Around & about British
Columbia
By
Katerina & Dimitris Angelatos
Greek
Food Festival
Hellenic
Community of Vancouver
Photos 1
The
annual Greek Food Festival was held at the Hellenic Community of Vancouver
Octïber
17 -19. This is an indoor
event and one of the major fundraisers for that community. We did not get
a chance to attend until the last day but judging by the attendance that
day the overall attendance seemed to be down from past years. However,
those that did attend all seemed to be having a good time.
People could buy food at the open courtyard “restaurant”, the
“kafeneion” and the bakeshop. A display of Greek crafts was on the
upper mezzanine and slide shows of Greece were in one of the lower Sunday
school rooms. Tours of St. George Cathedral were also part of the festival
so Father Demetrios was extra busy as he also had a schedule of regular
church services. As well during the festival one could buy tickets for a
chance to win prizes and a free trip to Greece. Of course the dance
performances on the stage were also a popular “draw”. Centre stage during the whole festival was the large banner
in support of the 28th Olympian Games in Athens, Greece in
August of 2004.
Welcoming
the new consul of Greece to Vancouver
Photos1
On
Wednesday, November 26, the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC
hosted a reception at the Hellenic Community Centre in Vancouver in order
to welcome the new Consul of Greece, Georgios Aravositas.
Mr. Aravositas arrived in Vancouver on October 20th to
take up his post as Consul of Greece.
He was born in Athens in 1965 and studied law at the University of
Athens. At this time he also entered the diplomatic field. He graduated as
top student in 1991. His first position was as third secretary with the
Ministry of the Exterior. He advanced within the department. In 1994 he
was promoted to Consul of Greece to Cape Town, South Africa where he
served until 1998. In 1997 he also became 1st secretary to the
Greek Embassy in South Africa. In 1998 he was transferred to the Greek
Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia as second in position. In 2000 he became the
Consul of Greece to Perth, Australia. In 2002 he returned to Greece to the
Ministry of the Exterior where he held several different positions.
In October of 2003 he was assigned as Consul of Greece to
Vancouver, Canada.
Mr.
George Aravositas is not only well educated but also has the gift of
diplomacy. He is fluent in many languages, Greek, English, French and
Spanish.
“OXI”
Day celebrations in Vancouver
The October 28, 1940 -
“OXI “ DAY celebrations in Vancouver this year were very low key. On
Sunday, October 26th the area Greek churches, St. George
Cathedral (Vancouver), St. Nicholas & Dimitrios Church (East
Vancouver) and St. Constantine & Helen Church (Surrey) each held
memorial services during the Sunday Liturgy, commemorating “OXI” Day
as well as the feast of St. Dimitrios, which falls on October 26.
The Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver is where the annual
official celebrations take place. It is to St. Nicholas & Dimitrios
Church that the Greek societies and schools are invited to take part in
the memorial service and bring their banners or “lavara”.
It is also St. Nicholas & St. Dimitrios Church that the Consul
of Greece, the Consulate staff and the Greek Harbour Master attend to
honour this special time in Greek history.
After the completion of the services a luncheon ($10 per plate) was
held in the church basement. The main guest speakers for the day were the
new Consul of Greece, George Aravositas and the Greek Harbour Master,
Nikolas Spanakis. This was the first official function of the new Consul
since his arrival in Vancouver.
The only decorations visible in the hall were a few small paper
Greek flags tacked to some of the pillars. A few children put on a small
program. A large number of families who were in attendance at the church
services did not remain to take part in the OXI day celebrations. Many
people object to using these ethnic celebrations (OXI Day, March 25th
–Greek Independence Day) as fundraisers by the Greek Orthodox Churches
or Greek organizations.
“OXI”
Day – Remembrance Day celebrations in Langley
The Greek Cultural Community of Langley held its 10th
annual “OXI DAY”
celebrations on Nov. 9th, in conjunction with the commemoration
of Remembrance Day (Nov. 11th).
This was held at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Langley. There too a
memorial service followed the Sunday liturgy. Archbishop Lazaros spoke on
the importance of commemorating both these special days.
Afterwards the church service everyone entered the church hall to
participate in the free celebrations. There the guest speaker, Dr. Andre
Gerolymatos of the Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University gave a
short talk, in both Greek and English, on the importance of “OXI” or
“NO” Day. He explained how the Greek resistance helped turn the tide
of WW2. Among the special guests were Dr. Panagiotis Pappas, also of Simon
Fraser University and Peter Capadouca, a past president
of the Hellenic Congress of BC.
The speeches were followed by a free luncheon, provided by members
by the Greek Cultural Community of Langley, area restaurants and other
individuals.
The Greek Cultural Community of Langley and Fraser Valley has
sponsored the ethnic events over the past years, not as a means for fund
raising but rather for the purpose of bringing people together to preserve
the culture of their forefathers.
Hellenic
Field School – Photo contest
Photos
Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University together with the
Cretan Association of BC, the Kefalonian Society of BC and the Hellenic
Canadian Congress of BC sponsored the first annual Hellenic Studies Greece
Field School photo contest. This field school is held annually on the
islands of Kefalonia and Crete. The winners were picked on October 7th, at
the Hellenic Community Centre in Vancouver.
Randall Martin, the Director of SFU’s International Studies spoke
on the success of the program in general. Simon Fraser University has
sponsored field schools for 28 years. It currently sponsors twelve field
schools, annually or biannual. SFU has received national and international
awards for its field school program.
It presently sends 300 students a year abroad but hopes to increase
that to 1500 in the future. The Hellenic Studies Field school, under the
direction of Professor Andre Gerolymatos, co-ordinator Maria Hamilton and
now also Professor Panos Pappas has grown considerably since its
beginnings a few years ago and its success will surely increase with time.
Judges for the contest were Marina Dodis, Nikos Papoutsakis and Efi
Katevatis. The $100 prize for the best photo of Crete, presented by Nikos
Papoutsakis (president – Cretan Assoc.) went to Larissa Sayer. Mr.
Angelo Marinakis, the president of the Kefalonian Society presented a $100
prize to Alexander Bonnis for the best photo of Kefalonia. The $200 prize
from the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC went to the best overall photo.
Harry Katevatis, the president of the HCC presented that prize to Karen
Siu.
This was a free public event. All the entries in the photo contest
were displayed on the walls. Refreshments and a light buffet were served.
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