After 61 years of service with the same company, 87-year-old Effie Catsas may well be the most loyal employee in South Australia.
More than 20 years past the normal retirement age, Mrs Catsas still drives 40 minutes to be at the deli department at Munno Para Foodland by 5.30am. She has no plans to quit.
And her secret to lasting so long on the shop floor? “I enjoy keeping my body and mind active and nobody is able to boss me around,” Mrs Catsas said.
“But also you have to like your boss. The new one is young and hardworking; he is a gem. You don’t see that hard work a lot these days.”
87-year-old Effie Catsas featured in News Corp’s Thanks a Million campaign, which highlights individuals who help their community during the pandemic. Picture: Sarah Reed.
Mrs Catsas has been with the Chapley retail group – which owns several Foodland stores across Adelaide – for most of her working life, after arriving in Australia from Greece in 1953.
The only gap in her work for the Chapley family came with a seven-year stint in a cafe she and late husband, Rino, established in Victoria.
Mrs Catsas said work kept her well balanced and helped her through lonely times, such as when her children grew up and when her husband died.
One boss who stood out in her mind was the now Chapley group executive manager, Philip Funnell. Mr Funnell said he had worked with Mrs Catsas since 1981, when he was still at school.
“Her success is just hard work, keenness to come to work and being able to mix well with customers and workmates,” Mr Funnell said.
Mrs Catsas featured in News Corp’s Thanks a Million campaign, which highlights individuals who help their community during the pandemic.
Melbourne mum, Vikkie Triantafyllou, is always running after her two beautiful daughters, Stefanie and Elektra, but she says she ‘wouldn’t have it any other way.’
No surprise there. Although Elektra, 8, was conceived naturally, Vikkie’s journey to have Stefanie, 4, was much more tumultuous. Having developed some medical issues after the birth of her first daughter, Vikkie was left with only one option – in vitro fertilisation, otherwise known as IVF.
According to IVF Australia, IVF is a procedure by which an egg and sperm are joined together outside the body in a specialised laboratory. The success rate of having a baby ranges from 34.9 percent for patients under 30 years old, to 8.7 percent for patients over 40.
Being 39 years old at the time, Vikkie was closer to the lower birth success rate but luckily, that wasn’t the case.
Vikkie’s beautiful daughter Stefanie was born via IVF. Photo supplied.
“We had two full egg retrieval cycles and then we had a number of embryo transfers along the way. We had a couple of miscarriages and then I ended up being pregnant with twins but lost one of them in the early days. In the end, we got one healthy baby out of it and we feel very lucky,” Vikkie tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
But others clearly aren’t as lucky. Something Vikkie says was the trigger behind her idea to donate 20 anonymous care packages to the Melbourne IVF clinic in Mt Waverley, Victoria, for the last four years.
“Every time I would be in the waiting room, I would have ladies sort of attached to me and sharing their stories about financial strains and sacrifices they had to make, like not being able to go to the movies or get a haircut or go to a restaurant, because all their money was going towards the IVF treatment,” Vikkie says.
“And I would come home from every session and I’d be so upset, and my husband would ask, ‘Is it not going well?’ and I’d tell him what was wrong and he said, ‘You need to find a way to help them’.”
Vikkie sends 20 anonymous care packs to families stuggling with IVF every year. Photo supplied.
Cue Vikkie’s mad dash to contact a few different businesses, hoping to put just a ‘small care package’ together. But ultimately, she says she was ‘absolutely overwhelmed’ by the response she received.
Donations ranged from 20 signed books by actress Mary Koustas, to shoes from Crocs Australia, haircut vouchers from Just Cuts and care products from Chemist Warehouse, just to name a few.
From there, her idea only continued to flourish and now her anonymous care packages have put a smile on the faces of at least 80 families.
“The care packages are given to couples that the nurses decide are probably having a little bit more of a rough time than most couples,” Vikkie says.
The clinic receptionist gives Vikkie a number of thankful letters from people who have received the care packs. Photo supplied.
“So they could go to couples that are close to giving birth but have had a really bad struggle, or couples that have not been successful.
“By coincidence, I’ve also had people I know receive the packs over the years. I saw a care package on my friend’s kitchen counter one day and I had no idea she was even going through IVF.”
Vikkie says this encounter was ‘mind blowing’ as it made her realise people are still too scared to talk about IVF openly.
“IVF is definitely a taboo topic and something that people are scared of. Especially in the Greek community where some people are like, ‘what’s wrong with you if can’t you have a baby’,” Vikkie explains.
Vikkie is grateful her care packs are helping others talk about IVF. Photo supplied.
But at the end of the day, she’s still hopeful her care packages are encouraging people to start conversations about the sensitive issue.
“I have received letters that were given to the clinic receptionist to hand to me, and they’re just beautiful. People are blown away that someone has gone to the trouble to care about them,” Vikkie says.
“So I think the care packages have allowed people to open up a lot more and talk about their journey, and that’s just fantastic.”
If you would like to contribute towards these care packages, please contact Vikkie at vikkie@giftwrappedup.com.au.
The National Museum of Australia has rescheduled the planned British Museum exhibition, Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes, for December 17, 2021.
The international exhibition was due to open in Canberra in December 2020, but logistical challenges due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompted the rescheduling.
The exhibition is part of a partnership between the British Museum, the National Museum of Australia, the Western Australian Museum and the Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.
The National Museum of Australia is renowned for its international exhibitions.
National Museum director, Dr Mathew Trinca, said he looks forward to bringing Ancient Greeks to the capital in December 2021.
“We are delighted to bring Ancient Greeks to east coast audiences next year – I know they’ll be mesmerised by the stories of competition in the ancient Greek world and by the beautiful depictions of athletes, the ceramics, sculptures, armour and jewellery featured in the show,” said Dr Trinca.
Featuring some 170 objects which explore the theme of competition through sports, politics, drama, music and warfare, Ancient Greeks will open in Western Australia before starring at the National Museum (17 December 2021 – 1 May 2022), as the show’s only east coast Australian venue.
The exhibition will then conclude its Australasian tour with a final stop in New Zealand.
Dr Trinca thanked the partner institutions and said the unique three-way collaboration is a model for future agreements, allowing cultural institutions to pool and leverage their resources, to bring world class shows of this type to their audiences.
“The National Museum is working creatively with its partners to pool resources to our mutual benefit and bring high quality exhibitions to our audiences as a result,” said Dr Trinca.
Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes is the fourth in a series of British Museum exhibitions that have featured at the National Museum of Australia.
The other three include: Rome: City and Empire (2018), A History of the World in 100 Objects (2016) and Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum (2015).
The Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria in conjunction with the Greek Archdiocese and all Cypriot Communities and Organisations of Melbourne, are conducting a coordinated collection of non-perishables for all the needy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Running from Monday, 24 August, 2020, to Wednesday, 2 September, 2020, the Community is asking people to donate items such as canned and dry foods, as well as long life milk.
The initiative was launched after Father Evmenios from the Archdiocese informed the Community that food stocks are running very low, and many people who are unemployed are struggling to keep their families fed at the moment.
“During the Melbourne lockdown, it’s hard for people to get outside and we decided that we need to support them as much as we can during this difficult time,” President of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria, Stelios Angelodemou, tells The Greek Herald.
But due to the current restrictions in Melbourne, volunteers needed to be granted a special permit authorising them to pick up food donations from people’s homes.
“We have four to five people with the special permit, but also other people who are allowed to travel within a 5km radius from their home. So everyone is helping,” Mr Angelodemou says.
“So far the response has been unbelievable and this gives us the strength to continue helping.”
If you would like to make a donation, you can contact any of the following people in this post:
FOOD COLLECTION NOTICEThe Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria in conjunction with the Greek Archdiocese and all…
The Australian gunman who carried out the March 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks has been sentenced to life without parole, the first time a whole life term has been handed down in New Zealand.
Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of manslaughter and one charge of terrorism in March this year.
Handing down sentence in the Christchurch High Court today, Justice Cameron Mander said Tarrant had shown cruelty and callous indifference in carrying out his ideologically driven crimes.
Justice Mander said the gunman appeared entirely self-absorbed, and neither contrite nor ashamed.
The Australian waived his right to make any sentencing submissions, but instructed a standby lawyer to tell the court that he did not oppose a sentence of life without parole.
He showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.
Survivors of the shooting, as well as the relatives of victims, had addressed the court during the four-day hearing.
On this day in 1829, the first Greeks set foot in Australia. They were seven sailors who had been convicted of piracy in the Mediterranean Sea by the British.
Their names were: Georgios Vasilakis, Gikas Voulgaris, Georgios Laritsos, Antonis Manolis, Damianos Ninis, Nikolaos Papandreas and Konstantinos Strompolis.
Bill Florence (Vassilios Florakis) traveled from Ithaca to Melbourne in 1922. Photo: In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians’, National Project Archives, Macquarie University, Sydney.
The name of the ship that brought them to Australia was also duly recorded. It was the British ship the Norfolk, and it brought a total of 192 other criminals, mainly from the United Kingdom, to the harsh continent to serve their sentences.
The voyage, which must have been a type of punishment in itself, lasted between 91 and 93 days and the captain was assumed to be Alexander Greig.
The Potiris family from Kythera, outside the “Canberra Dining Rooms,” a family business owned by them, in 1914. Photo: N. George for ‘In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians’.
Later on, despite the fact that the Greek authorities granted them an official amnesty, two of the men, Antonis Manolis and Gikas Voulgaris, decided to stay there, thereby beginning the long history of the Greek presence in Australia.
Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the Western & Southern Open semi-finals on Wednesday evening when his opponent, Reilly Opelka, retired leading 6-5 in the first set due to a right knee injury.
Tsitsipas had never previously won a match at the Western & Southern Open, but he has now moved past a trio of tall opponents — 6’8” Kevin Anderson, 6’10” John Isner and 6’11” Opelka — at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Stefanos Tsitsipas advances to the Western & Southern Open semi-finals for the first time. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
“The question remains: Am I going to make it to the record books for playing the tallest players on the ATP consecutively, one after the other?” Tsitsipas asked Tuesday evening, cracking a laugh.
“I have to check it out. I don’t think it has ever happened before.”
Opelka took a medical timeout at the 4-3 changeover to have his right knee taped. The American tried to battle on, saving two break points at 5-5 and holding that service game. But Opelka, a first-time Masters 1000 quarter-finalist, could not continue.
Tsitsipas will face former World No. 3 Milos Raonic or Serbian Filip Krajinovic for a spot in the final.
Raonic beat the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion in straight sets at this year’s Australian Open, but Tsitsipas owns a 2-0 ATP Head2Head series lead against Krajinovic.
The fourth seed is pursuing his first Masters 1000 title, having lost in the championship match at 2018 Canada and last year’s Mutua Madrid Open.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday in Parliament that the government will soon submit a bill extending Greece’s territorial waters in the Ionian Sea from six to 12 nautical miles.
Mitsotakis said Greece would thereby exercise an “inalienable sovereign right” in line with Article 3 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
He said that Greece could in the future extend its territorial waters in other maritime areas, in accordance with the Convention on the Law of the Sea and the application of the median line where the distance between the two shores is smaller than 24 miles.
Η Ελλάδα θα επεκτείνει την αιγιαλίτιδα ζώνη της προς δυσμάς από τα 6 στα 12 ναυτικά μίλια. Προβαίνουμε στην άσκηση ενός αδιαμφισβήτητου δικαιώματός μας. Ένα δικαίωμα, το οποίο η χώρα μας επιφυλάσσεται να ασκήσει μελλοντικά και σε άλλες θαλάσσιες περιοχές. #Βουλήpic.twitter.com/cpOXkL157X
Turkey has warned that a similar move by Greece to the east would be a “casus belli” – a cause for war.
Mitsotakis was speaking during a debate on Greece’s maritime boundaries agreement with Egypt and a separate one with Italy. The two deals will be put to vote on Thursday.
Speaking of the accords, he said “they have major historical and political significance.”
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke over the telephone with US President Donald Trump about developments in the Eastern Mediterranean on Wednesday night, his office has said.
Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister’s office said, “thanked Mr Trump for his interest and for the communication, which took place while the Republican National Convention is still under way.”
The Greek PM “raised the issue of Turkey’s destabilizing actions, which are endangering peace and stability in the broader region and testing the cohesion of NATO,” it said.
Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night. Photo: Greek Government Office.
Mitsotakis also stressed that “Greece is ready to contribute meaningfully to a de-escalation on the condition that Turkey ceases all provocative actions at once.”
Tensions remain high between Ankara and Athens following Tuesday’s visits to both capitals by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who aimed to bring leaders from both sides back to the negotiation table over ongoing maritime disputes.
Simultaneous naval drills were conducted by Turkey, Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, Wednesday, amid concerns of a possible conflict in the region.
The common phrase is that pictures can tell a thousand words. Yet, the story of Vasilis Zisopoulos proves this is not true; they can tell one million.
Vasilis, known by friends as ‘Bill’, became the proud owner of a new Greek restaurant in Townsville in the 1970s, naming the restaurant ‘Zorba’. Upon its opening, he noticed a large empty space on the wall. A lover of art, Vasilis employed the help of a Mytilenian artist from Townsville to help paint a picture for the empty space.
“The artist said to my dad ‘I’ll paint you by the beach, we’ll have some ouzo we’ll add some boats and water and we’ll make it as Greek as possible,’” Maria Marmanidis, Bill’s daughter, says to The Greek Herald.
Neither of them knew that the painting would become a symbol of Bill’s rise from poverty to a better life.
A Tale of Two Siblings
Forty years prior to Bill opening up his store in Townsville, he became witness to his father’s death by German soldiers in Trikala.
“My dad grew up as an orphan. He moved to live with his uncle who couldn’t afford to raise him and so he put him in an orphanage in Volos,” Maria explains.
Little did Maria’s father know, he was lucky to be sent to an orphanage and not left to die in the snow. A fate that his sister almost had to endure.
Photo: Supplied
“My dad had a sister, who he didn’t know he had because when my yiayia gave up my father and his sister, she gave my father to her brother and left my auntie (Bill’s sister) in the snow to die.”
Given a second chance at life, Maria’s auntie was found by some neighbouring Greek locals after she was left in the snow. She was picked up and sent to her new home. An orphanage in Volos.
“Coincidentally, it was the same orphanage my father was at. The two grew up together never knowing they were siblings,” Maria says.
Bill in his early years as an electrician in Greece. Photo: Supplied
Maria explains that her father never found out until he grew up and went to find his mother, who had given up her children to get remarried in Mytilene. Bill ended up tracking down his sister, finding out that he spent his whole childhood with her.
“Imagine going to the same school or same orphanage as a girl and never knowing she’s your sister,” Maria said bewildered.
The Electrician and the Australian
Living in Mytilene permanently and working as an electrician, a Greek Australian woman caught Bill’s eye while he was on the job.
“My mum was in her 30’s, she was happy being single, then she met my dad; An electrician in Mytilene who had come to the house to fix the lights.
“They fell in love.”
Maria and her late father, Bill. Photo: Supplied.
When Maria’s mother came back to Australia, the two wrote “beautiful romantic love letters” to each other during their time apart.
Wanting to come to Australia for a better life, Bill was encouraged by Maria’s mother to move to Sydney. The pair got married at Saint Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Newtown.
Moving to Canberra in the 1970s, the couple opened up the first charcoal chicken shop in the city. After giving birth to Maria and her brother, Christos, in Canberra, Maria’s parents decided it was time to move “somewhere warmer”.
“My brother was so sick all the time with croup and it was so cold,” Maria says, adding that her brother took repeated trips to hospital.
Zorba’s Restaurant in Townsville. Photo; Supplied
“My dad took a drive all the way up the coast with my mum and got as far as Townsville. They sold the shop in Canberra, packed us all up and relocated us there.
“They built a restaurant in Townsville which was a charcoal chicken restaurant called Zorba’s restaurant and that’s where it all started.”
A framed tribute of her father
Maria’s parents eventually divorced in 1995. Bill then moved back to Mytilene, leaving his daughter and son to run the Zorba restaurant.
Four years ago, tragedy struck Maria and her family.
“I lost my brother to pancreatic cancer,” Maria says with sorrow.
“I brought my dad from Greece, he said goodbye to his son who he hadn’t seen for 25 years.
“We said goodbye to my brother together as a family and he was taken back to Greece. My father built a beautiful church in Plomari in Mytilene, and that’s where my brothers remains are.”
Only two months ago in June 2020, four years after she had lost her brother Christos, Maria’s father passed away in Mytilene from an unexpected stroke.
“With Covid, I wasn’t able to go back, which was heartbreaking. But incidentally by mother went back after 51 years in November and was with my dad until his final hours and ended up burying my father.”
Following her father and her brother’s death, Maria was left with the restaurant building and painting inside.
“I didn’t want to throw that painting away because it did mean something to me but it was too big to put anywhere in my home,” Maria says.
“I contacted the president of the Mytilenian Brotherhood of Sydney and told him what had happened, and incidentally he had also lost his father recently.”
Honoured to take the painting, the president said he also wished to design a memorial plaque for Maria’s father.
“When my kids and my family visit the club, we can see the painting and know that it’s still around and know that my dad is still around as well,” Maria says hopefully.
