PHOTO: Alexandros Panteloukas of the Chian Federation addresses the meeting…
By Nick Stamatakis
More encouraging news at the “Panomogeniaki” meeting of the Federation of New York last night, where the smiles began to shine all over, justifiably so. Let me go down the list of the good news:
- Alexandros Panteloukas of the Chian Federation was the new face yesterday and joined two more Chians, Peter Gerazounis and Dimitris Gonias; Chians used to go “two by two,” as the proverbial saying goes, but last night we had a dynamic “Chian Trio”. There is nothing more encouraging than seeing new, younger faces at Stathakion…
Photo: Geroge Kitsios of the Homeowners Association
- But some known faces were welcome also, as they delivered substantial financial support: Paul Cotrotsios of the Hellenic News and Hermes Expo, represented Hellenic American National Council and its President Bill Mataragas; George Kitsios of the Homeowners Association; Christos Nikolaou of the Federation of Cypriot Organizations; Alexandra Laskari and Maria Perselis, represented Atlantic Bank and handed their donation…
- Yiannis Stroumbakis continued his impressive fundraising effort announcing two donations by Stavros Haviaras and Achilleas Liggeras; very rarely does one see such a younger Hellene to have collected such large amounts from different – mostly business – sources in such a short time.
- All the Committees reported steady progress: Close to 30 tables have been booked for the Hilton Gala, The breakfast at Pierre is moving along very well, and the rest of the sales have made great progress and have covered at least half their goals…
- The Radiothon at HellasFM collected over $10,000.
But the best news was being discussed in the meeting’s background: An effort is underway to put a stay at the legal battle, and a joint letter has been sent to the Court for an adjournment until early May. In the meantime, there will be a meeting of the two sides, and the goal is a breakthrough on the road toward elections!
I left the meeting with a smile on my face – hopefully, it will last…
Who are you kidding? Most of the marchers are Hispanic and Arab employees forced to come by their Greek bosses. Whereas 1970s parades had the sidewalks packed, now you can drive a Mack Truck through and no one will notice. There are no more than 85,000 Greek Americans left: 8,000 in Flushing, 7,000 each in Astoria and Bay Ridge, and two Charlotte communities, and 5,000 on the Jersey Shore. They have walked with their feet and gonads. 85% outmarry. They only know five words of Greek. They eat spanakopita with cottage cheese, not feta. When our churches are now just howling maqqam minarets without the choirs and organs of our youth, we have gone elsewhere.
This is exactly the challenge we have ahead of us. The numbers were never on our side, we are a small community. But our culture is bigger than any other ethnic group. Our culture (ancient and medieval tradition, archaeology, history, music, dance, language, poetry, food, etc) is so big that affects all Americans. So the challenge is not to act as misers and see “blues” everywhere but to grasp our heritage – so significant for all humanity – and project it all around us. Our parades should find a way to turn into “cultural heritage” events that will project the eternal Hellenic ideals in the society that surrounds us…
If the Greek community put the Church and Christ first then maybe people would stay. This is more of an indictment on the bishops than the average people.
Until the GOA realizes that then it will continue its terminal trajectory.
Our GLASS IS HALF FULL- not half empty! Yes Mr. S.– It’s all about culture- not koulourakia and spanakopita!