Greek Australian, Ann Margulis, had an uninterrupted view of the 9/11 terror attacks 20 years ago as she was doing a yoga class.
“It was unbelievable, traumatic to say the least,” Margulis told The Daily Telegraph about witnessing the two planes hit the Twin Towers on that fateful day in 2001, killing roughly 2876 people.
Margulis, along with her husband Les, were later evacuated from their apartment opposite the New York Stock Exchange in the shadow of Ground Zero because of the poisonous clouds that filled the air.
Poisonous clouds covered New York for months.
“The air was dreadful. We could smell the fires, they didn’t go out until February, many months later, and the air quality was terrible, it smelt like burning plastic,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
But the Environmental Protection Agency said the air was safe to breathe despite it stinking as the site continued to burn.
Sixteen months later, Margulis suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) so the couple returned to Sydney and then moved to the Blue Mountains.
She has still not been able to escape the cancers caused by the toxic fumes.
In 2005, she contracted thyroid cancer and then four years later, stage four stomach cancer. After a legal fight, she proved her illnesses were caused by the toxic air and she received a settlement from the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund.
Policemen and firemen run away from the huge dust cloud caused as the World Trade Center’s Tower One collapse.
There are more than 43,000 people who were in the vicinity of Ground Zero after the attacks, including emergency personnel, who reported 9/11-related illnesses and 3000 have died with 68 different types of cancers linked to the gases.
Margulis has been cancer free for a number of years now but still has ongoing health issues as a result. She speaks about that day back in 2001 so that “hidden” victims, including the families and friends of those who died, will not be forgotten.
“I find carrying hatred achieves nothing. I feel really sad, sadness for all the people this has affected and all the families and friends and survivors,” she said.
Vespers will be performed at the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in New York, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, for the first time in 20 years.
This news was confirmed by the General Hierarchical Vicar of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Father Alexandros Karloutsos, to the Sputnik news agency.
“On September 10, the Vespers will be officiated by Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. This is our contribution to the anniversary of 9/11,” Father Karloutsos added.
The church will be lit the next day.
The next day, the church will be lit, along with other buildings in the area, in blue to honour the memory of the victims of the terrorist attack.
The domed shrine, which is covered in the same type of marble used to build the Parthenon in Athens, is supposed to appear as if it’s glowing from the inside.
The shrine will then go dark again for the next few months.
A year ago, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said the shrine would be finished by this fall. Archbishop Elpidophoros, who heads the church in the US, said “it will be completed and open to all people, on the 20th anniversary” of 9/11.
The exterior of the church is expected to be completed by November 2.
But Michael Psaros, the vice chairman of the Friends of St Nicholas, told euronews the exterior of the church is expected to be completed by November 2, when the doors will be opened in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Mr Psarros added that work on the interior of the church will continue until April 2022, with the hope that it will be finalised by Holy Week and Easter of the same year.
“The church will be inaugurated on July 4, 2022, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,” Mr Psarros concluded.
The body of revered Greek composer, Mikis Theodorakis, was heading to its final resting place on the island of Crete on Wednesday after lying in state at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral for three days.
Theodorakis, whose musical score for the 1964 movie “Zorba the Greek” helped foster a carefree image of Greece abroad for millions, died on September 2 aged 96.
Thousands of mourners of all ages laid flowers and sang his songs over the three days that his casket was on public display in the chapel of Agios Eleftherios beside the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral.
A farewell ceremony on Wednesday drew officials and ordinary Greeks, who gathered in a light autumnal drizzle outside the cathedral.
Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, delivered a brief eulogy during a memorial service held in the main church, describing the late composer as a “teacher and a paradigm.”
“He will always be with us, rooted in our collective memory,” Sakellaropoulou said.
Leader of the Greek Orthodox church, Archbishop Ieronimos, leads the farewell service of Theodorakis at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, Greece, September 8, 2021. Photo: Reuters / Alkis Konstantinidis.
“His music was a call to rise above the personal and commune with others; a code that transcended circumstances, standing for resistance, hope, camaraderie and collective struggles.”
On Wednesday evening, hundreds of citizens gathered at Piraeus port as well to bid farewell to Theodorakis, as his remains departed on a ferry for Crete ahead of his burial on Thursday. The ship containing the hearse and late composer’s coffin departed gate E2 shortly before 7 pm.
As his remains were being taken onto the ship, Piraeus Brass Band played some of the late composer’s music.
Theodorakis’ remains are on the way to Crete. Photo: InTime News.
The ferry is scheduled to arrive in Crete at 7.30 am. His remains will then be carried to Hania Cathedral. At 1 pm, his body will be taken to the Church of Aghios Nikolaos in his paternal village of Galatas, where a funeral service will be conducted.
Theodorakis will be buried in the village cemetery beside his brother and parents, in accordance with his wishes.
Both the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the leader of the opposition, Alexis Tsipras, have announced that they will be in attendance.
Australians across the nation will today gather in person and virtually to mark R U OK?Day, a national day of action and a reminder that every day is a day to start a meaningful conversation with the people in our world.
Thousands of events and activities will be hosted by social and sports clubs, community groups, workplaces, schools and suicide prevention networks, championing the message “Are they really OK? Ask them today” which calls on all Australians to make asking “are you OK?”, a part of their everyday.
“The ups and downs of life can affect each of us differently. Sometimes it won’t be obvious that someone is struggling, but having the support of family, friends and close colleagues can help us better navigate the challenges that come our way,” R U OK? CEO, Katherine Newton, said.
“Don’t wait until someone is visibly distressed or in crisis before you ask. If you ask them in a genuine way, your support can make a difference whatever they are facing.
“In a time when so many of us are feeling fatigued by the pandemic, we want to remind and reassure Australians that there is something we can all do to support those in our world, and as those closest to them we are often in a position to do so.
“R U OK?Day is a reminder to think about how the people in our world are really going, find time to make a moment meaningful and have a conversation.”
This year has seen an increased demand from workplaces, schools and the public for practical tools on how to have an R U OK? conversation. In the last year R U OK? have seen a 32% increase in resource downloads from the website, compared to the same period the previous year.
R U OK? resources are now available in eight other languages and to support at risk demographics such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the LGBTIQ+ community and those living in regional and remote Australia.
Victoria Police are on a recruitment drive with the hope to diversify their team.
Leading senior constable Nektarios ‘Nick’ Parissis says Melburnians were often “stunned” to come across him.
“In the 90s, policing was still seen to be a very Anglo-Saxon-centric profession,” he tellsHerald Sun.
“I was told, ‘Greeks don’t join the police force’ and I said, ‘why not’. It was not considered a job for us at the time.”
He joined the force at 18-years-old and has worked ever since to develop relationships with Melbourne’s diverse migrant communities.
“Many have come from communities where they see police and run the other way,” he says.
“We are supposed to be representative of the community, so the more diverse our work population is, the more it reflects the community.”
Nick is a colleague of his wife, Jo, who together work regularly with children.
Jo is also a senior constable who works as a youth resource officer for Victoria Police in Preston, while Nick takes regular excursions to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The world’s top Christian leaders have joined forces to issue a stark warning that climate change is threatening the future of the planet.
Orthodox leader Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew joined Pope Francis and archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to issue their first-ever joint statement.
“We must decide what kind of world we want to leave to future generations,” the three clerics write in the statement.
“The extreme weather and natural disasters of recent months reveal afresh to us with great force and at great human cost that climate change is not only a future challenge, but an immediate and urgent matter of survival.”
They agree that climate change and global warming are at least partially caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
“This is the first time that the three of us feel compelled to address together the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on persistent poverty, and the importance of global cooperation,” they wrote.
“We stand before a harsh justice: biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and climate change are the inevitable consequences of our actions, since we have greedily consumed more of the earth’s resources than the planet can endure,” the message said.
The Pope has frequently cited Bartholomew’s teachings on the environment in his encyclical from 2015.
The statement follows Europe’s warmest summer on record this year, including the record-breaking heatwave which fuelled Greece’s wildfires, in the lead up to the UN climate summit COP26 later this year.
The Pope is expected to attend the summit, while Bartholomew’s office hasn’t yet responded to an email about his plans to attend the conference, according to Ekathimerini.
Mikis Theodorakis’ funeral arrangements have been laid to rest by a court in Athens on Thursday.
The Athens First Instance Court heard that Theodorakis’ parting funeral wishes will be upheld by two executors named in a recent notarial deed.
The Greek composer and politician will be buried in Chania, Crete, next to his parents and brother, Greece’s Communist Party KKE said Sunday.
Theodorakis had written a letter to the mayor of Chania in 2013 expressing his wish to be buried in the cemetery of Galatas in his father’s hometown of Chania.
“My family does not approve of my wish; however, the law recognises everyone’s right to decide about the disposal of their body,” Theodorakis had written in the letter.
He addressed similar sentiments in a legal document dating to January 2020 and a letter in October 2020.
Theodorakis’ daughter hoped for her father to be buried in Vrahati, near Corinth, but the court temporarily halted any burial plans after unnamed Theodorakis collaborators had filed an injunction.
The court ruled in the collaborators’ favor and ordered that Theodorakis’ wife, daughter, and son no longer intervene in his funeral arrangements.
He currently rests at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral and will be buried in Chania on Thursday.
Pediatricians in public and private health sectors will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 12 to 17 from their practice.
The Greek government announced the decision following an online cabinet meeting at Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ office on Tuesday.
“We’re a week before the opening of [public] schools and I believe this is the perfect time to launch a great new effort to increase the vaccination rate among minors,” Mitsotakis says.
He added that “no scientific discovery has extended the human lifespan like the vaccine”.
Σε σύσκεψη με εκπροσώπους παιδιατρικών φορέων εκφράστηκε η ομόφωνη άποψη ότι οι παιδίατροι πρέπει να αναλάβουν πιο ενεργό ρόλο στον εμβολιασμό των νέων 12-17 ετών. Καθώς πλησιάζει το άνοιγμα των σχολείων πρέπει να κάνουμε μία μεγάλη προσπάθεια να αυξήσουμε τα ποσοστά εμβολιασμού. pic.twitter.com/Do09KhsMNg
President of Greece’s vaccination committee, Maria Theodoridou, says the support of pediatricians is “crucial”.
“Because pediatricians often play the role of family doctor for many Greek families, they will be asked whether children should be vaccinated or not, so their support is crucial,” she says.
Sotiris Tsiodras is an infectious disease expert advising the government on its COVID-19 policy and says children in the age bracket can play “a catalytic role in controlling the pandemic”.
“The high transmissibility of the Delta variant also concerns our children, which is why it is so important that measures for preventing the spread of the virus are upheld at schools,” he says.
Maria Sakkari defeated Bianca Andreescu in an epic 3.5 hour duel today to become the first Greek tennis player to qualify for the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Sakkari defeated Andreescu 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the last match of the fourth round of the US Open.
The marathon match ended at nearly 2:15 am (ET). The previous women’s record was a 1:48 am finish for a first-round match in 2016 in which Madison Keys beat Alison Riske; three men’s matches have wrapped up at 2:26 am.
“I told my team I was prepared for a 7-6 in the third. With Bianca, it would never be a 6-4, 6-1. Because she fights for every point, I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Sakkari said after the match.
It will be her second Grand Slam quarterfinal and comes just 3 months after her first, which was at Roland Garros, where she reached the semifinals.
Sakkari will face two-time Grand Slam runner-up Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals.
After 43 years of serving Adelaidians with the finest steak and managing his business with passion and dedication, Stratos Pouras, 84, is today one of the state’s longest running restaurant owners and a powerful specimen of exemplary men in hospitality.
Like many Greek Australian success stories, it all started with a suitcase and the will to prosper in a country away from post WWII and civil-war torn, Greece.
Born in Kokkinia, a suburb in the southwestern part of Athens in 1934, Stratos Pouras migrated to Adelaide with his father in January 1953.
“My mother had siblings already settled in Adelaide and although my father was a carpenter and was busy in Athens the spirit was to always go to a better place with more opportunities,” said Mr Pouras, owner of Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver.
“We didn’t come as assisted migrants. We had to pay about 250 British Pounds for a one-way ticket from Patra to Melbourne.”
His mother, brother and sister followed later in the year after they sold the family home in Athens.
The owner of Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver, Stratos Pouras. Photos: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
‘I had nothing to do with restaurants’
A fifteen-year-old boy back then with no word of English, Mr Pouras says he didn’t find the first years in Australia hard. Soon after his arrival he started working at his uncle’s deli and cake shop located in Adelaide’s once bustling and affable Hindley Street.
“My uncle, Milton Hatzivasiliou owned two shops, opposite to each other. An old-fashioned deli on one side called ‘Stones’ and Milton’s Cakes on the other. This is where I learned English,” said Mr Pouras.
Some years later, young Stratos wanted to progress his career and got a job at Woolworths. In the meantime, he got married to his late wife Evdokia and their family was about to grow.
“I needed more funds to sustain our growing family and went to the employment office to request a pay increase or more work. They told me I was already getting paid 3 pounds more than other employees and that I should wait for a management position to become available but I knew I had no chances,” Mr Pouras said.
Photo L: Sigalas Milk Bar Photo courtesy ‘The Advertiser’ Newspaper, from the “In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians” National Project Archives, Macquarie University, Sydney. Photo R: Evdokia and Stratos Pouras
But life had other plans for ambitious Stratos Pouras.
“On that same day when I went out to lunch I ran into Steve Vidale. His family owned Sigalas Milk Bar, which was an institution in the 60s. I told him I was looking for a part time job. He said he only had an opening for a waiter at the restaurant located above the Milk Bar.
“I had nothing to do with restaurants but I thought to try. By the end of the first day, I knew what I would be doing for the rest of my life.”
Mr Pouras still praises the chef and the Hungarian head waiter who helped him make his first steps into an industry that later on became his life.
For the last 43 years, Stratos Pouras has been putting in twelve hour days. Photo taken in 1994. Courtesy of Dennis Rogers
The birth of Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver
In 1965, the Hungarian Head waiter left Sigalas’ restaurant to become manager at the Arkaba Hotel that had just opened a year before.
“He kept calling me, telling me a Head Waiter’s job was waiting for me at the Arkaba and although I found it hard to leave Steve [Sigalas] who gave me opportunities I decided to take the job,” said Mr Pouras.
“I met people and made many contacts there. At some point I got a call from two people who wanted to start a restaurant. I had no money but I knew how to manage a hospitality business successfully and so I accepted the challenge.
“In February 1967 we opened Swains Seafood Restaurant which soon became a roaring success. We had a good formula that was working.”
To complement the seafood restaurant, the partners later on decided to open a steak restaurant.
Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver in Glenunga. Photo: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
“John Swain had a friend from America, John Short, who was visiting Adelaide at the time. He said there was a steakhouse chain in the US called Cork and Cleaver and he suggested that we visit the restaurant in Tucson, Arizona.
“Within a week my wife and I were having dinner in Arizona. I saw what they did, I liked it and in early September 1978, Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver was born and again we had the same success as with Swains.”
Stratos Pouras, August 2021. Photo: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
The partnership came to an end in 1988, but Mr Pouras who has been running the restaurant since day one bought his partners out and kept on working.
For the last 43 years, Stratos Pouras has been putting in twelve hour days.
When asked what motivates him to keep working he doesn’t need to think much.
“A restaurant is a living spirit. This is my life. I have three daughters, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild and between this restaurant and the family, my life is full.”
Stratos Pouras surrounded by his children, grand children and great grand child. Photo: supplied
The first boss of SA’s next Governor
Stratos’ Cork and Cleaver is not only known for its good service, fine steaks and soutzoukakia that are served to the diners free of charge with hot bread and virgin olive oil as soon as they sit down.
The Greek’s restaurant is embedded in memories of generations of South Australians and became the first job place for many of the state’s well-known personalities.
“I think this story will be of interest to you,” Mr Pouras tells me as we are ready to wrap up the interview.
“In the early 80s a very polite blonde girl came in to ask for a job. She was holding a folder with her academic records and birth certificate. She told me her names was Frances Adamson. Her mother, Jennifer Adamson, was the then Minister for Health and tourism in the Tonkin Government and a customer of ours,” he said.
Stratos Pouras was the first boss of South Australia’s next Governor. Photo: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
“I hired her and she started waitressing. She was very clever. After 2-3 years she told me that she would go to Canberra to study political science. She left, but her mother kept coming and through her I was learning about Frances.”
Next month, Frances Adamson who is considered one of Australia’s most accomplished and respected public servants and diplomats will become South Australia’s new Governor succeeding Hieu Van Le.
“My little girl will be our Governor,” Mr Pouras says proudly as he holds a laminated paper clipping from a local newspaper announcing Adamson’s appointment.
Photo L: Stratos with his grandson Tom Boutsis. Photo R: Jim and Christine Boutsis
I ask him what the future holds for the business but Stratos Pouras knows the legacy will continue through his daughters, Elli, Christine, Diana, son-in-law Jim and his grandchildren who are by his side.
His advice for generations to come;
“Love what you do, be soft with people but tough in business, love your staff equally and work hard,” he says.
