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Campbell festival celebrates Greek heritage
CAMPBELL
Step into the Greek Fest at Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church and the first sight to catch your eye might be the children.
Little boys are running around in leggings, ruffled shirts and vests. Girls with long skirts and ruffled blouses breeze by, while women tend to head scarves for older girls.
The costumes don’t look like costumes. They look like old-fashioned, but ordinary clothes. And in fact, they are.
The children are dancers, explained Celeste Maillis as she helped her daughter Arianna, 14, with her outfit. Boys and girls from kindergarten through 12th grade who belong to the church learn to dance traditional Greek dances.
“It’s nice,” Maillis said. “They connect with their culture, and when they go to weddings and stuff like that, they have the confidence to dance.”
They practice at the church’s community center on Twelfth Street, said Maria Mavroudi, who teaches kindergarten through second-grade dancers. There are more than 50 kids who take lessons, and they practice all year ’round.
And the clothes?
“The parents bring the costumes from Greece,” she said. “The older generation know how to make them, and they are handmade,” she continued. The clothes can be ordered from Greece.
The Greek community in Campbell is tight-knit and holds fast to its traditions. Preserving them is a priority, so teaching them to their children is a must.
Friday began the three-day Greek Fest at the church at 401 Twelfth St. It continues today and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.
The traditional clothes and the dances, along with Greek artwork and music, are a big part of the festival.
But it wouldn’t be a festival without the traditional Greek food and the chance to eat it with all your friends.
The festival is a big draw each year from inside and outside
of Campbell.
“A lot of people who aren’t Greek come, and they come every year,” said Sheri Levendis, who is from Campbell and a church member.
“It’s a great community thing,” said her husband, George, who is city council president. “It’s good to see the Greek culture, the ethnic foods and the young kids dancing.”
“We love it,” said Karen Walsh of Struthers. “We come every year. We come for the gyros, the good company, the music, and we love to watch the kids dance.”
John Pontinkos, also of Struthers, said he grew up in the parish.
“All of my family and friends are still here,” he said.
“It’s like a family reunion,” added his friend Debra Pelusa, also of Struthers.
Their favorite foods? The gyros — the chicken dinner was good, and so was the fish.
In the back corner of the room, Team Gyro was making the magic happen.
Lamb was being carved for gyros. Souvlakai, or pork loin shish-kebab, was skewered and grilled, but not before Mary Frangopoulos seasoned and marinated it in salt, pepper, garlic, thribi, lemon juice, sherry and oil.
“You have to cook it the right way,” said Kally Liapas.
Over at the kitchen, the preparations included treats such as tiropites, or cheese puffs; spankopites, or spinach and cheese puffs; grape leaves; pastitsio, a lasagna with cream sauce; mousaka, an eggplant dish; lamb dinners; chicken dinners; and salads.
Across the room, the pastries included cookies such as kataife, with phyllo dough, nuts and honey.
The festival took about two months of work to put on, said Bill Basili Likouris, who co-chaired it with Christine Gaetano.
“Together like a team we’re working,” Likouris said.
“And then we have all our volunteers who work their butts off,” said Fanny Likouris, his wife.
“Then the whole community works for the church, and we continue to do this for the Greek culture,” Likouris said. “In our church, we have about 500 families, and everything we learn, we pass on to the next generation.”