‘Proud’ residents gather in Warren to mark Greek Independence Day

By JORDAN COHEN

news@vindy.com

WARREN

Sun-drenched skies, multicolored costumes and a parade highlighted the 10th annual observance of Greek Independence Day on Sunday. The celebration by the city’s Greek community marks the anniversary of the successful Pan-Hellenic Uprising against the 400-year rule of the Ottoman Empire in March 1821.

“We’re proud we’re Greeks, and we’re proud we’re Americans,” said Maria Chimbidis of Warren. “This reunites us with our traditions.”

The festivities began with a parade on High Street from St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church to the city’s amphitheater. School-age girls wore festive red and white outfits called Amalia, named after a queen of Greece, and the boys’ costumes, the evzone, symbolized the uniforms of the Greek honor guard.

Arsenia Georgopolos, 12, a sixth-grader from Youngstown’s Akiva Academy, carried the blue and white flag of Greece. It is the second- consecutive year she has been chosen as flag bearer, and she said she appreciated the honor.

“I’m proud to represent [Greece] and show how you should stand up and defend it if you have the chance,” she said.

A number of adults wore sashes with “Chios” in large print. Chios is an island where, speakers said, a number of Greeks were massacred during the rebellion.

At the amphitheater where more than 150 attended the ceremony, participants raised the Greek flag and attached a memorial wreath to the flagpole. Mayor Michael O’Brien noted that the amphitheater was an apt setting because it is modeled after ancient Greek architecture.

“We also share a common dream and a commitment to democracy,” O’Brien said.

William Ahladis, the parade’s honorary marshal, said the celebration always has had special significance to him as a Greek and American.

“It’s a day that exemplifies Greek traditions through the centuries,” said Ahladis, 81, a lifelong Warren resident.

Warren’s observance of Greek independence began in 2000. It originally had been planned as a simple ceremony in which the flag of Greece would be raised at City Hall but grew into the traditional parade and ceremony followed by a lunch featuring Greek food at the St. Demetrios Center on Atlantic Avenue Northeast.