The Greek Historical Society of the San Francisco Bay Area* -- headed up by our own Jim Lucas of Stockton -- is participating in the 2015 SF History Expo which takes place this weekend at the Old Mint (88 Fifth Street & Mission). It's worth the trip if you are history buff and also want to see what Jim's group has accomplished...
Saturday: February 28th - 11am to 5pm
Sunday: March 1rst - 11am to 4pm
Time to also mention that the First National Hellenic-American Genealogy Conference will take place on Saturday, April 25th at the Hotel Trinity Cathedral in New York City. It's a full day's schedule of pertinent speakers that is fully-funded through the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, so there is no charge to attend -- but seating is limited and registration is required by contacting Stamatis Ghikas (hellenicchamber-nyc@att.net). Hope to see you there!
* The Greek Historical Society of the San Francisco Bay Area is a California 501c3 non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of Greek culture and history -- you can make online contributions to their fine work HERE. Efharisto poli!
Friday, February 27, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Give Greece & Greeks a chance!
This slightly off-topic...But it pains me deeply when some Greek-Americans are so fast to criticize Greece, especially without a real understanding/appreciation of the Greek reality. Many times when I lived in Greece, they came to visit and criticized (and still
criticize) life in their home country. Subsequently, they went off over
decades to organize Greek Festivals at their churches to extol their
Greekness. What's up with that?
And there is sometimes a genuine lack of compassion, especially now in one of the darkest economic times since before WWI when many of our relatives left Greece for a better life and after WWII/Civil War when 600,000 Greek lost their lives. Some have called the current situation even worse for the average Greek family. And while some Greek-American entities have risen gallantly to the occasion, others still work on a myriad of charitable projects that do NOT include help for their home country. What's up with that?
The European austerity demands/agreements have created a grave humanitarian crisis. 27% unemployment is just the tip of the iceberg. Pensions have been slashed and many have long lost their health benefits, giving rise to serious health problems. Too many Greek schoolchildren go to school hungry and suffer from malnutrition. Hostility to people fleeing warn-torn areas like Syria/Iraq and also desperately needing social services created added social unrest precipitated by the fascist-like Golden Dawn party. There is a serious uptick in suicides. This isn't an embarrassment; it's a disaster!
Now there is a new, democratically-elected government that aims to shake things up, not unlike other political movements in Europe dealing with crippling austerity crises. The Syriza Party slogan was "Hope is coming!" So is it any wonder that Greeks voted for a party that promised free electricity for 300,000 households below the poverty line, food stamps, free health care, special bus passes, and wage increases? As President Obama said in his State of the Union message last week, "If you think you can live on less than $15,000 a year, try it!" The Greek minimum monthly wage in December was 683.80 Euros or $9961 annually (then), if you had a job. Fewer than an outright majority of Greeks voted to back Syriza* -- but surely all Greeks feel the pain and see the urgent need for change.
This is not to say that Greece should renege on their agreements with the European Union and leave the Eurozone, or that Greeks (especially those with money) shouldn't pay their taxes, or that reforms that have begun to make sure this doesn't happen again should be abandoned. But Alexis Tsipras is no dummy, and he will quickly learn -- like presidents Bush and Obama did -- that governing in the 21st Century is far more difficult than running a political campaign.
I really hope that Greece's new government can renegotiate the now clearly destructive austerity package and deliver more than just hope. Meanwhile, Greek-Americans and others all along the political spectrum must give Greece and Greeks a real chance -- meaning moral and economic support, not condemnation for past political mistakes -- as they embark on a very difficult path in troubled Eurozone waters. The bottom line is the restoration of human and national dignity, but first to put some feta cheese and baklava back the dinner tables. Surely you can relate to that.
* European parliamentary elections are proportional in nature often calling for coalition governments, not winner-take-all like the U.S. And Syriza, characterized as "far left," is itself a somewhat complicated coalition of 13 radical groups no longer including the now adversarial, hard-core KKE Communist Party.
And there is sometimes a genuine lack of compassion, especially now in one of the darkest economic times since before WWI when many of our relatives left Greece for a better life and after WWII/Civil War when 600,000 Greek lost their lives. Some have called the current situation even worse for the average Greek family. And while some Greek-American entities have risen gallantly to the occasion, others still work on a myriad of charitable projects that do NOT include help for their home country. What's up with that?
The European austerity demands/agreements have created a grave humanitarian crisis. 27% unemployment is just the tip of the iceberg. Pensions have been slashed and many have long lost their health benefits, giving rise to serious health problems. Too many Greek schoolchildren go to school hungry and suffer from malnutrition. Hostility to people fleeing warn-torn areas like Syria/Iraq and also desperately needing social services created added social unrest precipitated by the fascist-like Golden Dawn party. There is a serious uptick in suicides. This isn't an embarrassment; it's a disaster!
Now there is a new, democratically-elected government that aims to shake things up, not unlike other political movements in Europe dealing with crippling austerity crises. The Syriza Party slogan was "Hope is coming!" So is it any wonder that Greeks voted for a party that promised free electricity for 300,000 households below the poverty line, food stamps, free health care, special bus passes, and wage increases? As President Obama said in his State of the Union message last week, "If you think you can live on less than $15,000 a year, try it!" The Greek minimum monthly wage in December was 683.80 Euros or $9961 annually (then), if you had a job. Fewer than an outright majority of Greeks voted to back Syriza* -- but surely all Greeks feel the pain and see the urgent need for change.
This is not to say that Greece should renege on their agreements with the European Union and leave the Eurozone, or that Greeks (especially those with money) shouldn't pay their taxes, or that reforms that have begun to make sure this doesn't happen again should be abandoned. But Alexis Tsipras is no dummy, and he will quickly learn -- like presidents Bush and Obama did -- that governing in the 21st Century is far more difficult than running a political campaign.
I really hope that Greece's new government can renegotiate the now clearly destructive austerity package and deliver more than just hope. Meanwhile, Greek-Americans and others all along the political spectrum must give Greece and Greeks a real chance -- meaning moral and economic support, not condemnation for past political mistakes -- as they embark on a very difficult path in troubled Eurozone waters. The bottom line is the restoration of human and national dignity, but first to put some feta cheese and baklava back the dinner tables. Surely you can relate to that.
* European parliamentary elections are proportional in nature often calling for coalition governments, not winner-take-all like the U.S. And Syriza, characterized as "far left," is itself a somewhat complicated coalition of 13 radical groups no longer including the now adversarial, hard-core KKE Communist Party.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
What's in the name Vasiliki? Bessie OR Bella, for starters!
Working on family trees has been both exhilarating and totally frustrating. Tracking down who was related to whom can be torture if you don't know both the original given name AND the Americanized version, which may or may not make sense.
Bessie Pappas, for example, was a Vasiliki. On the otherhand, Vasiliki ("Thea Vasilo") Sarris Xepoleas -- who lived in Stockton circa 1920-1925 -- took the name Bella, according to phone directories. When I asked Angela Gibson what her aunt Bella Mitchell/Metaxas' given name was, she answered Vasiliki. So there you have it!
I have mentioned that my Papou George Sarris had a candy store in Crockett, CA, that he bought from his brother Louis. Who? He did not -- according to my list from his village Kyparissi, Lakonias -- have a brother (or half-brother, as has recently been suggested) named Louis. I did locate a Louis who lived in Crockett, but still the name was perplexing. Then it hit me!
I lived in Greece for 10 years and knew NOT a single soul named Louis! Indeed there seems to be no such given Greek name. If you know a Louis or a Louie -- liked my Nouno's brother Louie Lekos (Lekaki) -- it is someone with a given a name that might have sounded a bit like it...like Ilias. My Papou did have a brother named Ilias, and my Googling has found a couple of Iliases that became Louis in this country. Aha!
A common MYTH is that names were changed at Ellis Island. NOT TRUE, according to "Who do you think you are?" (A companion to the NBC series). Ellis Island was staffed by people who spoke many languages and "were mostly checking names against lists generated at the port of departure" (p. 14). Immigrants changed or shortened their names later to fit in. And according to The Guinness Book of Names (7th Edition), Louis was the 15th most popular name for boys in 1900 (p. 70).
Louis Sarris mystery solved? We'll see..at least we are getting a lot closer!
NOTE: That Name Game somewhat explains why we grew up thinking that our other papou's name was Xenophon Xanttopoulos, when his name on ALL paperwork-- including immigration papers and death certificate -- is Xanthoulis Xanthopoulos. This may have been a Yiayia Pauline effort to substitute/perpetuate a more classic, familiar Greek name beginning with X, even though my Papou himself (whom I never met) seemingly never used it. Even the 1932 San Francisco phone book listed him as Xanthoulis (spelled "Xantholes"), a name I actually found on Facebook recently belonging to someone in England. I had heard that Xanthoulis Xanthopoulos (father Efstathios) was most likely born around 1890 in Saranta Ekklisies. I have now discovered that this town is actually in Eastern Thrace not far from the Black Sea (Asia Minor) and was inhabited by many Greeks from ancient times to the Ottoman Empire, until the exchange of populations in 1923. It is now Kirklareli, Turkey. Stay tuned!
 |
| "Thea Vasilo" (aka Bella) |
I have mentioned that my Papou George Sarris had a candy store in Crockett, CA, that he bought from his brother Louis. Who? He did not -- according to my list from his village Kyparissi, Lakonias -- have a brother (or half-brother, as has recently been suggested) named Louis. I did locate a Louis who lived in Crockett, but still the name was perplexing. Then it hit me!
 |
| Papou Sarris (right) w/brother Ilias/Louis? |
A common MYTH is that names were changed at Ellis Island. NOT TRUE, according to "Who do you think you are?" (A companion to the NBC series). Ellis Island was staffed by people who spoke many languages and "were mostly checking names against lists generated at the port of departure" (p. 14). Immigrants changed or shortened their names later to fit in. And according to The Guinness Book of Names (7th Edition), Louis was the 15th most popular name for boys in 1900 (p. 70).
Louis Sarris mystery solved? We'll see..at least we are getting a lot closer!
NOTE: That Name Game somewhat explains why we grew up thinking that our other papou's name was Xenophon Xanttopoulos, when his name on ALL paperwork-- including immigration papers and death certificate -- is Xanthoulis Xanthopoulos. This may have been a Yiayia Pauline effort to substitute/perpetuate a more classic, familiar Greek name beginning with X, even though my Papou himself (whom I never met) seemingly never used it. Even the 1932 San Francisco phone book listed him as Xanthoulis (spelled "Xantholes"), a name I actually found on Facebook recently belonging to someone in England. I had heard that Xanthoulis Xanthopoulos (father Efstathios) was most likely born around 1890 in Saranta Ekklisies. I have now discovered that this town is actually in Eastern Thrace not far from the Black Sea (Asia Minor) and was inhabited by many Greeks from ancient times to the Ottoman Empire, until the exchange of populations in 1923. It is now Kirklareli, Turkey. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Magical Mystery Tour - Day 15 (Proof of George Sarris in Crockett, CA!)
(Originally published without the photos on 12-3-14)
Sitting here at the bar of the unexpectedly beautiful The Dead Fish restaurant overlooking the Carquinez Straits in Crockett, CA - and marveling at discoveries made at the Crockett Historical Museum on the last day of my Magical Mystery Tour.
This morning I had set out from Stockton -- via the suddenly familiar CA4 West along the Delta -- for Crockett, to revisit the town where Papou George Sarris lived circa 1920 before marrying Yiayia in San Francisco. Did not know why he was in Crockett or with whom. By that time the C and H sugar refinery was in full operation. All I had was a photo of him in his apron in a candy store/fountain circa 1920. My aunt Libby said he owned the place. Did he really?
You betcha! The museum's Keith Olsen patiently ran the names in the "Crockett Signal" newspaper archive and pulled up ALL the references. Bingo!
George Sarris first shows up in the paper in 1915 donating $1 to charity. Later he was involved with the Louis Sarris Co. candy store/fountain -- also referred to as the "Palace of Treats" and whose opening was postponed, possibly because Papou had "entrained" with 11 other Crockett boys and was at Ft. Kearny for a few months. The series of sweet shop ads run in the Signal were priceless.
On August 8, 1919, the Signal reported: "Louis Sarris, the popular candy man, has sold his store opposite the Hotel Crockett to his brother, George...Mr. Sarris expects to leave in the near future for Greece to join his family."
Louis Sarris is a newly-discovered step-brother and perhaps the mystery man in several old photos. Still not sure why they went to Crockett or exactly when Papou left there -- eventually for Stockton where his sister Sofia and Bill Demakopoulos owned the Palace Restaurant next to the Fox (now Bob Hope) Theater. There Papou cooked and made the fillings for chocolates hand-dipped by Yiayia Sarris and others. Just like See's! No pictures of the Palace inside, but I can still close my eyes and see them...And it looked a lot like the Crockett store!
I am very proud of my Papou George Sarris and very happy that my brothers and I all got his cooking gene. Kali Orexi!
NOTE: The Signal also reported that Papou was involved directly in some catch-as-catch-can wrestling matches held in Crockett in 1924 -- then described as George Sarris of San Francisco...So while one mystery was mostly solved, another has cropped up...Stay tuned!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sitting here at the bar of the unexpectedly beautiful The Dead Fish restaurant overlooking the Carquinez Straits in Crockett, CA - and marveling at discoveries made at the Crockett Historical Museum on the last day of my Magical Mystery Tour.
This morning I had set out from Stockton -- via the suddenly familiar CA4 West along the Delta -- for Crockett, to revisit the town where Papou George Sarris lived circa 1920 before marrying Yiayia in San Francisco. Did not know why he was in Crockett or with whom. By that time the C and H sugar refinery was in full operation. All I had was a photo of him in his apron in a candy store/fountain circa 1920. My aunt Libby said he owned the place. Did he really?You betcha! The museum's Keith Olsen patiently ran the names in the "Crockett Signal" newspaper archive and pulled up ALL the references. Bingo!George Sarris first shows up in the paper in 1915 donating $1 to charity. Later he was involved with the Louis Sarris Co. candy store/fountain -- also referred to as the "Palace of Treats" and whose opening was postponed, possibly because Papou had "entrained" with 11 other Crockett boys and was at Ft. Kearny for a few months. The series of sweet shop ads run in the Signal were priceless.
Louis Sarris is a newly-discovered step-brother and perhaps the mystery man in several old photos. Still not sure why they went to Crockett or exactly when Papou left there -- eventually for Stockton where his sister Sofia and Bill Demakopoulos owned the Palace Restaurant next to the Fox (now Bob Hope) Theater. There Papou cooked and made the fillings for chocolates hand-dipped by Yiayia Sarris and others. Just like See's! No pictures of the Palace inside, but I can still close my eyes and see them...And it looked a lot like the Crockett store!
 |
| L. Sarris Sweet Shop (circa 1920) |
I am very proud of my Papou George Sarris and very happy that my brothers and I all got his cooking gene. Kali Orexi!
NOTE: The Signal also reported that Papou was involved directly in some catch-as-catch-can wrestling matches held in Crockett in 1924 -- then described as George Sarris of San Francisco...So while one mystery was mostly solved, another has cropped up...Stay tuned!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Magical Mystery Tour: Day 12 (The lost relatives of Ballico)
It started with an empty envelope addressed to my Yiayia Eugenia Sarris & Daughter from Mr. and Mrs. James F. Lolonis in Ballico, CA. Where? It did not ring a bell and I could not make out the date...Google placed Ballico about 8 miles from Turlock. The address turned up again handwritten by my Yiayia in a old church directory. Google further informed me that James Lolonis had died last January, leaving behind he wife, Voula, and 4 sons. So I sent Voula Lolonis a card, which was soon answered with a phone call. And then my visit -- even though Mapquest didn't seem to know where the Ballico home address was either!
Voula Lolonis had invited me to visit any time, and I did so on 11/30. She looked very familiar, and it was as if I had known her forever. Her son Peter was there with his family from Oakdale. While they watched TV, I grilled Voula about family history.Her mother (who died tragically in Greece just after WWII along w/her father and sister due to a German mine) was from Koroni and Yiayia's first cousin, making Voula my mother and aunt Libby Sarris' second cousin. Her mother's sister Voula Huntalas -- related to the owners of San Francisco's Cliff House restaurant -- brought Voula to the States and was one of my Yiayia's best friends since childhood. They went back to Koroni together in 1965. Of course, I looked at old photos of all of them...
Then her oldest son John arrived and she predictably announced that it was time for dinner. Indeed, everyone pitched in to set the table and serve the meal -- even the kids. Granddaughter Krissy (Chrysoula) is a bonafied martials arts champion since the age of eight, and there is talk of the Olympics one day. What a nice family and warm welcome. The wonderful Sunday meal -- including hilopites, patates fournou and dolmathes! -- was a bonus.
I had come to meet Voula and learn more about my Yiayia's family history. I met a lovely family...and could have stayed a week. (I may well have been there before with my Yiayia. And as I made my way to Crockett 3 days later on low-key CA4 West along the Delta and across a few old draw bridges, it occurred to me that Byron -- once the site of an Orthodox monastery -- had been another Yiayia destination. I kept remembering a religious something, but had some trouble placing it before traveling on that road.) Here's the punchline: Voula said that my Yiayia had been wanting to have a family reunion at their farm so that the relatives would know each other in future years. It never happened as such. But there I was, fulfilling my Yiayia's wish on some level more than 35 years years later...To be continued!
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