At this year’s annual Vasilopita cutting of the Athens Andros Society, held at the Ballroom of Grande Bretagne Hotel, Rhode Island State Senator Lou (Leonidas) Raptakis was honored for his effort in successfully securing the last remaining Liberty ship for donation to Greece in order to be used as a museum. Mr. Raptakis’ family originates from the island of Andros and he was honored together with shipowner Spyros Polemis who conceived the idea of obtaining and converting the ship to a museum. The Athens Andros Society is one of the oldest in Greece, established in 1956.
During his speech, Senator Raptakis was delighted that his effort had succeeded despite the fact that the difficulties were a lot and he had to overcome many obstacles. He also expressed his gratitude to all those who contributed to the implementation of the idea. “My dream is to see the ship as a floating museum in order to ensure that our heritage and our history will pass on from one generation to another,” he said. “Our mission has been now completed. Now the Greek Government has to follow up with a particular plan and save money in order for that dream to become true.”
A host of distinguished guest showed up for the event, among them Shipowners N. Papadakis, M. Kokkinis, E. Logothetis, Mr. Karastamatis, M. Kourtesis, the President of the Merchant Marine Museum of Greece A. Paloubi and her husband Mr. Paloubis, the President of the Hellenic-American Society Chris Spyrou, Prof. Thalassinos from the University of Piraeus, members of the Greek Parliament, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Merchant Marine, Mr. Joannos, representing the Andros Society of New York, Mr. Papatheofanis, journalists, Mr. Prokos from ERT, Mr. Noe Parlavantzas also from ERT, Mr. Demetrios Filios of the Greek American Educational Public Information System, Mrs. Thanasoula from ERT ODYSSEIA along with Mr. Malaspinas, and NEO’s Konstantinos Rhompotis.
