Canadian President’s Report
88th Annual AHEPA National Convention
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome every one to Canada and in particular to the beautiful city of La Belle Province Montréal where I’m sure you will enjoy as did the delegates of the 1960 Convention which was the last time the Supreme Convention was in Montreal. I would like to congratulate the Montreal Chapter, that after ten years of trying was successful in its endeavours to bring the supreme convention to Montreal; which proves that tenacity pays of. I’m sure as you are leaving the Convention you will be saying what took us so long.
Also I would like to thank and congratulate the Montreal organizing Committee who took on the task to assist with the organization of this the 88th Annual Supreme Convention, showed such energy, enthusiasm and creativity, guaranteeing this convention to be one of the best that we have seen in a long time.
The first task that I undertook as Canadian President was to try to continuously raise the profile of AHEPA Canada to all AHEPA Family members and Greek Canadian communities in general.
With the same goal in mind, I appeared several times on the Hellenic TV programs in both Montreal and Toronto, giving interviews trying to continuously raise the AHEPA Canada profile across Canada. The programs are aired across Canada.
For another year, we continue fulfilling the mission of the AHEPA Family, through the organization and support of initiatives which promote Hellenism, Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence.
Enthusiasm creates energy. Energy creates power. Power creates strength: this is the strength that is required to run a successful organization such as ours and no other Hellenic
Organization operates at so many levels with so many projects and gives back so much to its Community.
We also continue with our objective of raising the visibility and image of the Canadian AHEPA Family by encouraging members to seek greater interaction and cooperation with local organizations, as well as with municipal and provincial governments in their respective communities.
We continued with our mission to build a solid network of both formal and informal forums with the Canadian government and this provides a viable opportunity for voicing our opinions and concerns as Canadians of Hellenic descent. To that end we spearheaded The Parliament Hill Hellenic Friendship Day which took place May 13th 2010. This was a momentous event because it was the first time that four Hellenic organizations AHEPA, the Canadian Hellenic Congress, PSEKA and SAE Canada spoke with one voice.
The AHEPA Delegation with SAE, Canadian Hellenic Congress and PSEKA met with the Prime Minister, Ministers and Canadian government and senior officials to discuss:
1. The Continuous Occupation of Cyprus
2. The Ecumenical Patriarchate and The Theological School of Halki
3. The Pondian Genocide
4. F.Y.R.O.M name issue
5. The Elgin Marbles
The issue of the Patriarchate was championed and presented by the AHEPA delegation to the Ministers and the Prime Minister and it was received extremely well by all including the Prime Minister who used the word "dismay" to express his feeling about the situation.
This year, my travels took me to numerous Chapters where I witnessed many worthy chapter and district projects that promoted the mission of AHEPA, such as, the Montreal AHEPA
Family, St. Valentine’s Ball: a fundraising event for two very worthy local causes.
I participated at the London Chapters Christmas Party and Award Dinner and also participated with several functions organized by the Toronto AHEPA Family. Congratulations to the
Toronto Chapters for their great efforts, the last several years, to promote the AHEPA
Mission and have put the AHEPA Family back at the front line and which has resulted in a continued growth of memberships. I would like to wish continued success to all the chapters, for promoting the good name of AHEPA across Canada.
At the international level, my travels took me to Washington DC, several times, to participate at a dinner function ‘in honour of our Patriarch at the State Department and to New York,
Portland and Chicago to attend our Regional Biennial Banquets.
AHEPA FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION OF CANADA
The Foundation held its Board of Directors and General Membership meetings on the occasion of District 23’s mid-year leadership conference in Toronto, Ontario. This meeting were organized and chaired by myself and the Canadian DOP President Sister Diane Polesello.
I would like to report that the Nick Logothetis’ estate has come to close the AHEPA FAMILY CARTITABLE FOUNDATION OF CANADA was the sole beneficiary of the late Past District 23 Governor Nick Logothetis’ estate. The final net value of the estate was over $300,000.00. All proceeds will be used for Scholarship. This year we awarded two Journey to Greece Scholarship under the name of “Nick Logothetis” Journey to Greece.
In addition I would like to inform you that the AHEPA FAMILY CARTITABLE FOUNDATION OF CANADA received from the Dr. Dimitriadis’ estate from Calgary, Alberta, the amount of $100,000.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Br. Katsepontes, Br. Jim Giannoulis and Br. Antoniou for helping me with the Logothetis and Dimitriadis estate.
I am pleased to announce that, for a forth year, the Foundation has awarded the “Nick Logothetis “Journey to Greece scholarships to two Canadian University students, these scholarships will give the opportunity to deserving students to spend a six weeks in Greece studying and experiencing Hellenic history and culture. I would like to thank the Toronto Chapter for, once again, contributing generously to the traveling costs of the winner of the scholarship.
We also continue The Odysseas On Line Greek School. It is a program that we teamed up with the Simon Fraser University’s Hellenic Studies Department, headed by Dr. Andre Gerolymatos. This program has been giving the opportunity to anyone who wants to learn Greek to take Greek Courses through the internet. The program was funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation
82nd Annual AHEPA Excursion to Greece, Cyprus, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate
On April 25th I returned from the 82nd Annual AHEPA Excursion to Greece, Cyprus, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The trip was both productive and informative. Supreme President Nicholas A. Karacostas led the delegation, which included Daughters of Penelope Grand President Elaine M. Sampanis, Maids of Athena Grand President Sia Zois, myself, and several AHEPA family members representing chapters across the AHEPA family.
Constantinople
The excursion began on April 1st with our arrival at Constantinople, where we attended Holy Week services. On Good Friday, the entire AHEPA family delegation had a private audience with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. At this gathering, His All Holiness expressed his happiness for the AHEPA family's support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. I had the honour of accompanying Supreme President Karacostas in a private meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch for a quick review of the dire situation that the Ecumenical Patriarchate faces on a daily basis.
While in Constantinople we received a private tour of the seminary and the 600-year-old document library at the Theological School of Halki.
Our delegation attended Anastasi services at St. George Church at the Phanar. After services, the Supreme President attended a private dinner with His All Holiness. The rest of the delegation had dinner in a restaurant in Constantinople.
Thessaloniki
Following Constantinople, we moved on to Thessaloniki Greece where we attended a dinner hosted by AHEPA Chapter HJ3.
Here we had the privilege of visiting with the Prefect of Thessaloniki, His Excellency Panagiotis Psomiadis, the mayor of Thessaolinki, Honorable Vassilios Papageorgopoulos, the American Consul General in Thessaloniki, Catherine Kay, and the General Secretariat for Macedonia-Thrace (Deputy Minister of Interior based in Thessaloniki), Theodora Tzakri. During the meetings with local officials we discussed the work of the AHEPA Family internationally and reinforced the message that the AHEPA Family will always support and promote Hellenic National issues.
We also had the opportunity to visit the archeological sites in Pella and Vergina, as well as the tomb of Phillip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. Before leaving Thessaloniki, we visited the AHEPA Hospital, where we had a private tour from Dr. Dimitris Gakis (President of the Hospital). We had a private meeting with Dr. Gakis in which we discussed the needs of the Hospital, especially those of the Children’s Oncology Wing.
Kastoria
Our next stop was Kastoria, where the mayor hosted our delegation. The purpose of our trip was to visit the “Arhontiko” that the City of Kastoria is giving to the AHEPA Chapters of the Thessaloniki area. This heritage building needs to be restored back to the original condition at which point it will host the first electronic library in Kastoria.
Cyprus
The next stop on our journey was Cyprus where we met with Attorney General of the Republic, Petros Klerides, the President of the House of Representatives, Marios Garoyian, and His Eminence Archbishop Chrysostomos II. We discussed a variety of issues with respect to property rights, including the interpretation of the laws regarding illegally-obtained property in occupied-Cyprus.
We had the opportunity to visit City Hall and the office of the mayor of Nicosia. Afterwards, we met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where we were given a brief overview of the status of the ongoing negotiations for a Cyprus settlement.
At the American Embassy in Nicosia, Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Cohen briefed us on the American perspective of the talks.
Our final meeting was with President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias. Our evening concluded with a banquet reception hosted by the District 27 Governor Phanos Pitiris and Past District Governor Costas Pereos. The Banquet was in honor of Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides who was awarded the 2010 AHEPA Academy of Achievement Award in Business.
Athens
The final leg of our journey was in Athens where AHEPA Glyfada Chapter HJ2 welcomed our delegation at a banquet held at the campus of AHEPA’s Journey to Greece partner, the University of Indianapolis-Athens.
We met with the American Ambassador to Greece, Daniel Speckhard. Ambassador Speckhard complimented AHEPA for its hard work on the visa waiver designation for Greece as well as other projects on which AHEPA has worked. While at the American Embassy, the delegation visited the George Marshall Statue. The AHEPA family donated the statue in October 2000 under the leadership of Past Supreme President Johnny Economy.
Next, our delegation had an audience with His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. We visited the Minister of Health Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, and the Minister of Finance George Papaconstantinou for an in-depth conversation about the state of Greece's economy.
Ioannis Bougas, Lazarus Kallipolidis, N. Mavromaras and I had the opportunity to visit with the Canadian Ambassandor to Greece. Some of the issues discussed with our Ambassador included the daily problems faced by our Ecumenical Patriarch, Halki, FYROM, and Cyprus.
At the Hellenic Parliament, the delegation met with the President of Parliament Filippos Petsalnikos. We all felt very proud as AHEPA was praised for its history of charitable deeds and contributions to the community.
During the evening we attended a meeting of all AHEPA Hellas District 25 chapters and a banquet in honour the visiting delegation.
While in Athens we met with Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas who briefed us on recent developments in Greece's foreign policy in the eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Europe. Additionally, we met with the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Pavlos Yeroulanos.
We all experienced great pride as we toured the AHEPA wing of the Evangelismos Hospital, hosted by Chapter HJ1.
Following the hospital tour, we had the pleasure of visiting the New Acropolis Museum and have a private tour organized by the Minister of Culture and Tourism.
After our tours, the AHEPA International Committee, which included members from the U.S., Canada, Greece, and Australia met and. Supreme President Karacostas charged the committee with exploring options to assist in the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
It has been a great experience and honour to serve as the president of AHEPA Canada and of the AHEPA FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION of Canada. for the past two years . I want to thank all of whom gave me their support in my tenure as the AHEPA Canada President and that of our Foundation. Together we were able to achieve the objectives we had set forth two years ago.
In the last two years I sought to provide good guidance and leadership to our Chapters across Canada. This, I would say, is the primary purpose of all presidents of AHEPA Canada. I am very pleased to say that we maintained our contributions to our communities both at the local and national levels. As AHEPA Canada we continue to support our faith and culture through our scholarships to seminary students of the Metropolis, as well as through our Nick Logothetis “Journey to Greece” scholarship, a program. We have continued our partnership with the Hellenic Studies Department at Simon Fraser University and proudly promote the learning of Greek through the on-line Odysseus Greek tutor program across Canada thus giving them the tools to continue full filling two of our missions the promotion of Education and Hellenism..
I find myself surprised at how quickly two years have passed. I am very proud of what our organization has accomplished at the national level during this period. It was a pleasure working with very supportive Brothers and Sisters across the country, at both Chapter and District levels, as well as with the Board of Directors of the AHEPA Family Charitable Foundation of Canada. I would like to thank all my Canadian Brothers and Sisters for the confidence they showed in me by electing me Canadian President. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Chapter members through my travels, basking in warm hospitality and generosity. It has been an honour to serve as your Canadian President.
I would like to thank all those Brothers and Sisters who supported me for the last two years, not only in my chapter, and our district but across the country. I have had the opportunity experience the AHEPA spirit to meet new people and make new friends who have enriched my life and for that I’m grateful.
In closing, I would like to add that it has been a privilege and an honour to serve you as Canadian President for the last two years. I would like also to take this opportunity to thank some of the individuals whom, without their support and commitment, we would not have been able to administer the AFCFC as efficiently as we did or to provide the programs of our Foundation. These are; Past Canadian Pesidents Frank Antoniou and Jim Giannoulis, Canadian President of D.O.P. Diane Polesello, V. Kachmarski, C. Katopodis and our legal counsel N. Katsepontes. I would be remiss if did not congratulate the convention organizing committee for a job well done.
Finally, I would like to thank Basil Mossaidis, and the headquarters staff for their assistance and cooperation. It was a great honor and an experience serving on the Supreme Lodge with Supreme President Nick Karacostas, Vice President John Grossomanides and the rest of the members of the Supreme lodge. I would be amiss if I did not thank all members of the AFCF for their support and dedication.
Fraternally
Nick Aroutzidis
President, AHEPA Canada
