Meeting Minutes - Tuesday, January 14, 2025

FHS Monthly Meeting (ZOOM) Start Time: 6:39pm

Present:  Tula Christopoulos; Catherine Karathanasis; Mariea Kazantzis; Katherine Panagakos; Tom Papademetriou.

November Minutes: Katherine moved; Cathy seconded. Approved.

Financial Report: Tula

  • Mariea reported for her: Current balance: $149,261.18. Nothing new to report.

Pappas Hellenic Center Report: Tom.

  • Art exhibit (January 22nd to March 23rd) sponsored by the Pappas Center, Byzantine Reflections: Church Architecture and Iconography, is currently being hung in the Art Gallery with examples from Saint Sophia and Chora.
  • Ahmet Ertug photography; Chris Kamages, architecture and George Kordis, iconography (Their work is seen throughout the U.S. in Greek Orthodox churches).
  • Events: Feb. 12th: Consul General to Greece, Iphigenia Kanara, will meet with political science students. Then, at 4:30pm, at a community event in the Art Gallery, she will give a talk followed by a dinner reception there and the Vasilopita celebration.
  • Tula will order the Vasilopita from Minos.
  • 27th there will be a student reception with the artists (Kamages and Kordis), followed by a demo and roundtable discussion.
  • Friday, Feb. 28th, 6:30pm, a community social event in the Art Gallery. 7pm: Reception with the two artists; Remarks; Q&A. A docent package is being sent to designated students. FHS members are invited to be docents, too.
  • Tom will have the publicity for Feb. 12th and Feb. 27th community events.
  • Consul General asked Tom to submit a letter of request; $10,000 was donated to the Pappas Center with no restrictions.
  • Pappas Center is putting the Greek Revolution through American Eyes exhibit on loan to the Consulate in NY. Tom will deliver it there in March.
  • Thursday, March 20th: Annual Constantelos Lecture in the Art Gallery. Theme: the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Code. 5:30pm reception; 6:30pm, lecture with speaker: George Demakopoulos of Fordham University and Ed Siecinski’s advisor.
  • Attendee estimate for each community event: 50.

Scholarship Updates: Katherine

  • Katherine and Cathy will approve the scholarship for Mackenzie who is leaving in February for study in Greece.

Website: Katherine.

  • Katherine: Concerning scholarship info., the website is updated.

Hellenic Voice: Mariea

  • Appeal is postponed, so no hard copies of the recent issue were made.
  • Mariea remarked that this issue is, particularly, content-rich.
  • Decision to publish twice a year: End of March; end of October.
  • For imminent event deadlines, Tom suggested to use the H.V. protocol to announce when needed.

New Business:

  • Mariea discussed Rosy Aggelaki’s proposal to work with FHS on a consortium for her Early Childhood university program.
  • Tom asked Mariea to get clarification from Rosy on the purpose or objective of her proposal. He also stated a consortium is generally between two academic entities. FHS is an auxiliary org. whose goal is mainly to support the University’s Hellenic Studies program and fundraise for it. Mariea will follow up.

Exploring Hellenism:

  • Theme: Magna Grecia: Hellenism in Greece and Italy.
  • Dante Hall as the venue: Tom said it’s being sold.
  • Tom’s contact person: Rich Nagro (St. Michael’s); Luisa – works at Italian consulate Phila.
  • Decision: Have it Fall 2025.
  • FHS members to decide who will lecture and other details to be discussed at next meeting.
  • Tula suggested Sofia’s if Dante Hall is unavailable.

Old Business:

  • 2025 trip to Washington DC tabled until later this spring
  • November 24th, Sunday, 1pm- Food, singing, camaraderie at Tom & Dorrie’s home was a great success, thanks to Mariea organizing it.

Adjournment: 8:00pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Tula Christopoulos