Panigyri 2018
Kytherian Society of California
Panigyri of the Myrtidiotissa
August 26, 2018
10:00 a.m. - Church Services & Artoklasia
12:00 p.m. - Luncheon
Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church
20104 Center Street, Castro Valley, CA 94546
The beautiful Artos was prepared by Fawaz Khanachet.
Many thanks to Fawaz for preparing this wonderful bread each year.
This year for the first time ever,
board member Cynthia Cavalenes-Jarvis
live-stremed our luncheon on
FACEBOOK LIVE!
Just CLICK the blue FACEBOOK LIVE links
to see different portions of the program.
If you are NOT on FACEBOOK, you can still tune-in by
clicking the “not now” arrow on the screen that pops us.
Dance Performance
Following church services & Artoklasia, our Panigyri began with a wonderful performance by the Resurrection Greek Dance group, Nea Arxi, who were the FDF First Place winners in the Advanced Junior category. Among those dancing were two of our very own young Kytherians, Alex and Mary Holton, grandchildren of Connie and Fawaz Khanachet.
FACEBOOK LIVE - Dance Performance
Welcome and Opening Prayer
After the dance performance all stood for the opening prayer, a moment of silence in honor of those who have passed, followed by a wonderful lunch prepared by Chef Yanni Varelas.
Lunch
Introductions
After lunch Vikki Vrettos Fraioli began the program with an introduction of Officers, Board Members and our new Sunshine Chairperson, Joanne Kavalaris.
Memorials
We memorialized two long-standing members who passed away this year: Penelope Conomos, who passed away just two weeks shy of her 108th birthday, and John Sofios.
Chrys Conomos came to the podium and shared memories of Penelope’s life.
Eternal be their memory….
Visitors to Kythera 2018
Vikki shared photos of several of our members whose families went to Kythera this summer.
Richard and Mary Lind and Family
Julie and Gavin Reid and Family
(Daughter of Connie and Fawaz Khanachet)
Athan and Christine Zes and Family
(Son of Tikey and Teddi Zes)
Julia Moore
(Granddaughter of Dr. Pan Coukoulis
and last years scholarship recipient)
Monument Unveiling
On July 8, 2018, at the Alexandros Aristotelos Onassis Airport in Kythera, they had the unveiling of the Alexandros Aristotelos Onassis statue and monument commissioned by George Hatziplis in memory of his late wife Helen, who passed away in 2009.
Kytherian Genealogy Project by Amalia & Kalie
Vikki discussed the progress that has been made by Amalia Samios, from the Kytherian Genealogy Project, in translating Kytherian records and creating a huge family tree for the Potamos District. She shared several family trees, revealing photos and information those families have submitted. Amalia adds these photos and information to genealogical history discovered in birth, baptism, marriage, and death certificates.
In many cases, the report will go back at least one generation prior to the family that was submitted. Often people are surprised to discover additional people on their tree that they were unaware of, including photos of those people submitted by other Kytherians.
Vikki shared several examples of family trees illustrating how many of the California Kytherians are related.
Cominos Family Tree
Several descendants of the Nicholas Cominos (Vlastaras) family were in attendance including his great great granddaughter Anya.
Many thanks to Marie Cominos and family for submitting photos.
Megaloconomos (Conomos) Family Tree
Several descendants of Theodoros Megaloconomos were in attendance including his great great great granddaughter Angelica!
Many thanks to Chrys Conomos and Alexa Conomos Anderson for submitting photos.
This tree revealed that the Alfieris’ are 7th cousins with the Conomos’!
A few more examples were shown to illustrate how important and rewarding it is to get involved in this project. If you haven’t done so already, please dig through those old boxes and send your photos to Amalia.
Kytherian Youth Tour
A committee is working on plans to initiate a Kytherian Youth Tour. Board member, Richard Lind, shared ideas that were discussed with Sydney Kytherians, George Poulos and James Prineas, while on summer holiday in Kythera. Below is one example that was put forth by the Kytherians in Sydney. Members will be updated on the progress of this plan.
Medical Supplies to Kythera Project
Excellent progress has been made on this project that will send $650,000 worth of medical supplies to Kythera. The IOCC(International Orthodox Christian Charities) gathers the supplies, the KSOCA pays AHEPA National for the cost to ship the container (approximately $20,000.00), and the container is shipped to Kythera. The KSOCA has received over $15,500.00 in pledges and donations at this time, so $4,500.00 is still needed. The KSOCA will set up a GoFundMe campaign to collect the remainder of the funds. A representative from the IOCC is working directly with the hospital representative in Kythera.
Scholarship
The Kytherian Society of California has provided scholarships for students in the amount of $11,500 since 2004! At this year’s lumcheon we awarded two additional scholarships making it a grand total or $14,500 in scholarship awards!
This year members contributed an additional $452.00 to the Anastasia Conomos Condas Scholarship Fund.
Many many thanks to all who continually donate to this important fund every year.
Please encourage your qualifying students to apply for our scholarship by July 1 of each year.
Recording Secretary and Scholarship Chairman Melissa Neofes-Mischak presented certificates to this years scholarship winners: Rachel Larsen and Marek Pearse. Melissa shared just a small portion of their essays with the group before each one was invited to come forth to receive their scholarships. Congratulations to Rachel and Marek!
You can read their essays by clicking the links below:
Honarary Kytherian Award
Vice President, Elaine Moulos, presented the Honorary Kytherian Award to Andrew Sam Mousalimas. Andy has always been a supporter of the KSOCA and has many close family ties with his Kytherian Cominos cousins.
Andy shared some of his experiences with Co C 2671 Special Reconnaissance Battalion Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Greek US Operational Group, World War II, the predecessor of the CIA.
In March, a group of World War II veterans, including Andy, were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their efforts in the OSS. The medal is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Congress. Many thanks to Andy for his service to our county!
John Carvounnis Memorial Raffle
Our Panigyri concluded with our famous John Carvounnis Memorial Raffle. Many thanks to all those who donated prizes.
See you all again next year!
Many thanks to our videographer Ted Zamenes for capturing the day!
2018 Panigyri Photos
By Vikki Vrettos Fraioli, Melissa Neofes-Michak, and Tom Coroneos
