Greeks rock on Ice, Ahepans honor Gust Karras, and and students soar –
TAMPA, FL – As the Tampa Bay Lightning continue their quest of a Stanley Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks in this year’s National Hockey League Finals, a furious debate continues to rage online regarding the ethnicity of two of the team’s players, Steve Stamkos and Mike Angelidis. Both players’ surnames clearly indicate Greek descent, but many contend that the two are technically descended from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). This, of course, feeds the ongoing discussion about use of FYROM’s name “Macedonia,” the Hellenes’ proclamation that “Macedonia is Greek” and FYROM’s counterposition thereof. Meanwhile, Stamkos and Angelidis continue to play well for the Lightning, which is the league’s most prolific scoring team. Generally, in American major sports championship games, defense tends to matter more than offense – but in the Lightning’s case, an offensive juggernaut seems to be the winning remedy.
Both Stamkos and Angelidis are natives of Ontario, Canada.
LANCASTER, PA – Gust C. Kraras, a 94 year-old Greek-American and a member of the Sts. Constantine and Helen parish in Reading, PA is one of the oldest surviving members of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA. On June 11 he delivered a presentation of his experiences in Greece during that capacity during World War II, to the Lancaster Historical Society.
Recently, AHEPA Chapter 61, based in Reading, on the occasion of its 90th anniversary, renamed its chapter The Gust C. Kraras Chapter No. 61 of the Order of AHEPA.
WASHINGTON, DC – Those straight A-s in high school and scores of “5” on her Advanced Placement (AP) exams helped Floridian Yeorgia Kafkoulis win the 2015 Archimedes Award, a new scholarship for outstanding Hellenic American students pursuing studies and careers in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) related fields. Kafkoulis, a graduating high school senior from Miami, FL and daughter of Greek immigrants, who is on her way to Caltech in September, where she will be majoring in mathematics and physics. The Award, established through Washington DC’s Next Generation Initiative by Dr. Andrew Economos of New York, is accompanied by a scholarship which provides $5,000 annually towards the award-winner’s tuition. Additional scholarships were awarded to four young scholars who were recognized as Archimedes Award National Finalists: Sophia Kioulaphides, Bronx High School of Science, New York, NY; Andrew Moshova, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, NY: Georgios Samaras, North Oconee High School, Bogart, GA; and Athina Valioulis, Anatolia College, Thessaloniki, Greece.
The post HELLENIC HAPPENINGS appeared first on The National Herald.