Around
& About British Columbia
“BEYOND PENELOPE: TEXTILE
ARTS IN BRONZE AGE GREECE”
On Monday September 26, 2005 at the Hellenic
Community Centre of Vancouver Pharos, the Canadian Hellenic Cultural
Society jointly with the Archaeological Institute of America presented an
illustrated lecture on the role of textile in prehistoric Greece.
Professor R. Brendan Burke, of the University of Victoria’s Department
of Greek & Roman Studies spoke on the development of cloth making in
the earliest centuries of Greek history, the Minoan and Mycenaean periods.
PHAROS’ 25th
ANNIVERSARY SEASON BEGINS
Every year a series of six lectures are
presented by Pharos, the Canadian Hellenic Cultural Society at the
Hellenic Cultural Centre of Vancouver. These are usually held in the
evening of the last Monday of October, November, January, February, March
and April. The first lecture of the new season was held on Monday, October
24th at 8pm in the upper hall of the Hellenic Community Centre
in Vancouver.
Professor Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe, University
of British Columbia Department of Fine Arts was the speaker of the
evening. He spoke on “Selling the Greek Way in Regency London”.
The architecture of ancient Greece has had a
strong influence on modern architecture of the non-Greek world. The
serious side of antiquity has mixed with the selling and trading in public
spaces. Even those who had never personally seen the architecture of
antiquity incorporated into their designs aspects of the past which they
gleaned from bits and pieces published by the privileged few.
The process of art imitating the past,
playing around with the old to give a sense of the new continues to this
day.
FOOD FESTIVAL-HELLENIC
COMMUNITY OF VANCOUVER
The Hellenic Community of Vancouver’s food
festival took place on October 21, 22 and 23. As this is held indoors the
organizers are not at the mercy of the weather or of people taking summer
vacations as is the case with the festivals of the other communities.
The upper hall got turned into a coffee shop
while a large portion of the lower hall became a restaurant. There was
also a bar and taverna, a pastry shop, souvenir shop and raffle ticket
stand in the lower hall. The mezzanine featured a crafts display and
eating area as well as provided a good view of the stage, where the
various Greek dance groups showed their dancing skills. A “Rembetiko”
evening with live performances was also featured on one of the nights.
Patrides was in attendance on the last day of
the festival. At about 4pm the attendance was sparse. When the dance
groups began their performances attendance increased as friends and family
came to watch the children perform. Over the supper hour the line ups for
the food were quite busy.
This event is just one of many major
fundraiser for the community. It has always been a very popular event for
the Greeks of Greater Vancouver as well as for the people living in the
general vicinity.
OXI DAY CELEBRATED IN
VANCOUVER
There is an agreement between the Greek
Orthodox Community of East Vancouver (Ss. Nicholas & Dimitrios Church)
and the Hellenic Community of Vancouver as to which one will host the
celebrations of Greece’s national holidays. The Hellenic Community of
Vancouver is responsible for the March 28th, Independence Day
celebrations while the Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver is
responsible for the October 28, 1940|”OXI” Day celebrations. The
“OXI” day celebrations took place at SS. Nicholas & Dimitrios
Church this year on Sunday October 30th.
A memorial service followed the Sunday
liturgy at SS. Nicholas & Dimitrios Church. The message from
Metropolitan Sotirios, in Greek and English, was also read.
A short program, put on by a dozen of the children of the community
then followed in the hall. The Consul of Greece, George Aravositas gave a
short address on the importance of this day in Greek history.
Also in attendance for the celebration were
the Maritime Affairs Attache Apostolos Liouridis and the Consul of Cyprus,
Tassoula Berggren.
The majority of people who attended the
church service did not make the time or effort to attend the program or
the dinner that was served. There were many empty seats at the tables in
the hall. Perhaps it was the idea of paying $10 a plate to participate in
a national celebration that turned many away. What good is it to have the
Consul of Greece come to address the people when there are only a few
people to hear him? And where were all the young people? Surely the
community should be able to provide a free lunch for this important
celebration instead of using it as a fund raiser.
By boycotting the event the people are finally speaking up.
SURREY COMMUNITY CONSIDERS
MOVING?
Finally after fivteen years the Greek
Orthodox Community of Surrey and Fraser Valley is serious about looking
around for a larger property on which to build a community center and
church. There were a number of people who had big building plans for the
existing property but city hall has made it clear that the property is too
small. The community is searching for a plot of about three to five acres.
Of course ten acres would be even better but land costs have risen sharply
over the past years.
Hopefully a suitable property can be found
soon as so much time has already passed. People have become discouraged by
constantly being asked to give but seeing little to show for it. The
present board members, as well as any future ones will have their work cut
out to get the people behind them on this huge undertaking.
A big step in the right direction would be to
put a stop to the cliquish behaviour that is prevalent within the Greek
communities. It just causes more dissention within the membership as
individuals line up behind the various factions at play. It is time to put
petty differences aside and work towards a common goal. The Surrey board
should concentrate on “inclusion” and drop its attitude of
“exclusion”. A step in that direction would be to remove the ridicules
sign they have posted by the front door of the church.
How can they preach unity when they are evidently not seen to be
practising it?
GREEKS IN LANGLEY CELEBRATE
OXI DAY
On Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005 Greeks gathered at
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Langley to honour the remembrance of
“OXI” day, October 28, 1940. This was a time to not only remember all
those Greeks who were killed and suffered because they said “no” to
tyranny but also to remember all Orthodox Christians who suffered tyranny
over the centuries and into the present.
Following
the church service a free celebratory lunch was served in the church hall.
The food was provided mainly by the Greek ladies but other members of the
parish also contributed to the abundant buffet.
GREEK
NIGHT IN LANGLEY
Some of the Greeks who attend St. Nicholas
Orthodox Church in Langley decided to help raise funds for the church by
hosting an evening of traditional Greek food on October 22nd. Dinners were prepared so that they could be eaten in or taken
home.
Stella Kanaris was the main cook, assisted by
Joanna Farkas and Glykeria Apostolidis. The Goritsas family, the Velonis
family and the Botsis family along with many others also helped in the
preparation, selling and serving of the food.
The proceeds of the event were turned over to
Elia Koutovas, the treasurer of St. Nicholas on the following day.
The Greeks organized this fundraiser as a
thank-you to St. Nicholas Church for giving the Greeks the opportunity to
celebrate ethnic events such as October 28 “OXI” day and March 25,
Greek Independence day over the past thirteen years.
