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Greek Community Hosts Event “Macedonia:The Historical Truth”

Stella Tsolakidou — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:04:49 +0000

The Greek Community of Montreal in cooperation with the Greek Congress of Quebec, the Macedonian Association “Alexander the Great”, the union “Vogatsiaton Kastorias” and the Pontian Association of Montreal “Efxinos Pontos” hosted an event yesterday under the title “Macedonia: The Historical Truth”.

The event aimed at presenting archaeological, historical, and geographical evidence that Macedonia of Alexander the Great is Greek.

The featured speeches were delivered in English, since the organizers are trying to inform the broader society of Quebec on the issue, inviting provincial and federal politicians as well as all level students to attend the events. One of the main speakers of the event was Dr. Chris Karatzios, recognized among community members for his deep knowledge of Greek national issues, and other prominent scholars of the subject.

Declare Your Greek Heritage in the 2011 Canada Census

Anastasios Papapostolou — Mon, 02 May 2011 07:38:09 +0000

Don’t let our Greek heritage be erased from history, participate in the 2011 Census. According to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 242,685 Canadians who claimed Greek ethnicity. It is vital that all Canadians of Greek descent declare their ancestry.

Canada’s 15th decennial census starts May 2, when households in Canada will receive a yellow census package. May 10 is census reference day, and counting activities cease on 29 Jul. The results will be released in 2012.

You should take note of the question and check the Yes box. If No is checked or if the question is left blank, future generations may be left holding an empty bag.

Statistics Canada, the government branch responsible for taking and preserving the Canada Census, is the one posing the question. It will ask, just as it did in 2006, for “respondents’ permission to release their personal information after 92 years.” Without permission, Statics Canada cannot forward records to Library and Archives Canada for public release after the waiting period. “Questions left blank are viewed as a “no” response.”

Census returns are one of the few records left behind by past generations in which genealogists can piece together family units. Through this one source, researchers can learn the names, relationships, birth dates and ethnic origins of a family.

Another way to help future generations learn about you and your family tree is to leave comments in the Note section.

Every person living in Canada, as well as Canadians working outside the country, are legally bound to complete a census form.

New this year is the National Household Survey (NHS). It had been part of the regular census through the long-form questionnaire and had been mandatory. The NHS arrives at homes in early June. Completion is voluntary. Questions posed include activity limitations, citizenship and immigration, language, ethnic origin, place of birth of parents and many others. Everyone who receives the NHS is encouraged to complete it.

To learn more about the 2011 Census, including information on the option to complete the questionnaire online, visit Statistics Canada (http://census2011.gc.ca/).

Canadian Scientists Study Ancient Coins to Map Trading Routes

A. Papapostolou — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 08:59:48 +0000

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton have launched a research project where nuclear radiation is used to identify changes in the metal content of ancient Greek and Roman coins held in a world-class collection. The collection has been with the university since the 1940s.
By probing the metal content of coins exchanged thousands of years ago in Mediterranean Europe, scientists have discovered a new way to map ancient trade patterns, to retrace economic ups and downs at the dawn of Western Civilization and even to shed new light on the collapse of the Roman Empire.
“As we determine what the coins are made of, we are then able to reconstruct ancient trade routes, understand the development of economies and even determine the extent of counterfeiting,” McMaster archeologist Dr. Spencer Pope stated in a project summary issued Tuesday. “This research will help us link the archeological to the historical to understand how we, as a society, got to where we are today.”
A joint project between the University’s Classics Department and its Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, the ancient coin initiative involves x-ray analysis and a “proton microprobe” to determine how much silver, bronze or gold is contained in each piece of money.
“We use multiple systems to look for a number of metals — gold, copper, silver — present in the outer layer of the coins,” said radiation scientist Michael Farquharson. “Then we use the McMaster Nuclear Reactor to penetrate deeper into the coin to determine whether or not the coin was plated with a different material than it was actually made of.”
“For the Roman period, there are many crises that can be recognized in the numismatic record,” said Pope, describing one “budget crunch” during Punic Wars of the 3rd century B.C., when Rome was battling Carthage — centred in present-day Tunisia — for control of the Mediterranean world.
“We can see metal coins begin to have more base metal — junk metal — added to ‘debase’ the coins,” he noted. “As Rome and other cities fall into crises and get into economic trouble, more bronze coins appear (rather than silver), and even these are diluted by tin or lead.” So far, about 20 coins have undergone this “deep probe”.
Pope hopes the research team will be able to achieve enough precision in its analysis to reliably identify the geographic sources of the metals for each coin and become a global centre of excellence for such investigations. For example, the silver mine on the Greek island of Siphons, located in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, was known to be a major metal source. There was another major mining operation near Athens.
Trace elements found in each coin can help pinpoint its geographic and geological origins, allowing the team to better understand where Greek city-states turned for metal supplies and how widely coins were circulated. This should help scholars “get at the heart of the development of the Greek city-state” and use findings about metal supplies to determine the degree of each city’s economic self-sufficiency or whether it was “grasping at available resources.”
Plans for another 100-coin study to expand the database of information are planned which should help researchers begin drawing more detailed conclusions about the economy of the ancient world.

Pantages Polar Bear Swim

avvoula — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:07:51 +0000

A nephew of Alexander’s, George Pantages, came to Vancouver and managed the original Pantages Theatre. He later managed the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. George was succeeded in Vancouver by his brother Lloyd. Then Peter Pantages, yet another nephew of Alexander’s, also came to Vancouver and settled here. For locals at any rate he became the most well known of them all, as the founder of the Peter Pan Cafe on Granville Street. That cafe became a city landmark, and the home of many thousands of birthday parties, christening and wedding celebrations. But Peter, whose passion for swimming was life long, was also the founder in 1920 of Vancouver’s famous Polar Bear Club, still extant, the members of which dash into the frigid waters of English Bay every New Year’s Day. The first event drew five hardy souls. Today, more than eight decades later, thousands congregate to watch the braver among them leap into the chilly bay.

Peter Pantages was Founder and President of the Polar Bear Club for over 50 years and was succeeded by his son, Basil, after his death in 1971. Basil, his brother Tony’s children Tony Jr., John and Lisa continue as regular dippers in the event today. Unfortunately, Tony, Sr. a great booster of the Swim, passed away a few years ago. Lisa has now succeeded Basil as club President. In memory of Peter, an annual swim of 100 yards was established in 1972. A memorial trophy and keeper trophies are presented to the first three swimmers to reach the marker buoy.

Tremendous publicity for Vancouver has been received through the media of television and radio. Footage of the swim has been shown on television in England, Australia and across Canada. In 2002, CNN came up from their Seattle bureau to film and participate in the event. Their TV clips were seen worldwide spawning e-mails from as far away as Russia. A live radio report was done to 2 million listeners in Japan in 1999 and to New York State in 2002. Enquiries have been received from Siberia (Russia), Korea, Japan, Australia, New York, Washington, Oregon, California, West Virginia, Alaska, Ohio, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland to name a few places. Swimmers from all around the world have participated: United States, Great Britain, Holland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark to name a few countries. In 1986, Vancouver made the Polar Bear Swim the first event of the Centennial year, with a special certificate designed and signed by the Mayor of Vancouver and the President of the Polar Bear Club.

One other item of interest concerning this event is that Ivy Granstrom, a well-honoured blind athlete and holder of many world records in her age group, known as Queen of the Polar Bears, participated once again on January 1, 2004. At 92 years of age, she was also the oldest person to be involved with the swim. That year she came to the water’s edge in her bathing suit but had three police women take the plunge in her honour. Afterwards, Ivy announced to the crowd her retirement. Ivy has told organizers that she hasn’t missed a swim dating back to when she first became a Polar Bear in 1928. She claims this was her 77th anniversary of the Swim – a fantastic feat.

Unfortunately, Ivy passed away on April 14, 2004.

At the 2005 Swim, Derek Laverty and Ivy were honoured. Derek was the Coordinator of Aquatics for the Park Board who organized the swim for 25 years until his retirement in 1994. Derek passed away in October, 2004. Ivy was also honoured by having six policewomen in their uniforms take the plunge at the start of the event.

*Vancouver Park Board*

Held at English Bay, Vancouver on January 1st – 2:30pm yearly

The year 2010 will mark the 90th year of the Polar Bear Swim!

Pantages Theatre

avvoula — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:54:10 +0000

Alexander Pantages is important in the show business history of Vancouver because he built two theatres here that were part of his vaudeville empire, and because of his influence on the careers of two men who were important in the Orpheum’s story: Marcus Priteca and Tony Heinsbergen. Pantages had no connection with the Orpheum himself.

Pantages’ life story reads like an adventure novel. He was a sailor, a laborer on an early and abortive French attempt to build a Panama Canal, a Klondike prospector, a guide, a bartender, saloon co-owner, boxer (short—about five feet six—but husky, he fought as a welterweight at 144 pounds), entrepreneur and showman. He could speak six languages but read and write in none of them.

He was born Pericles Pantages in 1876 on the Greek island of Andros, but started calling himself Alexander after being told the story of Alexander the Great. He ran away from home at age nine, and worked at many jobs—often at sea—and in several countries. The Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s lured the young Pantages, as it did thousands of others, to Skagway, Alaska. Seattle historian Murray Morgan has written: “When he reached Skagway, a boomtown where coffee cost a dollar a cup and ham and eggs five dollars a plate, he had twenty-five cents in his pocket. He stopped worrying about getting rich and started worrying about getting food. He took the first job offered, as a waiter.”

Pantages realized very quickly that, for him, moiling for gold in the fields wouldn’t be as much fun or as lucrative as getting it directly from other gold seekers. His showbiz career started when he persuaded the owner of a Skagway saloon where he worked to put on small entertainment events for the prospectors. A little later, around 1901, in Dawson, Pantages borrowed money from a dancer, Kate Rockwell, known as “Klondike Kate,” to run a theatre where music and variety acts helped to separate the prospectors from their pokes. Tickets were $12.50.

*vancouverhistory.ca*

http://www.heritagevancouver.org/topten/2009/topten2009_01.html