrev.)47 Saint honored on December 952 Jeans material53 Brewery where Laverne and Shirley worked54 Untd. Arab Repblc. (abbrev.)55 Real Exchng. Rate (abbrev.)56 Happy Days' Williams58 Buildup61 Caprice62 Greek prefix meaning singular63 Indy 500 champ. (init.)64 Early Nintendo rival67 "___, you're it!"69 The Satanic Verses auth. (init.)
Solution:
A B E S A E D P A R I S
G E E H A R R I S L A
A K N Y U M A R E E D S
L C R H O A X O P
A T H A N A S I O S I N D Y
R E A R A P E
M A T C H M S A C O
I V H I P P I E M O N A
L O D I U R N M E N D
K L C U B A C F E R E
T H A T S K R O N O S
H A I G E S E D
A O I S L E T A N R
L E E C A L I E E U
O M E G A A N D R E A G
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 67
68 69 70 71 72
73 74 75
www.CrosswordWeaver.com
ACROSS
1 Settling out of ct. (abbrev.)
3 Psychotic actor? (init.)
5
7 Bjorn of Wimbledon
11 Italians' "ouzo"
13 Sang Happy Birthday to JFK
(init.)
15 Birmingham's St. (abbrev.)
16 Crosby's comedic partner Bob
18 Star of Green Acres TV show
(init.)
19 4 to Caesar
21 Insctibed on Jesus' cross
24 Continental club?
25 Gross. Recpt. Tax (abbrev.)
27 U.S. beer named after famous
colonist (init.)
28 Ralph's BFF on The
Honeymooners (init.)
29 Calif. city (abbrev.)
30 Weak-heeled mythical figure
32 Father and son presidents
35 Where injured sports plyrs. are
placed (init.)
36 Flanked by D and G
38 Klutz
40 Distant
41 Former House Speaker
Gingrich
44 Corn unit
46 Stench
48
49 Bogie's mot. picture costar
(init.)
50 Watergate journalist (init.)
51 Bismarck's st. (abbrev.)
53 Ray Robinson or Ray Leonard
Nickname
57 Grape soda brand
59 "A likely story!"
60 Edwin and Paul
65 Whichever
66 NY Strip/Filet Combination Cut
68 Inst. for Policy Studies (abbrev.)
70 "Fit __ a fiddle"
71 Out's opposite
72 "Original Gangster" (abbrev.)
73 Fred and Ethel
74 "Ti ___" Rome-antic words?
75 Canada's Continent (abbrev.)
DOWN
2 Charolotte of Facts of Life
sitcom
3 NBA'a answer (init.)
4 Public Service Anncment.
(abbrev.)
5 Salt Lake City's st.
6
8 Woodwind instrument
9 Golly
10 "Ultimate" wristwatch brand?
12 Saint honored on July 20
14 NBA Pau's brother
17 Beat
19 I'll homonym
20 Actor Kilmer
22 Golden Girls actress Arthur, for
short
23 Mumbai's country
26 "______ the proud" Marines
motto (2 words)
31 The ____ of Night (soap opera)
33
34 Ex-Maryland Governor Paul
37 Animal abode
39 "__ apple a day keeps the
doctor away"
42
43 Cowboys' Super Bowl QB (init.)
45 Int'l casualty co. (abbrev.)
47 Saint honored on December 9
52 Jeans material
53 Brewery where Laverne and
Shirley worked
54
55 Real Exchng. Rate (abbrev.)
56 Happy Days' Williams
58 Buildup
61
62 Greek prefix meaning singular
63 Indy 500 champ. (init.)
64 Early Nintendo rival
67
69 The Satanic Verses auth. (init.)
Chasing Maria Menounos: Whew!
Huffington and Philoptochos “Thrive” in NYThe Cathedral Philoptochos Society’s Spring Luncheon featuredArianna Huffington, who spoke about her book “Thrive” andis seen with chapter president Catherine Moutousis. The eventbenefits the chapter’s scholarship fund for students of theCathedral School, which distributes $10,000 annually.
Continued from page 1
“Babies Maria, babies,” is what Menounos, a Hollywoodcelebrity but a Greek girl at heart, often hears from her live-inparents, Costas and Litsa.
Fragile she’s not! Maria Me-nounos shows her tough side,donning a professionalwrestling uniform – depictingthe Greek flag.
By Andy DabilisTNH Staff Writer
ATHENS – With worries abouta crushing economic crisis onhold – for now – Greece hasturned its attention to electionsthis month for municipalitiesand the European Parliamentthat could bulwark or under-mine the ruling parties.
Prime Minister AntonisSamaras’ New Democracy Con-servatives face a stern challengefrom the major opposition Coali-tion of the Radical Left(SYRIZA) in races that could de-cide whether his administration,that includes the PASOK Social-ists, runs out its term until 2016.
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsiprassaid he believes his party willwin big enough to force earlynational elections although pollsshow the Leftists ahead in theEuropean Parliament battle onMay 25 but trailing in local elec-tions a week earlier.
Samaras has been imposingausterity measures demandedby the Troika of the EuropeanUnion-International MonetaryFund-European Central Bank(EU-IMF-ECB) who put up 240billion euros ($330.7 billion) intwo bailouts, conditions thatTsipras opposes.
The battleground has a lot atstake and Samaras came outwith pre-election so-called “so-
cial dividends” of 500 euros($698) each for some of thoseaffected by pay cuts, tax hikes,slashed pensions and worker fir-ings that have created recordunemployment and deeppoverty.
Much of that will go to a keyconstituency of New Democ-racy: police officers, membersof the military and emergencypersonnel workers while somepensioners with monthly bene-fits of as low as 430 euros($599) are being rejected.
The money is coming from a1.5 billion euro primary surplus,which doesn’t include intereston debt, the cost of runningcities and towns, state enter-prises, social security and somemilitary expenditures.
Samaras has pointed to thatas a sign the country will beginto recover later this year from aseven-year recession and urgingGreeks to keep him and his gov-ernment which he said promisesstability.
Tsipras has countered that hewould seek to revise the termsof austerity or renege on theloans and restore pay, cut taxhikes and reverse the govern-ment policies but hasn’t saidwhere he would then get themoney to run the country.
Samaras told private An-tenna television in an interviewthat he won’t seek more bailoutsand will try to get rid of auster-ity taxes later this year.
He appeared optimistic over
the outcome of the May electionand that he believed citizenswould give him their impri-matur for his policies that hesaid would lead to a recovery.
“I believe that this will alsobe the result. Be sure of this. Wecannot go to uncertainties, wecannot go to new measures,” hesaid.
“Matters must be verygloomy for SYRIZA, for it to betelling the Greek people at themoment that money exists” andhe charged that the Leftists areexploiting the grief and pain ofausterity.TAX CUTS, BAILOUTS OVER
Samaras rejected predictionsthat there shall be a new mem-orandum with the Troika, rulingout new measures, pension orwage cuts or tax increases al-though his government is set todeliver more pension cuts,breaking his vow not to do so.
He also said the primary sur-plus benchmark means he canask the Troika for debt restruc-turing or relief. That could in-clude a write-down on the loansthat would require the taxpayersin the other 17 Eurozone coun-tries to pick up the debt fordecades of profligate spendingby PASOK and New Democracyadministrations.
He said there should be taxcuts for wage-earners and busi-nesses and spoke of a unifiedtax in the region of 15 percent.In the meantime, the govern-ment hasn’t relented on pension
cuts, including 30 percent ormore in lump sums that workersearned from deductions out oftheir checks for decades.
He also appeared optimisticover a decrease in unemploy-ment, predicting that it willdrop to 24.5 percent in 2014and 15 percent in 2018 from arecord 27.6 percent on hiswatch. He offered no reasonwhy and didn’t mention that hehad not, as promised, produceda program in January to hire75,000 young people who suffer60 percent unemployment.
THE RIVER RUNS DEEPThe polls show that the new
populist, anti-political move-ment To Potami (The River) isbattling with the ultra-far rightGolden Dawn party for third,while PASOK’s hopes are dim-ming.
The Socialists have tiedthemselves to the new politicalgroup Elia (Olive Tree) which isa collection of center-left intel-lectuals and academics but theirplea hasn’t resonated with vot-ers who give it about 7 percentsupport.
Socialist chief EvangelosVenizelos, who is serving asDeputy Premier/Foreign Minis-ter in return for supporting aus-terity, said the coalition wouldfall “The government relies oncooperation,” said Venizelos af-ter a meeting with Samaras atthe Maximos Mansion inAthens. “Without (PASOK) thereis no government.”
New Democracy has only125 seats in the 300-memberParliament and needs PASOK’s25 votes to have a majority, al-though the government is tryingto dismantle Golden Dawn,which has 18 seats.
Most of the extremist party’shierarchy has been jailed or ar-rested on charges of running acriminal gang, which its leaderssaid is a political witch hunt tosiphon away its voters.
An anxious Venizelos saidthat, “The “government belongsto the cooperation. Without usthere is no government.” Thismeant that government stabilityas a whole was at stake, headded. Venizelos noted this wasnot some kind of political “black-mail” but self-evident and astatement of fact “in a democra-tically sensitive and honest way”.
Alternate Labor MinisterLeonidas Grigorakos, a PASOKmember, warned supporters atan Olive Tree event that Greececould suffer “the same conse-quences as Ukraine or NorthAfrican countries” if the electionresult puts the government’s fu-ture in jeopardy.
Venizelos denied that he wastrying to panic voters.
“I am describing reality in away that is honest and sensitivetoward democracy,” he said. “Isit possible that the descriptionof reality in terms of democratichonesty can be perceived asblackmail? Have we lost ourminds?”
GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 11
Greece Shifts into Critical Election Mode as New Political Parties Arise
NICOSIA – Cyprus has reachedanother milestone in getting ridof capital controls it put in placeafter being bailed out last year,saying all domestic controlshave been lifted except theopening of new bank accounts.
But envoys from interna-tional lenders came back to re-view progress on reforms as partof the conditions set for a 10billion euro ($13.87 billion) res-cue. Three earlier reviews foundthat the country’s bailout pro-gram remained on track.
Key areas that creditors willfocus on will be the health ofbanks which are grappling witha large number of bad loans, aswell as progress in pushingthrough structural reforms.
The bailout agreed in Marchlast year hit Cypriot banks hard-est after mandating a raid onuninsured deposits in the twolargest banks. The moveprompted the government toimpose strict capital controls onthe banking sector. Most havenow been lifted.
Cyprus has done enough,however, to allow the lifting ofthe 300 euro daily limit on with-drawals that was set in place toprevent a run on the banks afterthe government last year con-fiscated 47.5 percent of bank ac-counts over 100,000 euros.
The Finance Ministry said in
a statement that a prohibitionon cashing checks as well ascaps on domestic transactionsand payments that don’t requirecentral bank vetting have nowbeen removed.
However, restrictions on un-fettered money transfers abroadremain in place. Authorities saidthey hope to lift them by year’send. New accounts also can’t beopened yet but the Finance Min-istry said that a prohibition oncashing checks as well as capson domestic transactions andpayments that don’t require cen-tral bank vetting have now beenremoved.
Still unanswered, however, iswhether there was inside infor-mation that let many people es-cape the confiscation scheme.
Reversing an earlier vote, theCypriot Parliament’s HouseEthic Committee said it won’treveal the names of some11,000 people who transferredmoney to foreign banks justdays before the government saidit was moving ahead to seizemuch of the assets of bank ac-count depositors.
President Nicos Anastasi-ades, reneging on a campaignpledge last year to hold the ac-count holders harmless for thecountry’s burgeoning economiccrisis, approved a program to letbanks seize almost half of bank
accounts over the 100,000 eurogovernment guarantee protec-tion level. Anastasiades wantedto go after those too but the Par-liament balked.
It was not revealed whetherthe people who spirited theirmoney out of Cypriot banks hadinsider information that protectedtheir money from being confis-cated, who they were or howmuch they hid in the transfers.
The committee decided bymajority vote to give the CentralBank governor more time toprocess the data. CommitteeChairman Demetris Syllouris re-jected claims of a cover-up, say-ing in-depth investigations arecontinuing and a decision willbe made in June about whetherto release the names. He didn’tsay why they shouldn’t be re-vealed.
Cyprus Lifts Capital Controls But Questions Remain
current trends. She also asked him about
how he went about transform-ing the Lyon Opera Ballet. It wasa challenge navigating union is-sues, the personalities and artis-tic preferences of the performersand tastes of the audiences, butexperimentation and persever-ance seemed to be the key.Asked by TNH if he felt like apolitician, he replied “No.”
He told of one early produc-tion that did not go over well ina traditional setting but was ahit as the post-modern CentrePompidou Art Museum.
He said sometimes what ap-pears onstage ion modern danceis more like an exhibition. In-deed the director of his com-pany’s May 7-9 presentation of“ni fleurs, ni ford-mustang,”Christian Rizzo, entered thedance world after a working asa fashion designer, rock musi-cian and visual artist. “Some-times people gifted in the visualarts put up better shows thanthose experienced in move-ment,” Loukos said.
Cultural institutions mustkeep trying new things and di-rectors with other backgroundsbring their other loves onstage.Sometimes in works, sometimesit does not, “but it helps keepdance moving in the right direc-tion,” Loukos said, and admittedsometimes he puts in too much
philosophy.For some ballet devotees, it’s
all about the music, but not forLoukas. “I do not think it is themost important thing. It’s inter-esting, but less important thanspace and movement.”
Loukos take great pride inthe work he and his colleagueshave done since he became di-rector of the Athens Festival in2006, which has diversified bothits offerings and its venues.
Once confined to the spec-tacular but artistically limitingsites of the ancient theaters ofEpidaurus and Herodes Atticus,the Festival’s productions inwhat was once a warehouse ina gritty part of Athens stimu-lated a cultural blossoming.
He spoke of both his respon-sibility to keep the Festival freshand his appreciation of its rootsin the spectacular success inNew York of Dimitri Mitropoulosand Maria Callas in the 1950s,who were its first featured per-formers.
The guests were welcomedby Violane Huisman, BAM’s Di-rector of Humanities, who notedthe event was the latest offeringof BAM’ new Hellenic Humani-ties Program fund by the Onas-sis Foundation (USA). Huismanacknowledged the presence ofAmbassador Loucas Tsillas, Ex-ecutive Director of the OnassisFoundation (USA) and AmaliaCosmetatou, its Director of Cul-tural Affairs.
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ATHENS – Despite objections,Prime Minister Antonis Samaras'coalition government is goingahead with plans to let privatebusinesses - including those whohave built operations unlawfully- to seize beachfront propertyand abolish the right for unhin-dered access to public beachlands.
The Greek branch of theWorld Wild Life Fund (WWF)has written to Members of Par-liament – which is controlled bySamaras' New Democracy Con-servatives and his partner thePASOK Socialists – to protest theproposal it says will depriveGreeks of their right to be ableto get to public beaches.
Athens' coastline is dottedwith unlawful taverns and busi-nesses that charge people for ac-cess to public beaches, many ofthe operations running withoutlicenses, which is common inGreece, amid complaints of cor-ruption and officials being paidoff to allow them.
The mayor of one of thecoastal neighborhoods severalyears ago, in an attempt to getrid of the unlawful businesseson each fronts, tried to demolishsome but the governmentstepped in and barred it.
WWF Greece labeled the Fi-nance Ministry bill “criminal”and urged lawmakers in anopen letter not to support it butMPs from the ruling parties faceexpulsion if they vote againstthe wishes of their leaders - whohave already decided to let the
proposal go ahead.The bill lifts all current restric-
tions on the maximum area des-ignated for beach concessions –such as bars, umbrellas and sunloungers – while abolishing theright to unhindered access to thecoast for the public.
While there are publicbeaches, the prime pieces havelong been seized by private busi-nesses and the bill opens theway for the kind of clustered de-velopment that destroyedSpain's beaches.
The proposed measureswould also facilitate permanentconstructions on beaches forcommercial purposes, whilemaking it possible for businessesto pay fines to legalize unli-censed constructions, effectivelyopening one of Greece's best as-sets - its beaches - to be takenover and limit public access.
While people who can affordit will be able to go to privately-controlled beaches, Athens' al-ready-squeezed coastline, thatsees people cheek-by-jowl onhot days, will become moreovercrowded and inaccessible.
The ministry claims that thenew framework will delineatethe Greek coastline and simplifyconstruction on and manage-ment of coastal areas. Techni-cally, it also means that devel-opment could take over publicbeaches on islands and any-where in Greece where busi-nesses want to build. May 2 wasthe last day of public consulta-tion, launched on April 17.
Some Greek Beaches MightNo Longer Have Free Access
Ballet Guru Loukos TalksAt Brooklyn Music AcademyContinued from page 1
Yorgos Loukos, the artistic director of the Lyon Opera Ballet,discusses dance with Jennifer Homans, a dancer and dancecritic, author of Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet.
beowulF sheehAn/bAm
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and the President ofCyprus , Nikos Anastasiadis, right, shake hands after a jointnews conference as part of a meeting at the chancellery inBerlin, Germany, Tuesday, May 6, 2014.
AP Photo/michAel sohn
EDITORIALS LETTERS12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
UnsubstantiatedCriticism of Church
To the Editor:I was entirely appalled and
greatly dismayed by your recenteditorial castigating the GreekOrthodox clergy during HolyWeek for “an utter lack of com-pliance with basic rules of be-havior, process and function”(“Our Church’s Role, Apr. 26).
My basic objection is that youdenounced the Church withoutany specifics or concrete exam-ples of “rampant disregard” for“norms,” which are also unde-fined by you.
Most of our priests engage indiligent efforts in a most ardu-ous task of officiating in a great
number of services during HolyWeek administering to hundredsof congregants, most of whomattend church once or twice ayear.
For the most part, this isdone is an organized and re-sponsible manner with the in-tent to further the spirituality ofa very diverse church popula-tion.
To condemn the clergy forlacking a “deep appreciation forHellenism” entirely ignores thebasic rationale behind becominga priest, i.e., to promote Hel-lenism and Orthodoxy, whichmost of our priests tirelesslywork at throughout the yearthrough Greek School pro-grams, Sunday School pro-
grams, church camps, biblestudy groups, liturgy, sermons,etc.
Maybe you should insteadconcentrate on what the clergydo to promote our religion andculture rather than make un-founded generalizations.
And maybe you should askwhere our religion and Hel-lenism would be without ourfine and dedicated clergymen,despite any shortcomings theymay have.
Leah P. Pappas, Esq.Astoria, NY
Friedman’s Diagnosis of GreeceThomas L. Friedman, the widely-read columnist for the New
York Times, had visited Athens four years ago.In his remarks from there he reported about Lydia, at 10 year-
old girl who put a card in the pile of flowers for the victims of theMarfin Egnatia Bank fire, in which she wrote, in Greek: “In whatkind of a world will I grow up? Lydia, age 10.”
In a second comment, he wrote “it’s crazy; Greece is the onlycountry in the world where Greeks don’t behave like Greeks. Theirwelfare state, financed by Euro-oil, has bred it out of them.”
And he also wrote "if a few years from now capable, ambitiousyoung Greeks have not voted with their feet, then the country willhave a future."
Since then, Friedman has been silent.He has not visited Athens again. At any rate, he has not com-
mented on the Greek crisis.Has he forgotten about it, or is he indifferent?International news runs at an unimaginable pace. The Greek
crisis has yielded its Page One position in newspapers to manyissues and many countries. Most recently, to Russia’s VladimirPutin.
And in an April 30 commentary titled "Challenging Putin’s Val-ues," Friedman suddenly refers to Greece again, parenthetically:“When the world gets this tightly interwoven, not only can yourfriends kill you as quickly as your rivals (see Greece), but yourrivals crumbling can be as dangerous as your rivals rising (seeRussia or China).”
Friedman’s main point is that we no longer live in a world withwalls (as during the Cold war), but one of webs. His "Delphic "con-clusion, that Greece was killed by its friends – obviously, the Troika– may be an aside in terms of that specific piece, but even in itsbrevity is very telling, particularly in how Friedman writes it somatter-of-factly.
Indeed, it is a very interesting conclusion, both regarding “who”killed Greece and that it has been “killed.”
The source of this conclusion gives it tremendous gravitas. Fried-man, after all, is a renowned columnist and prolific author, well-versed in international affairs. Nonetheless, the Greek press hasnot seemed to make mention of it.
Moreover, Friedman’s observation adds weight to the debateon the appropriateness of prescription dictated by the Troika inGreece, since it shows that it was Germany, according to Friedman,who did the killing.
But if, as it seems, even commentators of wide acceptance andrespect like Friedman are questioning Greece’s policy, in a paren-thetical but not insignificant way, then a similar but much moreintense debate should be conducted at the actual scene of thecrime: in Greece. Why is there not more open and detailed discus-sion about this in Greece itself – not only among the people, butalso by and among members of the press, political incumbents,and challengers?
While the slogans of the pro- and anti-memorandum crowdsare simplistic, the debate is nevertheless essential and necessary.
Especially now that the elections provide an opportunity for it.
What is “Success”?One of the most basic and obvious goals in life that we Greek
parents try our best to ensure that our children attain success.It is often said, in fact, that attending and graduating from an Ivy
League university ensures success in life.If we define “success” as financial security and even affluence,
then an Ivy League education is virtually a surefire path to becomingsuccessful.
Ultimately, however, isn’t success about being happy? Certainly, financial stature solves many problems, but does it, by
itself, define success?A recent poll by Gallup and Purdue University concludes that
“the answers may lie in what students are doing in college and howthey are experiencing it. Those elements – more than many othersmeasured – have a profound relationship to a graduate's life and ca-reer. Yet too few are experiencing them.”
In other words, Ivy League status by itself doesn’t guarantee hap-piness.
Never mind the pressure on children to achieve that status, whichoften can be unbearable. Many a student spends sleepless nightsreading more and more, worrying about the uberselective and un-forgiving admissions process, and spending the prime years of youthpartaking in little or no…fun.
Parents, too, suffer from great anxiety – as they measure theirown “success” as parents based on which university has acceptedtheir children.
An entire household – adults, teens, and children alike – tossingand turning all night, worrying about the proverbial acceptanceletter from Harvard. Does that sound like “success”?
What matters most toward attaining happiness, the poll revealed,is not which college a student attends, but rather what the studentdoes while there. For instance, happiest were those college studentswho said they had a professor who believed in them, and who hada mentor.
The Mentor, according to mythology, was a friend of Odysseus,to whom the latter entrusted his son, Telemachus, and his palacewhen he left to fight in the Trojan War.
The role of a mentor – an older, more experienced, and thus pre-sumably wiser person guiding a younger one – is so vital, and yet isso woefully underutilized in today’s society. Despite the fact thatthose who benefitted so much from having had mentors in theirown lives, far too few of them have chosen to “pay it forward.”
Of course, none of this ought to suggest that attending an IvyLeague institution does not continue to be an incredibly rewardingand fulfilling experience. Money aside, a degree from Brown, Cornell,Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Penn-sylvania, or Yale is perhaps unparalleled in its potential to maximizeintellectual stimulation. And that makes those who truly love tolearn quite happy.
But to stop there, to think that an Ivy League degree in itself in-evitably paves a path to happiness and, in turn, to success, oversim-plifies the point, and thereby misses it.
Just ask those thousands of parents and children who are worriedright now.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PRESS CLIPPING
By Amb. Alexandros P.MalliasThe Huffington Post
Thucydides, Pericles,Socrates, and Aristotle are thepreferred references in thesearch of the logic, if logic ex-ists, in understanding politics inmodern Athens, Thebes,Corinth, and Sparta.
For more than one reason amodern disciple of Heraclitus,who visited Ephesus only a fewweeks ago, took the risky stepto join politics in Hellas.
Defying the calls of hisfriends and advisors for pru-dence and against all odds, hedecided to join a party – a move-ment rather than a party – with-out aparatchiks, structures,politburos, etc.
It is no surprise that the newparty that will contest in the un-even campaign for the EuropeanParliament Elections scheduledfor May 25 is named To Potami(The River). In contemporaryterms, Heraclitus is consideredto be a postmodern thinker. Histhoughts transcend time, place,continents.
Heraclitus taught me that :• Air dies giving birth to fire.
Fire dies giving birth to air. Thuswater is born of earth, and earthof water
• the river where you setyour foot just now is gone anda new one is constantly formed
• the way up is the way back • just as the river where I
step is not the same, and it is,so am I, as I am not.
Can a party with no politi-
cians meet the challenge andmake the edge in Greek politics?Can it change the course,sidelining the political oli-garchies that have been rulingGreece for roughly 70 years, of-ten accused of lack of ethos, ac-countability, and commonsense?
Two weeks ago, I metPotami's leader StavrosTheodorakis, a self-made manand articulate journalist. I didnot hesitate for a moment to ac-cept his invitation. The candi-dates of the Euro elections ticketare not politicians. They haveall successfully served the coun-try and the society. They haveexceled in business, academia,medicine, and farming.
Our motto is "for a strongGreece in a more just Europe."
A United Europe cannot beachieved with divided Euro-peans along the North-South orSouth-North dividing lines. Wesay yes, to a Europe which willshow respect for the dignity ofits citizens. But to change Eu-rope, we must first change thecourse of politics at home.
Heraclitus insists that "thebeginning is the end" and that"without injustice the name ofjustice would mean nothing." Infamily, in society and in politicsit is clear that "one's bearingshapes one's fate."
Heraclitus is what was reallymissing from politics today inGreece.
Alexandros P. Mallias wasGreece’s Ambassador to theUnited States 2005-2009.
Greece Needs a Heraclitus: Could Potami Be the Answer?
ANALYSIS
By Antonis H. Diamataris
For the sake of “good olddays” – whatever that means toeach of us. That’s why we filledthe Assembly Hall of HunterCollege in Manhattan on Satur-day night, 1500 people strong,experiencing three unforget-table hours at the event cele-brating the 40th anniversary ofthe Greek Cultural Center (KEP)at a concert dedicated to MikisTheodorakis.
Fond recollections ofTheodorakis’ music, interpretedby a team of talented, modest,inspiring young singers fromGreece, along with the wonder-ful chorus and dancers, and theKEP musicians. What a wonder-ful idea!
Congratulations to the orga-nizers, first of all to Iraklis Krem-midas, KEP’s president, a nobleman who is dedicated to cultureand the homeland.
Here then, in the auditoriumof Hunter College – reminiscentof the throngs of Greek-Ameri-cans at similar events in theearly seventies – we gathered toremember the old days: what Iwould call, the heroic years.
Those were years withdreams, with ideals, with ambi-tions. In those years we, youngcollege students, thought wecould build a new Greece, wor-thy of her culture and history.And her name.
The only thing required forthe realization of the dream wasthe willingness to work hard –and we were not lacking in that.We were certain of victory, how-ever it was defined, since wewere going with the flow of his-tory.
It was not only that we wereyoung and idealistic. It was be-cause we were breathing the en-livening oxygen of hope, therewas a pervasive optimism. Yeswe can….
Nothing separated us from
our goal – we thought – just afew antiquated stones, a fewthorns on the road that neededto be brushed aside so we couldmake our way up our boulevardof dreams of "a Greece, inde-pendent and proud..."
We were sure it was just amatter of time before we would"ring the bells” as lyrics of Ritsosdeclare. It was a matter of justa little time, we thought.
But we did not see, blind aswe were, that all that thedithyrambic emotionalism wasfounded on a tragic, fratricidalstory, on a story painted in bloodand bitterness.
And how could we haveimagined, when we sang the"Ena to Helidoni” of OdysseusElytis – with its lyrics "to nagirisi o ilios theli poli doulia –for the sun to return it takes alot of work" that the day wouldcome when we would literallyhave to do “a lot of work.”
We reminisced, indeed, abouta lot of things on Saturday night,thanks to the care taken by KEP.They were all there: old rightists,
old leftists, anti-junta, pro-junta,the generation that experiencedthe invasion in Cyprus, we wereall there.
Yes, we were expressing nos-talgia for our youth – but alsoour shame over what Greece hasbecome.
The musical performance, Irepeat, could not have been bet-ter. The highlight was VasilisLekkas, but the rest came veryclose...
However, that they were notcheered even more loudly, theymust have figured out, it wasnot due to them. It was becausethe room was thick with thedark shadow of the Greek cri-sis.
The evening cast into highrelief the passage from theheroic age of the Greece ofdreams and achievements to thecurrent situation.
Do you see anything heroictoday?
Instead of the bells ringingwith the joy of youth, instead ofit resounding with the declara-tion of the Resurrection, the ex-
pected Renaissance of Greece,it tolls with heavy mourning.
Hey, the complaints grab atus, even as tears roll down ourcheeks: how did the Greeks fallso low again?
"Ti Romiosyni min ti kles –Don’t Cry for the Homeland" –is that the true reality, or do wesing the words just to encourageourselves? Or to pass the re-sponsibility unto others, tostrangers?
But I feel that we know thetruth very well:
No one is to blame for ourcurrent plight but we.
That today's youth has nosoul to dream, to hope, to openone’s mouth and speak one’smind.
Why have we come to sucha low place after we started sohigh? Why has so much gonewrong with Hellenism?
Why has a country with spec-tacular environment, a peoplewith rare talents, dynamic andcapable youth that was ready totake off, returned to “Don’t Cryfor the Homeland”?
Tsitsani, Take Us, with Your Bouzouki, to Good Old Days
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Observations By Antonis H. Diamataris
Lessons from Indonesia
The C. Fred Bergsten Conference Centerof the Peter G. Peterson Institute for Inter-national Economics in Washington, DC waspacked with academic elites, representa-tives of various U.S. government depart-ments, international organizations, GreekAmbassador Christos Panagopoulos, repre-sentatives of the Embassy of Indonesia, of-ficers and staffers of the Peterson Institute,and Stavros Niarchos Foundation co-Presi-dent Andreas Drakopoulos.
The occasion was the Institute's four-teenth annual Stavros Niarchos FoundationLecture.
The series’ speakers are prestigious in-dividuals and on April 29, a rainy Tuesdaynight in Washington, it was the turn of Dr.Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister of Tourismand Creative Economy of Indonesia.
The audience was hooked from the start.The title of her speech was not exactly
the most compelling in the World: "DrivingSustainable Economic Growth: Trade and
Innovation in the Asian Emerging Markets."For this audience, however, it was very
interesting.The speech contained technical data, but
it specifically addressed how a new eco-nomic policy becomes politically acceptableand becomes the law of a state.
She talked about competitiveness andreforms as the "key" to effective economicdevelopment.
She said the government did not win allits battles, but it won many. It greateststruggles concerned labor issues; they werethe most difficult.
She also described the negative reactionthe reforms opening markets to importsprovoked among rice farmers to marketopening on imports, which would certainlyresult in a reduction in the price of rice.
So she did her research, collected datafor the past 100 years, and showed that inonly three years did Indonesia not importrice.
She spoke about the opportunities pre-sented by crises.
She spoke about the government's over-
all reform program, about which they hadagreed among themselves before elections,and most of which they managed to haveadopted.
You could have heard a pin drop.Very well, you say, why should we care
about what is happening in Indonesia?Because we are interested in interna-
tional examples that will help us build abetter country.
The important lessons included that theMinister is an expert in her field. Clearly,all ministers should be chosen based onthat criterion.
Moreover, she spoke with sincerity of asecure, successful person.
She spoke about the successes of hergovernment, but she also included the fail-ures.
She talked about the lessons she learnedfrom the failures, economically and politi-cally, to advance the objectives of the gov-ernment and promote the country'sprogress.
She did not try to turn black into white.In short, she was credible and reliable.
VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 13
Maple Street, U.S.A. Latesummer. A tree-lined little worldof front porch gliders, barbeques,the laughter of children and thebell of an ice cream vendor. Atthe sound of the roar and theflash of light, it will be precisely6:43 P.M. on Maple Street. Thisis Maple Street on a lateSaturday afternoon. MapleStreet...in the last calm andreflective moment...before themonsters came.
That was the opening to a1960 Twilight Zone episode inwhich aliens land on the out-skirts of a small town and sowseeds of paranoia and panic sim-ply by turning off the electricityand getting people to turn oneach other.
It’s a concept brought backin a TV series Revolution andwas a quiet, effective terrorismof the psychological kind, mak-ing people’s minds run wild withfear because we are our ownworst enemy.
That’s akin to what two es-caped Greek terrorists are plot-ting for the country they pro-claim to love so much they justcan’t stop blowing things up,robbing banks and putting outmanifestos of violence. No oneknows where they will strikenext.
In a misdirected aim at agaggle of targets: bankers, jour-nalists, politicians, businessleaders, and capitalists, NikosMaziotis, leader of the Revolu-tionary Struggle, and November17’s Christodoulos Xiros, arebreeding anxiety that the vic-tims will be other innocent peo-ple not involved in government,business, the media or judiciary.
Neither would be doing any-
thing now ifGreece’s judicial sys-tem, notorious fordecades-long delaysin cases, hadworked. Maziotisand his partner PolaRoupa were re-leased from deten-tion in 2012 be-cause the maximum18-month period forholding suspectshad lapsed withoutthem going intocourt.
Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras,Mr. Law and Order, managedlast year to bring investigativejournalist Costas Vaxevanis totrial in a heartbeat after he em-barrassed the government by re-leasing the names of 2,062Greeks with secret Swiss bankaccounts that hadn’t been vettedfor possible tax cheats.
Too bad that rush to judg-ment wasn’t applied to Mazio-tios or he would certainly havebeen convicted (although, thisbeing Greece, you never know)and be in jail along with Roupa.
Xiros is free thanks to an-other quirk in Greece’s legal sys-tem. Serving six life sentencesfor his role in six assassinations,including five Americans at-tached to the U.S Embassy, hewas given a Christmas vacationfrom the alleged high-securityKorydallos jail.
To the surprise of no one butthe panel of people who decideda man involved in six murdersand an unrepentant terroristwasn’t a threat to society, he did-n’t return.
He quickly showed up on theInternet in a tape in which he
said he too, likeMaziotis, wouldreturn to becom-ing a monster onMaple Street andstart attackingagain.
The govern-ment respondedby saying it wouldtry to protect likelytargets and evenproposed puttingsnipers onrooftops, just thekind of reactionthe terrorists werelooking for, hoping
to make people so scared they’dstart shooting each other, evenif figuratively.
It didn’t take long for themto start making good on theirword. DNA linked Xiros to a par-cel bomb sent to a regional po-lice station that didn’t go off,saving people from being killed.
The explosive device washidden inside a book and con-tained nails and screws to causemaximum damage if set off. Itwas sent in a package suppos-edly from a non-governmentalorganization.
The scary part is that respon-sibility was taken by another ofthe scores of terrorist groups inGreece, Conspiracy of Cells ofFire as authorities believe Xiroshooked up with some of itsmembers in prison and con-spired with them to make hisgetaway.
Maziotis said he’s not inter-ested in collaborating with otherterrorist groups. Otherwise, ifhe linked up with Xiros andCells of Fire there could be a su-per-group the anti-terrorist po-lice would have to deal with.
Maziotis was behind anotherin what is likely to become a se-ries of terrorist attacks inAthens, a car bomb that wentoff outside a main branch of theBank of Athens last month.
That came the day Greecefloated a bond for the first timesince a crushing economic crisisbegan four years that led thegovernment to seek interna-tional bailouts that came withharsh austerity measures thatinfuriated the terrorists.
Maziotis said that he alsowanted to show defiance a daybefore German Chancellor An-gela Merkel, whose country isthe biggest contributor to inter-national loans saving the Greekeconomy but who has de-manded big pay cuts, tax hikes,slashed pensions and worker fir-ings, came to Athens to meetSamaras, a fellow Conservative.
The terrorists claim to bepopulists fighting for workers,pensioners, and the poor who’vesuffered the most under auster-ity, but police said someonewalked past the Bank of Athensonly minutes before the carbomb went off, even though theauthorities had been warned toclear the area.
There’s been warnings ofmore from these types. After theparcel bomb didn’t go off, Cellsof Fire said, “We will be back.”
Maziotis and Xiros and theCells of Fire will strike becausewhile they’ve failed so far to in-still the fear that is their tool –as the end of the Maple Streetepisode noted, “The tools ofconquest do not necessarily comewith bombs …” – and thesemonsters are overdue.
Regarding the national uproarover Los Angeles Clippers ownerDonald Sterling’s remarks to “V.Stiviano,” a woman whose nameand life remain enigmatic, in aprivate conversation sherecorded and that was leaked tothe press, there is already enoughmaterial to fill ten columns thissize – and surely there is more tocome. And as is often the case,some of the reporting about thisissue has been sloppy. Therefore,as we wait for this sordid tale’snext installment, let’s make senseof what we know thus far.Namely, that 1) Donald Sterling’scomments to Stiviano were notracist in themselves, but ratherracism-enabling; 2) that we canconclude, nonetheless, that Ster-ling is a racist; and 3) that NBACommissioner Adam Silver didthe right thing by banning ster-ling from the league for life.
THE CONVERSATIONIn what was presumably a pri-
vate conversation between Ster-ling and his alleged ex-girl-friend/mistress Vivian “V.”Stiviano, Sterling is heard ad-monishing her for publicly asso-ciating with “black people” – forexample, but not exclusively,NBA great Magic Johnson – andposing with them for pho-tographs. “Don’t bring them tomy games,” he says. But he insistshe is not a racist and “I love blackpeople.”
The apparent theme of Ster-ling’s rant – erroneously called a“racist rant” – is that he does notwant Stiviano to be seen publiclyassociating with blacks, but does-n’t care what she does with themin private. You can sleep withthem for all I care, Sterling said.
Those comments, taken in iso-lation, depict more a racism-en-abler than a racist. An “I-don’t-have-anything-against-black-people-but-what-are-people-going-to-say” mentality.
WHAT IS RACISM?I have long proposed a narrow
definition of racism: hating an-other race or considering it in-herently inferior.
Both versions of racism arefound in examples throughoutAmerican culture – here are tworegarding sports: 1) the boxingmatch in which two African-Americans are fighting againstone another, and a racist says: “Ihope they kill each other – thatwould mean two less n****** inthe world”; and 2) the long-held
belief by someracists that “youdon’t see manyblack quarterbacksbecause black peo-ple are not smartenough to be aquarterback.”
On the otherhand, if a white guysays “I don’t want towalk throughHarlem at night –the blacks might killme,” or “I’m havinga party and invitinga lot of black peo-ple, so make lots offried chicken – they love thatstuff,” those comments, whilecertainly being insensitive race-based evaluations, are not actualracist remarks. Because they nei-ther indicate hatred towardblacks, nor a feeling of superior-ity.
The Harlem remark might bea commentary about racial ten-sions, perhaps even attacking outof fear, and that same personmight agree with a black personmaking these statements: “I don’twant to walk around rural Mis-sissippi late at night because thewhites might lynch me,” or “I’minviting a bunch of whites to myparty – they love broccoli rabe.”
Sterling’s remarks have moreto do with “what would peoplethink?”. As if he is saying “I’mnot a racist, but some of myfriends are, and I don’t want you[Stiviano] embarrassing me bypublicly associating with blacks.”That sentiment was underscored
by Sterling’s describ-ing “phonecalls”that he receivesabout Stiviano keep-ing company withAfrican-Americans.That is a classic caseof racism-enabling,i.e., perpetuatingracism by cateringto the racist mental-ity of others – but isnot racism in itself.
STERLING’SRACIST HISTORY
Taken alone,then, Sterling’s en-abling certainly war-
rants the NAACP’s retraction ofawards they bestowed upon him,but probably wouldn’t merit ban-ning him from the NBA. Yet,Commissioner Silver was right inbanning him, because a totalityof the circumstances tends todemonstrate that Sterling is aracist after all. He has a historyof making borderline racist re-marks. “Black people smell,” hesaid, referring to his tenants. Ifby that he meant that all personsof that race are born with thepropensity to emit an unpleasantbody odor, then that would cer-tainly fall under the “inferiority”aspect of racism. But if he meantthat “my black tenants” smellbadly, he might be limiting it toa subset of a larger group. No dif-ferent than if he were to say thattrains in Athens, Rome, or Parisduring the morning rush hour arefilled with unwashed, sweaty,smelly people – because a dailymorning shower is not second-
nature on that continent – with-out meaning that Greeks, Ital-ians, and French are biologicallyprone to body odor.
NBA legend Elgin Baylor, anAfrican-American and longtimeClippers general manager, con-tended in a race and age discrim-ination lawsuit that Sterling hada “plantation mentality,” becausehe said he would prefer a South-ern white to coach poor blackplayers. That, too, speaks to theinferiority aspect.
Others allege that they’veheard Sterling use the “N-word,”a stronger indication of hatredfor, mixed with a sense of supe-riority over, another race.
NOT A COURT OF LAWIf this were a court of law, then
all of that would amount to “cir-cumstantial evidence,” certainlynot enough to convict beyond areasonable doubt in a criminaltrial, and maybe not even enoughto establish a preponderance ofthe evidence in a civil one. Butthe NBA is not a court of law. It isa business. A club with certainstandards. Beyond racism, race-enabling, or racial insensitivity,there are also other instances ofSterling just being an overall de-testable, nasty guy.
And when there are enoughborderline stories pieced to-gether, none by itself enough tobe the smoking gun, but all takentogether more than enough, thenit certainly is within the NBA’sright – and, arguably, its obliga-tion to American society as awhole – to rid itself of ananachronistic pariah like Sterling.
Racism and Enabling: Deconstructing Donald Sterling
LETTER FROM ATHENS
Monsters Due on Maple St. – Greece in the Twilight Zone
by ANDYDABILIS
Special to The National Herald
Last month theA n n u n c i a t i o nCathedral ofBoston celebratedtheir metropoli-tan’s 30th anniver-sary as a bishopwith a musical con-cert featuring theparticipation ofdozens of youngpeople, rangingfrom grade schoolstudents to colle-gians. This com-mendable effort –the second suchmusical celebration organizedthis year by the Boston Cathe-dral – is noteworthy in that ithelps directly involve youngpeople in community events andallows them a forum to displaytheir talents. It is equally semi-nal because it helps promoteand propagate the Hellenic cul-ture through one of its most eas-ily transmittable and educa-tional modes – music. For thepeople of Greece, their music,which was traditionally com-posed from the verses of poetry– forming a masterful combina-tion of literature and melody –represents both an educationaland entertainment medium, aswell as a showcase of living cul-tural masterpieces. Perhaps thisis why these events are so dy-namically engaging for perform-ers and audience membersalike.
For the dozens of young peo-ple who participated in thisevent, it will surely serve as alasting memory. Not only did itprovide them with an opportu-nity to display their talents, butit also gave them an opportunityto directly contribute to theevents taking place within thecommunity. Music and other artforms possess the uncannyability to unite peopleand transcend bound-aries; including cul-tural, social, and de-m o g r a p h i cboundaries. Amongthe guests at lastmonth’s concert inBoston were a prelateof the Church, a for-mer governor andpresidential candidate,founders of Archdioce-san institutions likeLeadership 100who have beenhonored bythe Ecu-menical Pa-triarchate,in addition tocollege studentsand school-aged chil-dren and teens just nowplanning their futures. Suc-cessful entrepreneurs to-gether with hardworking labor-ers all sat down together toenjoy the music of Hadjidakis,Theodorakis, Markopoulos, andother major Greek composersand singers. Two young profes-sionals from the Cathedral fam-ily, the Greek School directorand boys’ basketball teamcoach, were chosen to emceethe event, further highlightingthe prominent position enjoyedthere by the youth. Of course,for older members of the BostonCathedral, who remember theministry of the late Archiman-drite James Coucouzis (whowent on to become ArchbishopIakovos of North and SouthAmerica) and the tremendousemphasis he placed on theyouth at that time, these eventslikely reawaken fond memoriesand create a spirit of hope inwhat the future holds.
The power of music to rein-vigorate cultural vitality goeswithout saying. It can serve tominimize the distance separat-ing the Diaspora from the home-land, irrigate the roots of theGreek Communities plantedabroad and help the talent ofthe local members blossom andyield bountiful fruit, increasefeelings of belonging and asso-ciation with the in-group, pro-vide empirical knowledge intothe mother culture, and re-focusenergy into the all importantHellenic concept of “participa-tion,” which is so integral to thedemocratic and communalprocess. After all, according tothe Hellenic tradition, “alitheia”or truth (derived from the neg-ative Greek prefix “a” and the
word “lithi,” whichmeans to forget,hence the conceptof truth meaning“that which is notforgotten”) is de-fined and experi-enced communally,and therefore,events such asthese, in which themembers may di-rectly partake inthe festivities, alsorepresent an empir-ical process into thediscovery of our
cultural and ethnic truth. But such events are also im-
portant because they illustratethe potential that exists for ourlocal communal organizationsto organize seminal culturalevents. In addition to the func-tion of the local parish as thespiritual home to the commu-nity of faithful and hospital forall those seeking spiritual andphysical healing, parish commu-nities also play an essential ed-ucational and cultural role insafeguarding the Hellenic iden-tity. Such events feature truepopular musical masterpiecescreated by a people who, albeitpoor, downtrodden, and facedwith all kinds of challenges anddifficulties arising from thetragic events that befell themthroughout the millennia oftheir history, yet who remark-ably still managed to speak thelanguage of poets and centertheir lives around the artistic ex-pression of their daily existence– through their songs present inhappiness and sorrow, in timesof revelry and in times of devo-tion, their architecture andphilokalia (love of beauty), evi-dent in the unique manner in
which they built theirchurches (somebody
go and tell Santi-ago Calatravabefore he turnsSt. NicholasChurch atGround Zerointo a giant“kourambie”as the first
photos mortify-ingly indicate)
or the man-ner
i nw h i c h
t h e yarranged their gardens
(you can spot a Greek homefrom a mile away anywhere inthe world from the flower potson the balconies and the steps).The ingenuity with which an“unschooled” but highly culti-vated villager from a Greek is-land could take a tin oil can andturn it into the most charmingof flower pots astounded GreekNobel laureate Odysseas Elytis,as did the classiness of a claypot or knit rug you might findin the same “poor” yet ines-timably wealthy home.
These cultural elements arenot something you can learn ina classroom or buy over the In-ternet. They are shared experi-ences, like the scent from theincense that your grandmotherwould burn when she wouldcense the home or the transcen-dental quality of the humbleicon shelf in your home wherean oil lamp slowly burns illumi-nating our cultural othernessfaintly but evidently and shed-ding light on our rich tradition.
Congratulations to the Deanof the Annunciation Cathedralof New England ArchimandriteCleopas Strongylis and his fel-low philomuse laborers in thatcelebrated vineyard of the Lordin downtown Boston for choos-ing such an authentic, empirical,communal, and invigoratingway to celebrate a milestone inthe life of their metropolis. Atthe very least, they remain faith-ful to the recurring commandreceived by Socrates to “makemusic and work at it” (Phaedo,60e), and that is an accomplish-ment in itself.
Follow me on Twitter@CTripoulas
Make Music and KeepingDreams of Socrates Alive
by ChristopherTRIPOULAS
Special to The National Herald
by CONSTANTINOS E.SCAROS
Special to The National Herald
Clippers owner Donald Sterling seen here with Vivian Stiviano, who recorded an incriminatingconversation between the two of them. Over the years, Sterling made some remarks that wereoutright racist, others racism-enabling, but all extremely unwelcome.
DEATH NOTICES
n CHINONIS, ELIAS D.FLINT, MI (From the Flint Jour-nal, published on Apr. 15) –Elias D. Chinonis, of GrandBlanc, age 90, died Sunday,April 13, 2014 peacefully athome surrounded by his family.Funeral service will be held11am Thursday, April 17, 2014at Assumption Greek OrthodoxChurch, 2245 East BaldwinRoad, Grand Blanc, His Emi-nence Metropolitan Nicholas ofDetroit and Father Angelo Mag-gos officiating. Burial in GreatLakes National Cemetery. Con-tributions may be made to As-sumption Greek OrthodoxChurch care of The EndowmentFund. Visitation 3-8pm Wednes-day at the Swartz FuneralHome, 1225 West Hill Road,Flint. A Trisagion Service will beheld 6pm Wednesday eveningat the funeral home. Elias wasborn in Skortsinu, Greece onMarch 12, 1924, the son of thelate Dionysius and Pagniota(Yeotis) Chinonis and was theoldest of five children. He leftPatras, Greece on February 12,1940 coming to America on Feb-ruary 22, 1940 at the age of 15through Ellis Island. He at-tended Walker & Whittier JuniorHigh School. He served in theUnited States Army from 1943-1946. On November 13, 1949,he married Katie Karay in De-troit. He was a member of As-sumption Greek OrthodoxChurch and Holy Trinity GreekOrthodox Church in Clearwater,FL. Elias shined shoes andworked for his uncles, Harryand Gust Yeotis at Tasty ConeyIsland. He opened the SilverRail Bar in downtown Flint onWater Street in 1949, where itremained until 1975. He openedChinonis Chrysler PlymouthDodge with his son, Dennis in1970 until 1996. He was pastpresident of the Flint Automo-bile Dealers Association. Eliasloved the stock market, golf andhunting. His many associationsincluded Archon, Leadership100, Order of AHEPA, servingas past National Secretary, Dur-kee Lake Hunt Club, WarwickHills, Masonic Lodge and Bel-leair Country Club of Clearwa-ter, FL. His favorite place to eatwas Katie's Kitchen. Survivingare wife, Katie; children, Dennisand wife Dr. Debra Chinonis ofGrand Blanc and Diane and hus-band Walt Foraker of Clarkston;grandchildren, Nancy and hus-band Jeff Lauster of Fenton,Elias of Fenton and Richard ofGrand Blanc; brother, Dr. PanoChinonis of Athens, Greece, sis-ter, Vaso Hassoulas of AthensGreece and brother, John andwife Linda Chinonis of Fenton;sister-in-law, Sandy Chinonis ofGrand Blanc; and many niecesand nephews. He was precededin death by his parents, andbrother, Gus Chinonis. Your con-dolences may be shared withthe family at swartzfuneral-homeinc.com.
n CHOCALAS, JIMMY G.LA MIRADA, CA (From the Or-ange County Register, publishedon Apr. 19) – Chocalas, JimmyG., age 60 passed away peace-fully April 4, 2014. He was bornOctober 28, 1953 in San Fran-cisco, California and grew up inOakland and Sonoma Ca. Hespent several years of his life onthe island of Skopelos in Greece,where he married and had twodaughters. While living there heworked as a baker, a plumberand also in the Greek MerchantMarine. After returning to thestates he became a cook for ashort time and eventuallymoved to southern Californiawhere he became a heat and airconditioning tech. He is sur-vived by his parents Lee andElaine Chocalas of Sonoma, Ca.;his sister, Effie 'Joy' Bertlin-Ve-lasquez of Gold River, CA; hisbrother, John Chocalas ofSonoma, Ca.; his sister, RebekaLinder of La Habra Heights, Ca.;his daughters, Elaine and Andri-anna Chocalas of Skopelos,Greece; and his nieces andnephews, Chris, David, andCraig Bertlin, Elias and NicholasChocalas, and Elaine, Kaily andJohn Beatty. Our brother GusChocalas passed away June 4,2013. Jimmy spent the last 25years or more of his life in Hunt-ington Beach and the BuenaPark area. He said the best partof his life was the past 5 yearsbecause with the support of themany friends he made thru theAlano Club he was able to makea better life for himself.
n DIAMOND, SPEROCAMP HILL, PA (From theLebanon Daily News, publishedon Apr. 1) – Spero G. Diamond"Speed/ Steve" CAMP HILLSpero Diamond, 93, died peace-fully at home on March 29,2014. He was born in Harris-burg in 1920 to the late GeorgeDiamond and Despina (Spe-liote) Diamond who were im-migrants from Greece. As a
youngster growing up in the cityof Harrisburg, the neighborhoodkids nicknamed him "Speed" be-cause he was the fastest runner.After graduating from John Har-ris High School, he entered theArmy Air Corp to serve in WWII.He later graduated from Ship-pensburg University with aBachelor's Degree in SecondaryEducation and then achieved hisMaster's Degree in Geographyfrom Florida State University.His first job after graduatingwas as the teacher in a oneroom schoolhouse near Hershey.During the summer, he workedin construction and chose a ca-reer in home building. Over theyears he built hundreds ofhomes in the Harrisburg area indevelopments such as Lat-shmere Manor, Sherwood For-est, and Sunnyland as well asthe Georgetown Apartmentcomplex. He prided in buildinga quality home at an affordableprice. Health and fitness werecornerstones in his life. In highschool and college he ran trackand cross country. Running con-tinued to be a pastime into hisadult years. While a teenager,he was exposed to the game oftennis which became a lifelongpassion, both as a player and aspectator. Before the days of in-door tennis courts, he and hisfriend would sweep snow off ofthe court so that they could playin the winter. He never smoked,never drank, and alwayswarned not to do drugs, "That'swhy they call it dope"!!! He wasa member of The Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral in Camp Hill, PAand helped in the transitionfrom the original location onWalnut Street in Harrisburg toCamp Hill in 1970. He taughtSunday School to 4th gradersfor four decades. His talent wastelling Bible stories in a way thatcaptured their attention and ad-miration. He described teachingSunday School as "the best job Iever had". Later in life, he alsoattended Christian Life Assem-bly in Camp Hill, PA. He will beremembered as a kind and lov-ing person who placed great im-portance on his faith and family.He exemplified the true Ameri-can experience as a first gener-ation immigrant who used sac-rifice, a strong work ethic andself-reliance to achieve success.He was predeceased by hisbrother Constantine (Charlie) in1958 as the result of a planecrash. Surviving are his wife of22 years Elizabeth (Light); hissister Toula Buhrman; his firstwife Helen (Kaperonis) andtheir children George and wifeWendy, Stephanie and husbandChris Reese, and Thespina andhusband Jon Spivey ; step-chil-dren Jeff Longenecker and fi-ance Genny, Joyce and husbandJack Baker, Bruce Longeneckerand wife Renee, Kevin Longe-necker, and Jane and husbandMichael Suter; 5 grandchildren,5 step-grandchildren and onestep-great grandchild as welland nieces and nephews. Visi-tation will be on Friday April 4from 4-6 pm at the Neill FuneralHome, 3401 Market Street,Camp Hill. Funeral services willbe held at Holy Trinity GreekOrthodox Cathedral, 1000 Yver-don Drive, Camp Hill on Satur-day April 5 at 11 am with addi-tional visitation starting at 10am. Burial will be at HarrisburgEast Cemetery. Memorial con-tributions can be made to HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Cathe-dral or Christian Life Assembly.Online Condolences may bemade at Neillcamphill.com.
n GOUSIOS, ARISTIDESLAFAYETTE, CA (From the SanFrancisco Chronicle, publishedon Apr. 20) – After a short ill-ness, Dr. Aristides G. Gousios ofLafayette, California passedaway on Saturday April 12,2014 surrounded by his wife of60 years, his children andgrandchildren. He immigratedto the United States with ascholarship, a Greek-English dic-tionary and a dream to becomea doctor. He studied at Mt.Union College in Alliance, Ohioand later graduated from CaseWestern Reserve UniversityMedical School, Cleveland, Ohioin 1955. Kaiser Hospital wel-comed him where he practicedfor twenty years as a Cardiolo-gist and Emergency Roomphysician. As an associate clini-cal professor at UCSF he en-joyed teaching and had the op-portunity to develop exerciseand oxygen requirements forheart attack survivors, a verynew field in the 1950s. He laterdeveloped his own full serviceprivate practice in Castro Valley.He loved Yosemite and LakeTahoe and spent many happysummers in both locations. In1980 he moved his family intothe dream home he imaginedand built and later renamed hisprivate road, Nemea Lane, tohonor his home in Greece. Heis survived by his wife, Vasiliki,children Diana G. Lincoln(James), Eleni E. Gousios,George A. Gousios (Donia), NikiWatson (Simon) and TomGousios (Amy). His admiringgrandchildren, Andrew Lincolnand Matthew Lincoln, Christo-pher, Athan and Nikko Gousios
and Penelope and Annika Wat-son, will always miss him. Hisdear sisters, Dimitra, Dina andMelia, only recently precededhim in death. Brother AndreasGousios (Barbara) survives himalong with many nieces,nephews, cousins and friendsnurtured in his professional ca-reer. An active member of theGreek Orthodox Cathedral ofthe Ascension in Oakland, hewas also a founder of the Hel-lenic American Professional So-ciety, a scholarship organizationfor Greek Youth. Family andfriends are invited to attend avisitation at 6:pm, with the Tris-agion to follow, Monday, April21, at 7:pm at the Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral of the Ascension.4700 Lincoln ave, Oakland. Fu-neral Services Tuesday April 22,at 12:noon at the Cathedral,Burial to follow at MountainView Cemetery, Oakland. Mayhis memory be eternal. For fur-ther information please contactHarry W. Greer Funeral DirectorFDR745.
n HATZISTRAVAKIS, IGNATIOS
READING, PA – (From the Read-ing Eagle, published on Apr. 12)– Ignatios H. "Iggy" Hatzis-tavrakis, 69, of Reading, passedaway April 8, 2014 in his resi-dence. He was the husband ofPeggy A. (Brandel) Hatzis-tavrakis. Born in Greece, he wasthe son of the late Haralambosand Irene (Karakla) Hatzis-tavrakis. Iggy was a member ofSts. Constantine & Helen GreekOrthodox Church. From hishumble beginnings, Iggy beganwork at an early age paving theway for a lifetime career as arestaurateur. Starting in Greece,he began as a busboy andworked his way up to an execu-tive chef position with therenowned Onassis Lines. Yearslater, after moving to the UnitedStates, he became the owner ofsix restaurants, each successfulin its own unique way. Qualityflavorful food, served in a familyfriendly atmosphere made Iggyquite a legend in local cuisine.Iggy was a wonderful man whowas loved by many and wouldgive his shirt off his back for any-one in need. He loved to feedpeople and not only his familyand friends but also anyone inneed. Iggy was also willing tolend a helping hand to anyone.Surviving in addition to his wifeis a daughter, Elaine Bradley,wife of Christian Bradley, Wayne,PA; daughter, Ericka Ruelas, wifeof Alonzo Ruelas, Reading; son,Harry Hatzistavrakis, husbandof Patti Hatzistavrakis, Hawaii;and stepdaughter, Angela Sny-der, wife of Paul Snyder, Read-ing. There are 4 grandchildren:Sofia, Cindy, Noah, Brandon.Other survivors include brother,Stratos Hatzistavrakis, husbandof Rena Hatzistavrakis, Reading.There are 3 nieces: Rhea An-tonellos, wife of Louie Antonel-los, and Kristen and Irene (re-siding in Greece); nephew,Harry Hatzis-tavrakis, Reading.He was preceded in death bybrother, Stavros Hatzistavrakis.Iggy was also truly loved by hisMichigan family, including manysisters-in-law, brothers-in-law,nephews and nieces. In lieu offlowers, contributions may bemade in Iggy's memory to Sts.Constantine & Helen Greek Or-thodox Church, 1001 E.Wyomissing Blvd., Reading, PA19611 and/or Humane Societyof Berks County, 1801 N. 11thStreet, Reading, PA 19604. Fu-neral services will be Monday,April 14, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. inSts. Constantine & Helen GreekOrthodox Church, 1001 E.Wyomissing Blvd., Reading.Family will receive friends Sun-day 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Bean Fu-neral Homes, North 16th &Rockland Sts., and also Monday10:00-11:00 at church. Entomb-ment will be in GethsemaneCemetery Mausoleum. Bean Fu-neral Homes, Hampden Heightsis charge of arrangements. On-line condolences may be madeat www.beanfuneralhomes.com.
n KARATASIOS, OLYMPIAHARTFORD, CT (From the Hart-ford Courant, published on Apr.19) – Olympia (Delinikos)Karatasios passed peacefully atHartford Hospital on Monday,April 14, 2014. She was born inRodohori, Kozani, Greece in1932 daughter of the lateGeorge and Kalliope (Pa-padopoulos) Delinikos .She im-migrated to the United States in1963 with her husband Christosand daughter, Malamati. Shewas predeceased by both herhusband and her brother FotiosVakfatis. Olympia lived in Hart-ford and then in Wethersfieldfor the past 37 years. She retiredfrom Pratt & Whitney in 1993.Olympia was a loving Mother,Grandmother (Yiayia), sister,cousin, and friend who alwayscared more for others than forherself. Her greatest joy was be-ing with her family, especiallyher granddaughters. She is sur-vived by her daughter MalamatiLitts and her husband Robert ofWethersfield; her granddaugh-ters Melissa Litts of Boston andKristiana Litts of Wethersfield;her brother Athanasios Vakfaris
and his wife Theodora of Thes-saloniki, Greece; as well asmany cousins, nieces andfriends. The family would liketo thank her closest friends whochecked on her daily, KondiloKarelas and Loula Adamidis.Also, thank you to her caregiver,Monika Stefanski, for her lovingcare. Lastly, thank you to allwho cared for her at HartfordHospital with so much respectand sensitivity. The funeral willbe Tuesday, April 22, 11:30 a.m.in St. George Greek OrthodoxCathedral, 433 Fairfield Ave.Hartford, CT 06114 with theRev. Dr. F. George Zugravu offi-ciating. Burial will follow inCedar Hill Cemetery. Friendsmay call Monday April 21st 5-8p.m. at Dillon-Baxter FuneralHome, 1276 Berlin Tpke.Wethersfield. A Trsiayion servicewill be held Monday 6 p.m. atthe funeral home. Contributionsin her memory may be made to:Holy Protection Monastery, 1 St.Joseph's Way, White Haven, PAor to St. George Greek OrthodoxCathedral. To share a memorywith the family, please visit,www.dillonbaxter.com.
n PAPANICOLAOU, JOHNHASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, NY(From the Journal News, pub-lished on Apr. 1) – John AnthonyPapanicolaou was born inVoutiani Greece, a small farmingvillage outside of the city ofSparta. As a teen, John becamean "adarti" Greek for freedomfighter, combating Nazi Germanyand her allies for the right offreedom and democracy duringWWII. Because of his characterand integrity, John was taken towork in the shipping industry inAthens which is how he eventu-ally get to the shores of NewYork. With less than $200 in hispocket and more ambition thanany man I have and will evermeet, he would come to meetwhat he would often refer to as"the best looking girl in all ofYonkers," Mary Hanges. Theymarried quickly and raised threebeautiful children together. Hewould go on to work alongsideMary's father who was rooted inthe flower business since he firstcame to the US in the early1900's. This industry would bewhere John would find his nicheand grow to become a huge suc-cess and a pillar of his commu-nity. There is so much to sayabout his character and his lovethat this short space would neversuffice. He was a great man whowill be missed momentously. Forthose who were lucky enough toget through his tough exterior,John was a tender man who puthimself last and could never sayno to anyone. Survived by hiswife of 68 years Mary, daughterJoanne, sons Anthony and Harry,grandchildren, Niko, Yanni,John, George, Alex, Niko andGregory and great-grandchildrenNiko, Demetra and Raffi. MayGod bless him and welcome himinto his kingdom. We love youand will miss you immensely Pa-pouli. Your memory will be for-ever a part of us and we thankyou for everything. Panta sti kar-dia mas.
VLAHOS, EFTYCHIAHARRISBURG, PA (From theHarrisburg Patriot-News, pub-lished on Apr. 3) – Eftychia"Effie" Vlahos, 90, of York, cur-rently residing in SusquehannaTwp., Harrisburg, went to bewith Lord Monday, March 31,2014. Born 1923 in Neohorion,Greece; immigrated to the U.S.in February, 1955 and marriedthe late Nicholaos Vlahos inApril of 1955. She was a retiredseamstress; a member of theHoly Trinity Greek OrthodoxCathedral; and she was an avidflower gardener, with the ulti-mate green thumb. She was avery loving mother, a giving per-son, a devoted Christian, andwhen she could she was activein the community. Surviving isher daughter, Katherine Kat-sikas, husband, George, of Har-risburg; her son, Tim Vlahos, ofYork; and two sisters, VickieStergiou, of York and Asimo Tri-antafyllou, of Nafpaktos,Greece. Funeral Service will beheld 11:00 AM Friday, April 4,2014 in Holy Trinity Greek Or-thodox Cathedral, 1000 Yver-don Dr., Camp Hill. Burial willbe in East Harrisburg Cemetery.A viewing will be held 6:00 PMto 8:00 PM Thursday, April 3,2014 in Holy Trinity Greek Or-thodox Cathedral. The trisiagonservice will be at 7:30 PM.Memorial contributions may bemade to the Holy Trinity GreekOrthodox Cathedral, 1000 Yver-don Dr., Camp Hill, PA 17011.
n YEANNAKOPOULOS,JAMES
SALEM, MA (From the BostonGlobe, published on Apr. 21) –James (Jim) John Yeannakopou-los, age 87, died peacefully atNorth Shore Medical Center inSalem on Thursday morning,April 17, 2014. Jim was born inSalem, MA, the son of the lateJohn and Eleni (Eliopoulos)Yeannakopoulos. He graduatedfrom Salem Classical HighSchool, Class of 1944. After grad-uation, he attended Boston Uni-versity for a year before joining
the Army. During his time in theservice, he worked as a financeclerk in Germany with the 337thFinance and Disbursement Of-fice. Following his discharge, hereturned to Boston Universityand received his degree in Lib-eral Arts in 1949. Jim, a life-longlearner, continued his educationand received his Masters in Edu-cation from Boston University in1956. He then continued on toHarvards Graduate School of Ed-ucation where he received a Cer-tificate of Advanced Study in Ed-ucation Administration in 1962.Jim, a Fulbright Scholarship re-cipient in South America, en-rolled in the doctoral program atColumbia University TeachersCollege. Jim began his teachingcareer in Fairhaven, MA at theAnthony School as a Social Stud-ies teacher. A few years later, hebegan an international teachingcareer. He taught many gradelevels in Kobe, Japan, and latermoved on as a principal in sev-eral schools in France and Ger-many. Upon returning to theStates, he spent time teaching inBrookline, MA at both the EdithC. Baker School and DriscollSchool. He then went on to be-come the Administrative Assis-tant to the Superintendent ofSchools within the Nyack PublicSchools in Nyack, NY. Severalyears later, and until his retire-ment, he was the principal of theAlden Terrace School in Elmont,NY. After his retirement, Jim con-tinued to remain active as an ed-ucator. He spent four years asHeadmaster at Cathedral Schoolin New York City, and as a socialworker at the Hanac-HellenicAmerican Neighborhood ActionCommittee in Bronx, NY. In thisrole, he helped local residentsobtain much needed services.
Jim was the director of the Hel-lenic Cultural Center in Astoria,NY. He was very proud of hisGreek heritage and was able toarrange lectures, art shows, andmusical and theater events alldealing with Greek culture. Jimtaught ESL classes at HANAC inJackson Heights and served asheadmaster at Three HierarchsSchool in Brooklyn, NY. Jim livedevery day to its fullest and was afriend to everybody. He hadmany friends and was very activein corresponding with them. Hewas the "family photographer"and was considered the familyhistorian. He was a passionatefan of the opera and was a mem-ber of the Committee to Restorethe Bell Tower at Saint VasiliosGreek Orthodox Church. Prior tohis untimely death, Jim wasmaking arrangements to travelto Greece with his brother andfamily members. Jim is survivedby his sister Florence Gianakakisof Ipswich and his brotherTheodore of Salem. He alsoleaves behind an extensive fam-ily including cousins, nieces,nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and godchildren. Hewas devoted to his family andfriends and will be greatlymissed. He was predeceased bytwo brothers, Stavros and Anas-tash Ernie and two sisters, Efro-sine and Julia. Mr. Yeannakopou-los funeral will be held from theMurphy Funeral Home, 85 Fed-eral St., (corner of North St.)SALEM on Thursday, April 24that 9:15 A.M. to be followed byFuneral Services at Saint VasiliosChurch, 5 Paleologos Street,Peabody, MA at 10:00 A.M. Vis-iting hours will be at the MurphyFuneral Home, 85 Federal St,(corner of North St) SALEM onWednesday from 4:00 p.m. to8:00 p.m. Relatives and friendsare respectfully invited to attend.Interment will be in GreenlawnCemetery, Salem. For those whowish, memorial contributionsmay be made to Saint VasiliosChurch, 5 Paleologos St,Peabody, MA 01960, for a schol-arship which will be establishedin his name. For on line guestbook or additional informationplease call 978-744-0497 or visitwww.MurphyFuneralHome.com.
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9 a.m. to 5 p.m. est or e-mailed to:
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Notice of formation of CALAY, LLC. Articles of Or-ganization (DOM. LLC) filed with the Secretaryof State of NY (SSNY) on 04/07/14. Office loca-tion, Kings County. SSNY has been designated asagent of the LLC upon whom process against itmay be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Secre-tary of State, 1 Commerce Plaza, Albany, NY12260. Purpose: Any lawful act.
2737331/19045
Notice of formation of GATEWAY REPAIRSLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect'y ofState of NY (SSNY) on 3/17/2014. Officelocation, County of Kings. SSNY has beendesignated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNYshall mail process to: The LLC, 3260Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn NY 11234.Purpose: any lawful act.
273717/11629
Notice of Formation of NATIONAL GRIDGENERATION VENTURES LLC Arts. of Org. filedwith Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/21/14.Office location: Kings County. Princ. office ofLLC: 175 E. Old Country Rd., Hicksville, NY11801. SSNY designated as agent of LLC uponwhom process against it may be served. SSNYshall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80State St., Albany, NY 12207, regd. agent uponwhom and at which process may be served.Purpose: Any lawful activity.
273714/17976
Notice of formation of PLATINUMENROLLMENT SPECIALISTS, LLC Articlesof Organization (Dom LLC) filed with theSecretary of State of NY on 04/02/2014.Office location: Kings County. SSNY has beendesignated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. SSNY shallmail process to: SIMCHA FEUER, 4512Farragut Road, Brooklyn, NY 11203.Purpose: Any lawful activity.
273716/19018
GREENPOINT MEDICAL OF NEW YORKLLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State(SSNY) 4/23/14 Office in Kings Co.SSNY design. Agent of PLLC upon whomprocess may be served. SSNY shall mailcopy of process to Corporate CreationNetwork Inc. 15 N Mill St. Nyack, NY10960. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
273713/18588
A.M.E.X. LLC, a domestic LLC, filed with theSSNY on 4/3/14. Office location: Kings County.SSNY is designated as agent upon whom processagainst the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mailprocess to The LLC, 72-17 3rd Ave., Apt. #1R,Brooklyn, NY 11209. General Purpose.
273708/10709
Notice of formation of VAN BRUNT LLC a do-mestic LLC. Articles of Organization filed withthe Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on09/16/2008. Office location: Kings County.SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLCupon whom process may be served. SSNY shallmail a copy to: THE LLC, 217 Van Brunt Street,Brooklyn, NY 11231. Purpose: any lawful ac-tivity.
273702/19027
Notice of formation of ORGANIZED JUMBLE,LLC. (DOM LLC) Articles of Organization filedwith the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY)on 04/07/2014. NY Office location: NassauCounty. SSNY has been designated as agent of theLLC upon whom process may be served. SSNYshall mail copy to: LegalInc Corporation ServicesINC., 8857 Alexander Road, Suite 100A, Batavia,NY 14020. Purpose: any lawful activity.
273701/19026
SUNNY SMILES DENTAL, PLLC, a domesticPLLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on3/19/14. Office location: Kings County. SSNY isdesignated as agent upon whom process againstthe PLLC may be served. SSNY shall mail processto: The PLLC, 2419 E. 17th St., Brooklyn, NY11235. Purpose: Dentistry.
273681/10709
Notice of formation of limited liability company(LLC). CERMI, LLC. Articles of Organization filedwith Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on11/06/2013. NY office location: Kings County. SSNYhas been designated as agent of the LLC upon whomprocess against it may be served. The post office ad-dress to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of anyprocess against the LLC served upon him/her is1715 East 33rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11234.Purpose/character of LLC: Any lawful purpose.
273673/19010
Notice of formation of Urban Casa LLC Arts.of Org. filed with the Sect'y of State of NY(SSNY) on 1/15/2014. Office location,County of Kings. SSNY has been designatedas agent of the LLC upon whom processagainst it may be served. SSNY shall mailprocess to: The LLC, 2352 Flatbush Ave.,Brooklyn NY 11234. Purpose: any lawfulact.
273657/11629
2140 EAST 70TH LLC, a domestic LLC, filed withthe SSNY on 3/7/14. Office location: KingsCounty. SSNY is designated as agent upon whomprocess against the LLC may be served. SSNYshall mail process to The LLC, 2760 Whitman Dr.,Brooklyn, NY 11234. General Purpose.
273661/10709
LITRAS FUNERAL HOMEARLINGTON BENSON DOWD, INC FUNERAL HOME83-15 Parsons Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11432(718) 858-4434 • (800) 245-4872
APOSTOLOPOULOSApostle Family - Gregory, Nicholas, Andrew - Funeral Directors of RIVERDALE FUNERAL HOME Inc.5044 BroadwayNew York, NY 10034(212) 942-4000Toll Free 1-888-GAPOSTLECONSTANTINIDESFUNERAL PARLOR Co.(718) 745-1010Services in all localities - Low cost shipping to Greece
ANTONOPOULOS FUNERAL HOME, INC.Konstantinos Antonopoulos - Funeral Director38-08 Ditmars Blvd.,Astoria, New York 11105(718) 728-8500Not affiliated with any other funeral home.
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OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS14 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
to PlAce your clAssiFieD AD, cAll: (718) 784-5255, eXt. 106, e-mAil: classifieds@ thenationalherald.com
THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014 15
AHEPA announced that two study abroad programs will be availablethis summer, providing college students the opportunity to earn credit.
This year we are pleased to announce our partnership with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation who have graciously offered assistance
to our participants!
The Ahepa/Stavros Niarchos Foundation Journey to Greece Program is composed of two separate trips.
The first is the AHEPA/Webster Journey to Greece Program, which is being held in cooperation with Webster University,
from June 26 to July 26, 2014.
New this year "The AHEPA/DEREE-ACG Excursion to Greece"will be launched in cooperation with DEREE -
The American College of Greece, from July 9 to 31, 2014.
Apply now, the MAY 15 deadline is fast approaching and space is limited.
Recipients can be awarded financial scholarships funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in amounts up to $2,000 based
on financial need.
Visit the AHEPA web site at www.ahepa.org to download and complete the application, DON’T BE LEFT OUT!
AHEPA Headquarters. 1909 Q Street, NW. Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009
(202) 232-6300
16 THE NATIONAL HERALD, MAY 10-16, 2014
ATLANTIC BANKA tradition of strength, stability and service...
Joseph Ficalora, the President and chief executive officer
of new york community bancorp, wishes to assure the Greek-
American community that Atlantic bank will continue to serve the
community, with effectiveness, responsibility, and respect,
as spiros voutsinas of blessed memory did for many years.
he affirms that Atlantic bank will maintain its Greek identity
and will continue the work and the vision of our beloved spiros
voutsinas.
our aim is that our Greek customers, to whom we offer
heartfelt thanks, will find in his successor the same level of
understanding and commitment to serving the needs of the Greek
community.
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Accommodating large account relations as a member of the $46,700,000,000 (46.7 billion) new york community bancorp, inc.*
*Atlantic bank is a division of new york commercial bank, new york commercial bank is subsidiary of new york community bancorp. Assets as of 12/31/13.
For additional information contact: 1.800.535.2269 • www.abny.comeighteen convenient locations: brooklyn • long island • manhattan • Queens • westchester
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