Cretans of Omonia Begin Community?s Celebration of 100 Years of Enosis with Greece

ASTORIA ? The Omonia chapter of the Pancretan Association of America (PAA) filled their Cretan House in Astoria for its annual dinner dance on October 12, as usual, but this year it was a special occasion. Sons and Daughters of Crete are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the island?s union with Greece, and Saturday?s event was the first of many commemorations scheduled for the New York Metropolitan area. Like the best community events, the speeches were short and sweet, the food delicious, the music fantastic and the children delighted everyone with their dancing that presages a bright future for Hellenism in America. Emmanuel Kouroupakis, who served as the MC, welcomed the guests and paid tribute to the member of the society saying, ?We do what we can to perverse our traditions and values far from our homeland,? and presented an overview of recent Cretan history, and the struggle to liberate the island from the Ottomans and unite it with Greece. He also lauded the great Cretan statesman Eleftherios Venizelos.

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