Around
and about British Columbia
By
Katherine and Dimitris Angelatos
A
summer review
Every
summer a large number of Greek-Canadians spend the summer in Greece but
the majority stay home in Canada. For those who cannot make the trip to
Greece, there are always a large number of festivals and other events put
on by the various Greek communities and organizations that help them to
keep that connection with the old homeland.
Greek
Fest – East Vancouver
The
summer festival of the Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver (St.
Nicholas & St. Dimitrios Church) this year ran from June 27 through
July 6.
The
community was very pleased with the success of this year’s festival. It
proved to be an excellent fundraiser as well as a venue for the Greeks to
gather and have a good time. The Greek community this year spread some of
the proceeds of the festival to local community causes/charities as on
three separate days part of the proceeds were designated for those causes.
St. John Ambulance, the Firefighters and Renfrew Park each were the
beneficiaries.
There
was a large multi-cultural aspect to this year’s festival. The Greek
dance groups consisted of Alexander the Great, Messinian, Agrimakia
Cretan, Minotavri Cretan, Dimitrios Greek Dance School, Greek Community of
East Vancouver, Hellenic Community of Vancouver, Phil-Hellenic Dancers and
Socrates Greek School. As well as the various Greek dance groups, other
ethnic groups performed over the course of the festival. The first Sunday
of the festival in particular was dedicated as multicultural and media
day. Groups taking part included Chilean, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian,
Latin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian and Serbian. There were also
Line Dancers, Hip Hop Artists, weightlifting demonstrations, and live
Radio and TV broadcasts during the festival. On family day the children
enjoyed face painting and the Jungle Bouncer. Each evening of course
concluded with live bouzouki music and an opportunity for everyone to join
in the Greek dances.
Summer
Fest in Victoria
The
Greek Community of Victoria and Vancouver Island held its summer festival
from August 28 to Sept. 1. Although that community has been around for
many years it just recently built its community centre. The money raised
during the festival was to go towards the completion of the church, which
is on the upper part of the complex.
Because
of the lack of its own facilities until just recently, that community does
not have an established dance group. Therefore the Greek dance groups who
performed during the festival all came from Vancouver. The ever-popular
Phil-Hellenic Dancers made the ferry ride out to take part in the festival
on the Sunday, as did the Cretan dancers. The Macedonian dancers, however
performed throughout the whole festival.
Some
entertainment was also provided by local ethnic groups.
During
the middle of the afternoon all the music and entertainment came to a
stand still for over an hour so as not to interfere with the celebration
across the street, where the Portuguese community has its church and
community center. That group held a solemn procession down the street,
carrying their symbolic figure of Christ. A band of musicians were towards
the front of the parade, leading the entire congregation down the street.
Portuguese from all over Vancouver Island gathered for the occasion, as
did busloads of others from the mainland. It was not until their outdoor
procession was complete before the Greek festival could again kick into
high gear.
A
fair number of Greeks from the mainland had also taken the long ferry ride
over to take part in the festival at the Greek community. Some had
expected to attend church services on the Sunday but found the church not
yet ready for occupancy. They where allowed access to the church to light
a few candles. As the festival was not yet in full swing that early in the
morning they then took the opportunity to do a little sightseeing in
Victoria before coming back to enjoy the festival later in the day
The
festival was well attended. The smell of the roast lamb permeated the air,
drawing in the population from the surrounding area. Souvlaki, Greek
salad, spanakopita and the desserts were also selling extremely well. Of
course no Greek festival would be complete without the gyros and there was
also plenty of that. George and Irene of Great Gyros made the trip from
the mainland, not only to supply the gyros but also to help cook and serve
it.
Pentecost
celebration in Mission
The
Greek Cultural Community of Langley took part in several cultural and
religious events over the summer. On Pentecost Sunday, June 15, it took
part in a feast at the Monastery of All Saints in Mission. There were a
large number of Romanians, Serbians, Russians and other ethnic groups
there, as well as the Greeks.
The
celebrations started with an outdoors church service, followed by a
procession to the cenotaph in one of the fields. As always, there were
plenty of flags, especially Greek flags, carried during the procession to
the monument. A memorial service was held there before the procession
wound its way back to the main grounds of the monastery. A short blessing
service was then held at the spring, where blessed water was then
available for all to drink or to take home.
Over
two hundred people, including many clergy from various Orthodox churches
took part in the celebrations. Although the Greek clergy had also been
invited, none was in attendance though. The free meal that followed the
services was rich in the variety of foods, representing a cross section of
the various ethnic groups in attendance.
“Joy
of Canada” celebration
On
Sunday, August 10, the Greek Cultural Community again participated in the
“Joy of Canada” celebrations held at the Monastery of All Saints in
Mission. This is the monastery’s annual feast, named after its Icon of
the Theotokos.
Again
the liturgy was served outdoors, with many clergy from various Orthodox
churches taking part. Again, there were no Greek priests in attendance.
After the service, the procession wound its way to the cenotaph. This
time, as well as all the various flags, all the relics of the monastery
were carried. Among the many relics was a recently acquired one, a relic
of Mary Magdalene of Egypt. At the cenotaph a memorial service was held,
remembering all those who suffered for the Orthodox faith.
After
the memorial service the water of the spring was again blessed, before
everyone partook of the free meal.
Olympics
awarded to Vancouver/Whistler
July
2 was an important day for British Columbians as well as for Canada. That
was the day the 2010 Winter Olympic Games were to be awarded. GM Place in
Vancouver was filled with those who had been lucky enough to get tickets
to watch the event there on big screen. Others were at home, glued to
their television sets waiting for the announcement. Many of those who were
at work had one ear tuned to the radio, awaiting the results. When the
results were announced people cheered and leaped with joy.
A
celebration event was quickly organized for July 5, at the Plaza of
Nations in downtown Vancouver. Patrides was there to cover the event. A
few people showed up wearing their outfits from the last Olympic games in
Canada, the Winter Games of 1988, where they participated as torch
runners. Patrides representative, Dimitrios Angelatos was one of those.
All
the members of the 2010 Olympics Bid committee were there as were a host
of politicians, municipal, provincial and federal. Mayor Gordon Campbell
of Vancouver represented the city of Vancouver. The mayor of Whistler
could not attend but Nicholas Davis, the acting mayor was there to
represent the village of Whistler. The Premier of British Columbia, Gordon
Campbell was also among the many guest speakers.
Sheila
Copps, the Minister of Canadian Heritage represented the Government of
Canada. There were also representatives of the First Nations and athletes
past and future.
A
clip was shown of the announcement of the winning bid and the crowd in
attendance, over 9000, burst into cheers as that announcement was
replayed. Many of the guest speakers participated in starting the
“countdown clock”. There are now less than seven years to go, with a
lot of planning and hard work to be done.
This
event was also an opportunity for people to volunteer for the 2010
Olympics. More than 5000 people signed up as volunteers during just this
one event.
The
people of BC believed in themselves and made the world believe in Canada
also. Without the support of the governments of BC and Canada the
successful bid could not have happened. Now it is also up to those
governments to continue to support Vancouver and Whistler, giving them an
opportunity to stage the best games ever. The host cities are committed to
giving sustainable games and those games will be a symbol of what the
world should be, replacing conflict with cooperation.
The
games are about giving to the youth of British Columbia, Canada and the
world a chance to dream their dreams. For two weeks in 2010 all the eyes
of the world will be upon Canada. It will be the West Coasters who are
going to give the games in 2010 its sparkle.
East
Vancouver Greek Community to pay off mortgage
The
Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver (St. Nicholas & St.
Dimitrios Church) held a volunteer appreciation night on July 5. A free
dinner was served to volunteers and members in appreciation of all the
hard work they put into making this year’s summer festival a success.
The
president announced that when he took office he had promised himself and
his board that the major goal was to pay off all the mortgage of the
community, namely that of the extra properties purchased within the past
few years. This festival was so successful, raising over $400,000, that
that dream could now be realized, if the people gave their approval for
it. Of course it was agreed upon. The community can now start saving for
their next big project, a new community center. If the next few Greek
festivals are as good at fundraising as this past one was, it should not
take many years to not only build the new center, but to be debt free as
well.
In
pursuit of the dollar
Over
the past years we have seen more and more multi-cultural entertainment at
the Greek festival in Greater Vancouver, as well as the one in Victoria.
It is hard to find enough entertainment from Greek groups during these
long festivals so more and more other ethnic groups are taking part. While
there is not anything wrong with this, we are after all part of a
multicultural nation, it is however ironic. When Michael Savvis sponsored
the Greek days in Port Coquitlam about fifteen years the multi-ethnic
entertainment was first introduced. Members of the Greek Communities of
Vancouver criticized the event, saying it was not really a “Greek”
event. Time has changed their prospective. They realize that the other
groups not only help entertain but also help to bring in the “money”.
Is
it also this drive for the “dollar” that is making them accept any
group that wants to take part? The entertainment at the church-community
sponsored festivals should be fun but above all, suitable for families.
Some of the entertainment offered at this year’s event definitely was
not suitable for young eyes. The performances of one of the Latin groups
were very sexually suggestive. That dancing belonged at a cabaret or bar
setting, not at a family event on church grounds. It is probably a good
idea for the groups to be required to give an audition before they are
accepted. The community should take their responsibility of providing
“clean” entertainment more seriously in the future.
The
church communities should also keep a more watchful eye on the contents of
the publications they allow to be distributed on their premises. It looks
bad for the communities when they “promote smut”. Over the past year
we have noticed that a local publication has increased its “humour”.
Christ, the Orthodox faith, the saints, angels, priests, politicians,
families and children are all made fun of in off-colour jokes, which are
getting more brazen with time. Check out “ANEKDOTA” of the September
2003 edition (page 9) of that newspaper as well as past issues. Yet the
communities “welcome” the publication, displaying it beside religious
publications. They welcome its editor with open arms and support the paper
financially. What kind of moral example are the church leaders and
communities setting for their members? Are they practicing what they are
preaching?
Bishop
Seraphim visits Langley
There
has always been friction between the various Orthodox Church jurisdictions
but over the years more and more cooperation has taken place. These
various groups include the Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbian
churches. It also includes the OCA (Orthodox Church in America), which is
comprised of English speaking as well as many ethnic speaking churches.
A
number of Greeks have become part of the parish of St. Nicholas in Langley
over the years even though for many years St. Nicholas, as well as the
Monastery of All Saints in Mission, was considered an “outsiders”.
Last year they both officially became part of the OCA. To celebrate the
first anniversary of this, the church in Langley invited Bishop Seraphim
of the OCA to a special vesper liturgy on Saturday, September 6. Eleven
clergy from various Orthodox churches were in attendance. For the first
time a Greek priest, Rev. Dorotheos Tryfonopoulos, was also among those
taking part in the service at St. Nicholas.
Greek
societies hold summer picnic
Peace
Arch Park, in south Surrey at the Canada/USA border crossing has always
been a popular spot for large groups to hold picnics. Over the years
various Greek groups have gathered there.
It is
not often that two different Greek societies hold their picnics on the
same day and at the same place. On Sunday, August 17, both the
Roumeliotikos and Messinian societies gathered at Peace Arch Park for
their annual picnics. Both groups reserved part of the main picnic area
and the two groups were “side by side”, intermingling throughout the
day. Members and friends gathered from all over the lower mainland, some
even from Washington State, USA. Everyone enjoyed the free souvlaki
dinners that each of the groups provided. The adults took the opportunity
to visit while the children played near by.
School
is back in session
With
the start of the new school year the Greek schools are also preparing to
begin their classes. All the Greek schools in the Vancouver area have
experienced a decline over the past years and are struggling to survive.
Last
year there were three different groups trying to make a go of it in
Surrey. The Greek Orthodox Community of Surrey holds its classes on
Saturdays at the church center. Socrates holds classes in Newton, also on
Saturdays, while Pyrsos offers its classes at Johnston Heights Secondary
in the Guildford area on Thursday evenings. All are hoping to resume
classes this month.
One
of the problems is that no matter which day is chosen, there are always
those families who find the day inconvenient. They put their children in
so many other extra-curricular events that it is hard to fit in the time
for Greek classes. For some it is the question of money. They feel that
the schools are asking too much even thought the costs of keeping the
schools operational rises with each passing year. Therefore without more
support from the Greek community at large the possibility of keeping the
schools open decreases with each passing year.
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