Tomorrow we celebrate the 199th anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. This celebration coincides with the celebration of our Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. In any other year, our children would rehearse their presentations for the school show. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis, we have to adapt our celebrations and festivities, as well as the divine liturgy, to this new reality. Our morale remains high however, as Greeks have demonstrated many times in the past, and continue to do so with the migration crisis at the Greek-Turkish border, that we will never surrender and that we can always overcome all challenges we face.
The HCGM has planned the following series of activities to connect our hearts, minds and spirits on this important day:
8 h 30 : Attend, on Facebook, the divine liturgy for The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, broadcast live from Saint George’s Cathedral.
10 h 30 : Join our “Virtual Parade” – Do you have a greek costume? Dress your children and film them parading around the house. No costume? No problem! They can also put on their school uniforms! We will create a publication on the HCGM Facebook page where you can share your videos or photos so that everyone can see them.
12 h – Listen to 105.1 MIKE FM for our very first children’s radio show. An hour of patriotic songs and poems (in Greek) to honor our ancestors who gave their lives for our homeland to be free. There will also be a history lesson with Eleni Dracopoulos, teacher at the Socrates-Demosthenes School. This is a program that will continue every Wednesday while school is closed, so mark your calendars!
14 h – Do children feel inspired? Make a video of them singing a patriotic song or reciting a poem. If they don’t know what to sing, can we suggest the Greek national anthem? Share the video with us, and don’t forget to send it to yiayia and papou too!
16 h – It’s time for Greek themed crafts! We will post some ideas on the HCGM Facebook page of simple projects that your children can do at home. Share photos of the finished product on the CHGM Facebook page.
18 h – It’s time for Bakaliaro (breaded salted cod) and Skordalia (potato and garlic dip). We can’t help you much with these, but these are the traditional dishes of the day!
There are a few other ideas we are working on, so follow our page carefully for updates.
Join our celebration. And don’t forget to hang your Greek flags wherever you can. We are Greeks, we are proud!
ΖΗΤΩ η 25η Μαρτιου 1821
