AROUND & ABOUT BRITISH COLUMBIA
By Dimitrios & Katerina Angelatos
Article 1
CYPRUS AIDS HELLENIC STUDIES AT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
The Ministry of Education & Culture of the Republic of Cyprus has presented a grant to the Hellenic Studies program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. This annual grant of $10,000 enables Hellenic Studies to offer the course on the History of Cyprus to its students.
The Republic of Cyprus now joins the Republic of Greece in monetary support of the Hellenic Studies at Simon, thereby further promoting the culture, language and heritage of the Hellenic peoples to a Canadian and international audience.
The study of Cyprus adds to an increasingly expanding program of Hellenic Studies at SFU. Those students who are involved with SFU’s Greece Field School on the Island of Kephalonia during May and June can also choose to travel to other parts of Greece or Europe after the completion of the formal program. Cyprus would be an excellent chose of extended travel to further enrich their studies.
Article 2
ART SHOW BY GREEK-CANADIAN ARTIST
The Artist Gallery on Henderson Avenue in Chilliwack, BC displays the works of many Canadian artists. One of those artists is Bill Adamantidis. His collection, entitled “Ecstasy and Colour” is on display from January 29th to March 4th. On the evening of February 12th the artist was in attendance and hosted a reception where refreshments were served.
Bill Adamantidis was born in Athens, Greece. It is there his interest in the arts originated. He acquired his skills and abilities to work on copper by learning from established Greek craftsmen. Bill Adamanitidis had his first exhibition of his works at the Neo Pneymatiko Kentro Gallery in Pireas in 1972. Over the years he has developed his own techniques and tools. He also created paintings, in oils and acrylics. Greek and other mythology as well as religious motives grabbed his interests and he decided to explore the world.
In 1972 he moved to Canada, to Edmonton, Alberta were he took courses at the University of Alberta to further develop his skills in painting and drawing. He also studied portrait techniques. In 1977 he decided to move to British Columbia. He settled in Surrey with his growing family and still resides there to-date. He has continued to work in copper but has also explored other metals and stone. He has dedicated time to master Icon painting and continues to explore landscapes and figurative work on canvas and paper. He also enjoys working in Abstracts. He is involved with arts groups and displays his works at exhibitions organized by the groups around the Vancouver area, including the North Shore.
Over the years, as his skills have increased and evolved the price of his works have also increased, with some now going for thousands of dollars.
Article 3
GREEK TEACHERS IN THE LATIN WEST – PHAROS LECTURE
Pharos, the Canadian Hellenic Cultural Society presented another interesting lecture on the evening of January 31st at the upper hall of the Hellenic Community Center in Vancouver. The guest speaker for the evening was Professor Gerald Sandy (Emeritus SFU). Prof. Sandy is Canada’s leading scholar on the ancient Greek novel. The novel form was invented in Greece and introduced into Europe in the 16th century. Prof. Sandy is the editor of a recent book on the classical heritage in Renaissance France.
When Hellenic refugees fled Constantinople they brought along the study of ancient Greece to Europe. By the 14th Century this was well established in Venice, Italy. Prof. Sandy’s talk concentrated on the development of the study of ancient Greek in France. He spoke on the early Greek teachers, their teaching methods and the resources that were available to them in the early 16th century.
King Francois I of France appointed the first two teachers of ancient Greek at the College Royal in 1530. In Italy the study of ancient Greek took five generations to develop yet in France this was compressed into less than 25 years.
Article 4
GREEK DAY TO RETURN TO WEST BROADWAY
The last Greek Day on West Broadway in Vancouver was held in 1988. There has been a move around for several years now to get this popular street party of the 70’s and 80’s revived and it looks like that will happen this year. The Hellenic Canadian Congress has teamed up with the Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce to bring this popular event back in June. Greek Day will be on June 26th, 2005 but it will be the culmination of a week of festivities, including Greek films and cultural displays.
SURREY COMMUNITY DANCES UP A STORM
The situation in the Greek Orthodox Community of Surrey and SS. Constantine & Helen Church is going from bad to worse. The struggle between those strongly supporting the church and those who are more interested in having a dance hall still goes on with the latter at the moment having the upper hand.
Fr. Foti left the church at the beginning of January because he could not morally support the Board’s decision to hold a dinner dance in the premises. Fr. Nikolai who temporarily severed SS. Constantine & Helen Church after Fr. Foti resigned also opposed holding the dinner dance inside the church.
Members of the Board have been saying that one of the reasons that Fr. Foti was “kicked out” by them was because he no longer had a valid work permit. They even went to a Vancouver Greek newspaper with this story, getting the newspaper to print a copy of one of the priest’s outdated documents. Not only were they spreading untruths (Patrides has seen documented proof of a valid work permit) but they and the newspaper were contravening the Privacy Act by releasing such a document to the public.
On January 23rd the dinner dance for “cutting of the vasiloppita” went ahead as planned by the board. The Iconistat was covered up and the icons hidden so that those in attendance were under the illusion that “God could not see”. Fr. Nikolai had refused to attend the event to bless the food so Fr. Demetrios Partsafas from St. George Cathedral came out to do the honours. Fr. Dorotheos Tryfonopoulos (temporarily serving at SS. Nicholas & Dimitrios Church – East Vancouver) also was in attendance. The event can not be classified a “family” event as children were almost non-existent, probably due to the high price of tickets. The “party animals” were in full swing as the dining, drinking, loud music and dancing went on until the early hours of the next day. Saint Basil, benefactor of the needy, is most certainly “turning over in his grave” to see his name used as a money-maker in such a manner.
The editor of one Greek newspaper in Vancouver stated in his coverage of the event that the Surrey community was only following the example set by the Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver when it was first formed. The editor was not around when that church community was first formed so does not know what he is talking about. Many people who were involved with the East Vancouver community, including Fr. Dorotheos can attest to the fact that the East Vancouver community never held church services and dinner dances in the same room. The church services were held in one of the halls of a Russian church while the coffee that followed was served in another room. The dances were held elsewhere.
Some of the members of the Board are so determined to have their own wishes fulfilled that they do not see that they are pushing good people out of the church. Many regular church goers have left the Surrey community and now attend church services at the Vancouver Greek churches or other Orthodox churches. They are tired of being seen as “cash cows” for those who wish to use the church only as a cover for another agenda.
ANOTHER NEW PRIEST ENTERS THE “LION’S DEN” IN SURREY
Is it a hall or is it a church? The question still remains for many people. According to one of the Greek radio hosts the new priest for Surrey would be ordained in a hall, yet Metropolitan Sotirios announced it would take place at SS. Constantine and Helen Church in Surrey. The Board of the Surrey community also calls the premises a hall one day, than a church the next. The sign outside the premises however states it is a church. The people who came out from Vancouver on January 31st to witness the ordination of the Deacon Constantine Tsiola of Toronto into the priesthood were not looking for a hall, they were under the impression that they were attending a church for that sacrament.
What is the world coming to when one is being asked to submit to a search of one’s body or possessions in order to enter a church to witness an ordination service? That is what the Board of SS. Constantine & Helen Church –Greek Orthodox Community of Surrey demanded of the BC representatives of Patrides. Several board members waiting at the door pointed out a sign barring reporters and photographers from entering without written permission from the board. They freely admitted that the sign was posted with the sole purpose of keeping Patrides from covering the event.
Why is the Board so afraid of Patrides? Are they hoping to keep the lid on the truth? It was stated by one member that Patrides was not welcome as it had “shamed” the community. The shame in our view is that Metropolitan Sotirios has let the situation in the Surrey church get so out of hand, not that Patrides opened the eyes of the Greek communities across Canada as to what was going on there for so long. The Greek community of Surrey has brought shame not only to itself but to the Greek Orthodox Church of Canada and its leadership.
