GREEK
COMMUNITY DONATES TO WORTHY CAUSE
The Hellenic Community of Vancouver (St. George Cathedral) made a substantial donation at the 41st annual Variety “Show of Hearts Telethon” which was held Feb. 10th & 11th. Variety-The Children’s Charity is a non-profit charitable organization that is dedicated to raising funds to build a better future for the children of British Columbia who have special needs. The money raised at the telethon goes to pay for specialized treatments, therapies, medicine and other expenses.
The 23 hour telethon which was hosted by Global BC’s news team raised a record $7, 568,732 of which $15,000 was raised through special events held by the Hellenic Community of Vancouver. That community has made substantial contributions to the telethon for many years. In addition many Greek businesses and individuals have also contributed directly to the Show of Hearts Telethon.
PHAROS - LUMINOUS ENCOUNTERS:ON THE ISLAND OF TINOS
. For over 25 years Pharos-the Canadian-Hellenic Cultural Society has been presenting lectures on Greek topics, from ancient to modern times. The third in a series of six lectures for the 2006/2007 season was held on Monday January 29th at the upper hall of the Hellenic Community Centre in Vancouver. Guest speaker for the evening was Ron Walkey who is an architect and Professor Emeritus of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. He had spoken to Pharos on another subject in 1988. This time Prof. Walkey showed drawings and read excerpts from his recently published book : LUMINOUS ENCOUNCOUTERS-On the Island of Tinos.
Prof. Walkey retired from teaching design and urban design at UBC but is still active in the field of architecture. He was involved in the design of Granville Market and False Creek, both popular tourist destinations in Vancouver. It was over thirty years ago that Prof. Walkey’s “love affair” with Greece, its architecture and its people began. About twelve years ago he purchased a holiday home in the tiny village of Arnadhos on the island of Tinos and now lives most of the year in Greece. Over the years he wrote many letters to his friends in Canada describing his encounters in the village. The book came about because of encouragement by those friends.
Many of those coming to the lecture, including some whose families came from the island of Tinos were uncertain as what to expect of a book written by an architect. They were pleasantly surprised as what was revealed to them was a book written with an architect’s eye but with a poet’s tongue. Architecture was only there to set the stage but the major players were the villagers who were brought to life through the pen of Prof. Walkey.
At the end of the lecture copies of the book were available for sale and were personally autographed by the author.
It should be noted that the second lecture of the 2006/2007 season at the end of November had to be cancelled due to snow. The February lecture, the 4th in the series will feature Prof. Dimitrios Krallis, Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University who will lecture on Byzantine culture.
