This Week For Greeks! - Vol.2 Issue 1 - Friday, January 4, 2008

A Message from the Supreme President

Biennial Banquet: A Salute to Public Service!
Reserve your Tickets, Tables, and Rooms Online!
It's an election year, and as our living rooms are bombarded with TV coverage of candidates and castings of votes, we want to take one important evening to salute the members of AHEPA who have dedicated their lives to public service.

38th Biennial Banquet Save the Date Card Cultivating leadership and civic responsibility is not only a cornerstone of AHEPA's mission, but rooted in Greek tradition itself. It is important for each of us to show our support for those in our community who hear the call and run for public office. This year we will be celebrating Members of Congress, state and local officials and civic leaders. The list of invitees is a nationwide who's who in Greek American leadership.

Register Online! (speedy, simple and secure)
Register Offline (download the registration form - includes program ad purchasing)
Reserve Your Hotel Room at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
View the Special Flash Invitation Video!

U.S. Capitol Capitol Hill Day
This year's Capitol Hill Day will be a special one. For the first time, we've invited the Daughters to join us and look forward to having their official delegation with us for a morning reception and afternoon constituent visitations with Members of Congress.

Fraternally,

Ike Gulas, Supreme President

News From Greece, Cyprus and the Patriarchate

AFP/File Photo: Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis

Greece Announces PM's First Visit to Turkey in 50 Years
ATHENS (AFP) -- January 17, 2008 -- Greece announced on Thursday that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis will make an official visit to Turkey later this month, the first such trip in almost 50 years. Karamanlis will begin a three-day visit to Turkey on January 23, becoming the first Greek premier to make the trip since his uncle Constantine in May 1959. ... read more.

Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony Beijing Torch Ceremony in Peril
ATHENS (AFP) -- January 17, 2008 -- Greece's Olympic Committee on Thursday warned that serious delays in the reforestation of Ancient Olympia five months after a swathe of destructive wildfires threaten to undermine the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Games torch relay in March. ... read more.

Reuters Photo: Greek writer Doreta Peppa holds copies of a sketchbook Experts Examine "Van Gogh" Sketchbook in Greece
ATHENS (Reuters) -- January 16, 2008 -- A sketchbook believed to have been Vincent van Gogh's containing portraits similar to those in his most famous works has been found in Greece, its owner said on Wednesday. Taken by a Greek resistance fighter from a Nazi train, the sketchbook was discovered in storage boxes by his daughter ... read more.

Andree Mallah, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's mother Book on Sarkozy's Greek Roots is a Hit in Greece
ATHENS (AFP) -- January 10, 2008 -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ratings may be falling at home but he is a hit in Greece where a new book on his family's Greek Jewish roots is selling briskly, the book's publisher says. Titled 'I, the grandson of a Greek: Nicolas Sarkozy's Salonika', the book has already sold more than 5,500 copies ... read more.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis Greek-Turkish Relations-Skopje Issue on the Table
ATHENS (NET) -- January 17, 2008 -- The National Council of Foreign Policy, which met at 11:00 Thursday under Dora Bakoyannis' chairmanship, focused on developments in the western Balkans, Greek-Turkish relations and issues of international importance. ... read more.

Map of Cyprus Three Candidates Tied in Greek Cyprus Race
ATHENS (Angus Reid Global Monitor) -- January 18, 2008 -- Next month's presidential election in Greek Cyprus is too close to call at this point, according to a poll by Noverna published in Politis. 30.5 per cent of respondents would vote for Ioannis Kasoulides, 30.3 per cent would re-elect incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos, and 29.1 per cent would back Dimitris Christofias. ... read more.

EurActiv.com Logo Cyprus: Reversing the Drift to Partition
NICOSIA (EurActiv.com) -- January 17, 2008 -- The UN and EU should strongly encourage Greek and Turkish Cypriots to make "one more major effort" to reunify Cyprus in 2008, argues a new report from the International Crisis Group (ICG). ... read more.

European Union Flag FMs of Mediterranean EU States to Meet in Cyprus on Co-op
NICOSIA (People's Daily Online) -- January 15, 2008 -- Foreign ministers from Mediterranean EU member states will gather in Cyprus Thursday and Friday to discuss regional and international issues. The foreign ministers are to discuss issues like the Middle East peace process, migration, natural disaster response mechanisms, Kosovo and the establishment of a Mediterranean Union. ... read more.

CMP Website Committee on Missing Persons Announces New Identifications by End of January
NICOSIA (Embassy News) -- January 15, 2008 -- More identifications of remains, believed to belonging to Greek and Turkish Cypriot missing persons, are set to be announced by the end of the month, a press release issued by the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) says. ... read more.

Bible Page GOAA & American Bible Society Support Scripture Initiative for Fire Victims
NEW YORK (Worldwide Faith News) -- January 15, 2008 -- The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the American Bible Society are jointly underwriting the costs to supply over 10,000 copies of the New Testament in modern Greek to those affected by the devastating fires in Greece. The initiative, spearheaded by the Greek Bible Society, will donate Bibles directly to the affected Metropolises in Greece, which will then distribute the Bibles at no cost to the individuals impacted. ... read more.

News From AHEPA

Hot Off The Press: The AHEPAN Winter 2007 Issue
(AHEPAN Magazine) -- Can't wait for your copy to come in the mail? Burning to find out more about the upcoming Biennial Banquet, Supreme Convention or Journey to Greece -- or to find out what's going on in chapters across the country? Well, suffer no more! Download the Winter 2007 issue online!.

AHEPA Applauds Under Secretary Burns for Years of Service
WASHINGTON DC (AHEPA News) -- January 18, 2008 -- Ike Gulas, national president of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the leading association for the nation�s 1.3 million American citizens of Hellenic ancestry and Philhellenes, issued the following statement about the resignation of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns. ... read more.

AHEPA Canada Beaver District 23 73rd Annual Convention
(AHEPA Events) -- The AHEPA Canada Beaver District 23 73rd Annual Convention is set for May 16-18 in London Ontario. Save the date and make your reservations today! ... find out more.

Golf Ball Upcoming Golf Tournaments!
(AHEPA Athletics) -- AHEPA invites you find out more and join us for these three fantastic upcoming golf events:

35th Annual Southeast Regional Golf Tournament (February 17)
7th Annual AHEPA of Fort Lauderdale Golf Classic (March 1)
Dr. Monthe Kofos 46th Annual AHEPA National Golf Tournament (April 6-12)

Supreme Convention Spotlight

Take an Exclusive Guided Tour of the New Acropolis Museum!
The New Acropolis Museum is located in the historical district of Makriyianni, just 300 meters from the Acropolis itself. The Museum, which opened last month (December 2007), features all of the artifacts from the old Acropolis Museum and is now the most significant modern building erected so close to the ancient site. AHEPA Supreme Conventioneers will be some of the first in the world to be given an exclusive guided tour of the new facility. Find out more about the New Acropolis Museum:

The 2008 Supreme Convention Brochures Are In!
WASHINGTON (AHEPA Convention) -- Each day, during the Supreme Convention in Greece, AHEPA will be offering cultural and historical tours, exclusively set up for AHEPA. These events will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to share your Greek Heritage with your entire family! The 2008 AHEPA Supreme Convention brochures are in! If you're a current AHEPA member, you will be receiving the brochure in the mail soon, but if you're eager to find out more about the fantastic travel packages available, you can download the brochure online. Click Here to get download the brochure now!

The AHEPA Convention Committee has been working hard to prepare a wonderful getaway for the entire AHEPA community. The AHEPA Family from Australiasia, Canada, Greece and Cyprus will be attending our event in Athens, Greece. Thousands of Ahepans, Daughters, Sons and Maids will work together for this family reunion. For more information, or to register for the 2008 Supreme Convention, go to ahepa2008.com.

Greek of the Week!

Demetrios Kirkiles - AHEPA District #2
Please join AHEPA in celebrating this week's Greek of the Week, District 2 Secretary Demetrios Kirkiles. Brother Kirkiles scheduled and hosted an eight chapter initiation Tuesday January 8, 2008, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where close to 100 Ahepans participated. Officiating officer was Supreme President Ike Gulas. Visiting guests included US Congressman Gus Bilirakis, an AHEPA member who assisted the Supreme President in initiating the new members into AHEPA, and Past Supreme President Peter Paulus.

Please join us in thanking Brother Demetrios for all his hard work and in celebrating him as AHEPA's Greek of the Week!

Who's Your Greek of the Week?
There are many heroes in our community who often sadly go unrecognized. You can help. Nominate someone to be AHEPA's Greek of the Week!. Simply email a short, detailed nomination, along with a digital photo of them to webmaster@ahepa.org.