Walking into the 71st Annual Greek Festival at the Hellenic Center on October 6 is like entering a family reunion with my favorite relatives!
Knowing that a multi-generational cultural and dining fete with a marketplace, authentic grocery, live performances and their signature cafeteria-style food lines, is waiting for me makes me downright giddy!
Inside the center, I round the corner into the salad section and find professional salad-maker Pete Simon sitting on the exact same stool I saw him on three years ago! After missing the past three years because of COVID, Pete is pretty amped up to be back in person.
Manning this station since he was 19 years old, the 75 year old character gives me the lowdown on all the food he has ordered this year.
“Imagine the boxes of noodles, sugar and grape leaves needed for the 120 trays of pastitsio, 8500 dolmades, 3800 kourabiedes and 180 pans of spanakopita,” shares the event co-chair.
On the lookout for Pete’s fellow co-chairs George Polites, Jimmy Stevens and Tommy Danos, I find Jimmy in the agora (aka gift shop).
As co-chair for at least 10 years, Jimmy tells me,“We are giving tours of the church, have dancing from adults and children and we also streamlined the combo line process to have the same meal for lunch and dinner.”
Born and raised here, Jimmy was baptized at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church and tells me that he could not imagine a life without this festival.
Following Jimmy into the center’s office, I pose him with Richard Myers, Patrick Welsh and fast talking Nick Nickols. It doesn’t dawn on that this is the St. Joseph Candler SmartWomen Chair Gini Nichols husband until later when snapping pics of George and Mercie Polites with Dawn and Chuck Faris.
I’m officially in Greek heaven! Entering the kitchen, I ask Helen Palamiotis how many pans of spanakopita she has pulled out of their massive industrial ovens. Standing beside stacked pans of fresh baked pastitsio, Helen laughs and says,“This year or in my life?”
As one of the faces that I love to see every year, it makes my heart hurt when I realize how hard it has to be for Helen to be in the kitchen without her mom and dad, Deno and Maria.
But in the kitchen with her is 93 year old Irene Chiboucas. Claiming to be a “professional helper,” Irene tells me,“I have been coming to the festival since day one. For 71 years I attended with my husband, brother and family. They are all gone now but there are young people learning our ways.”
I know exactly what she means because I miss seeing the twins Elaine and Effie Karatassos. Elaine has passed but I still hope to see Effie when I make the turn into the marketplace bakery. Not seeing them, Nick George, Charlie Militades and Charlie Masterpoulis make me pause for a moment of reflection because there was something about their old-school presence that defined the Greek experience.
With so much traffic in the kitchen, I move over and find Maryanne Welsh sitting on the same stool I have seen her on for the past decade.
The 80 year old tells me,“Jerry and I have been married for 59 years and have been here every year since then.” Posing with her is her son Patrick and granddaughter Teresa Sarver along with Irene and Eddie Switala.
Heading into the auditorium, I pause Billy Norse to ask what he is doing since breaking the Guinness World Record for pushing two double strollers 13.1 miles. I did not expect him to pull out his phone and show me a book cover of “The Divorce Lawyer,” his book that is debuting next week. With a tagline of “There’s only one rule, don’t fall in love with your lawyer,” I can’t wait to read anything this cool dude writes!
Next, I pose Billy with the sweetest mom in the room, Pat George. Always smiling and gracious, I hug her and look for her son Dennis and daughter-in-law Patti, then detour over for a pic of Brandon Giebler and Susie Sowell who invite me out to their 3rd Annual Cornhole Tournament at Tanger Outlet on December 11.
After a few television interviews, Tommy Danos has a minute to talk. When I ask what his first job was with the festival, Tommy replies,“Because of my quickness with numbers, they put me on the bar register. Sitting on that stool, year after year, the pictures of me with my children act as a growth chart for the past 30 years.”
As Tommy talks about “Being Greek for a Weekend”, he explains,“We have generations that have shared their beliefs, faith and culture with Savannah.”
And from the generations of locals that love this festival so much, (and is continually voted Savannah’s favorite festival) and for the wannabe Greeks that love this festival so much that they ask to volunteer – we say “efharisto,” “thank you” for giving us a little glimpse of Greece.
Your three-day cultural celebration is yet another reason I love this city so much!
This article appears in Oct 12-18, 2022.