What it all boils down to, in this Melting Pot that we live in, is that that key to our roots lies right in front of us, in our very personal up-bringing in our own homes by our families, and the value we heavily place on just that very word: “family”. It’s no wonder then that despite the varying degrees of ‘Greekness’ lingering in the air through my travels in different parts of the U.S, the fact still remains that each of us needs to find unique & modern ways of preserving our culture, our language, and our heritage for our children - our future! And that alone is the most difficult challenge we face – despite the resources (or lack of) that physically exist in the ‘communities’ around us. At first glance, you might assume the odds are against you living in the West Coast, with the under-represented Greek Communities here in comparison to back East; however, you might want to reconsider that notion and focus your attention in awe of what this young SoCal Native (the term locally deemed as Southern California) of the X-calibre-generation has done to beat those odds!

Introducing Gus Sverkos of Goodtime Productions (www.goodtimeevents.com) – the multi-talented Promoter/DJ/ Restaurateur whose success he contributes to the role models closest to him – i.e. his parents: Dennis hailing from Argos, and Efstathia from Tripoli, who came to America with humble beginnings eager to start a future for their five children (Frances, Tula, Dino, Gus and Pete). His father taught him the value of hard work & determination, “grit” as Gus calls it, in describing his father’s unsurpassable endurance that admittedly he himself will never be able to duplicate: “I can never say I worked as hard as my father has”. In describing his mother, the saying made famous by the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” comes to my mind; while his father was bringing home the bacon as the head of the house-hold, his mother was definitely “the neck”, with an entrepreneurial mind of a Real Estate tycoon, shaping the future of their investments. From her own sense of independence and forward thinking, she also helped other women in the local Greek community in applying for their licenses and learning to drive. This is the teamwork in a marriage that we all can only hope to strive for. Through his parents, Gus learned the importance of placing family first, ahead of his career… especially to know when enough is enough (work, that is) to be able to take off for family vacations to Greece or anywhere else in the world where their relatives dwell.

It so happened on a summer vacation to see his relatives in Sydney Australia in 1993 that he was taken back at how close-knit the community there was, especially with the constantly busy nightlife that brought together crowds for the common love of Greek music and dance. Upon his return to the U.S. he was dead set on starting local Greek nights in his own neighborhood. If the Aussies can travel across the miles (or kilometers) to come together for the love of our music & spirit, so can we! At the time, his first job out of college was as a Marketing & PR Manager for a local bar in downtown Long Beach, called Barwinkles. Gus convinced the upper management that bringing in ethnic music would draw crowds to their otherwise “Americanized” locals, so they allowed him and his then partner, Jonathan Condos to test out his proposal every 2 weeks on the slowest night of the business: Mondays. As simple as mixing together a few CD’s from the popular summer Greek hits of 1993, the first-ever Greek night started in March of 94” and brought in well over 200 fellow Hellenes to the establishment, introducing to the Greek-American community that authentic ‘kefi’ and passion that flows within our veins!

Eventually they branched out organizing Greek Nights on major holiday weekends at Club Cohiba, and other nightclubs around the city with over 400 followers at that time. Gus eventually honed in on his DJ skills mixing modern Greek with American music. His popularity allowed him to branch out into doing weddings, baptisms and special events. After a few years he brought on “DJ Trellas”, Theo Giannoulias, and continued doing Greek Nights! Their hip and modern approach to mixing together all kinds of Greek music, from folk to pop, has set new standards and expectations in the eyes of the surrounding Greek Communities.

Today he is very proud & honored to be involved as the Director of Events for the F.D.F. (Folk Dance Festival), which started over 30 years ago, by the San Francisco Diocese, and has become the largest event for the youth in California. In 2009 Gus brought to the table an idea that had never been attempted, to bring a famous Greek singer to perform at the ceremonies. He convinced the board to invite the Superstar Thanos Petrelis to perform at the Awards Banquet in the Ontario Convention Center. With over 2,500 people in attendance, the show was simply amazing.

Gus’ underlying passion is to extend that bond beyond the youth, and bring together the generation gap between father and son… and even grandfather! During most of his career he noticed a pattern of catering to the younger generation right up until point that they got married, and had children themselves. Sadly though, and unlike the family life & traditions we see in Greece (where all ages come out to play at night, together with their families), here, Greek-Americans (being stuck in the rat race that we’ve grown accustomed to) seem to be experiencing some sort of missing link that breaks the chain of those very strong family ties that we so proudly possess and boast to our Phil-Hellenes and non-Greek friends! Besides relying on major holidays to spend time off with family, we can we still look forward to coming together, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, at a club or concert (whether it’s modern or traditional bouzoukia style) simply to celebrate life! We Greeks are fortunate enough that at our passionate love of music, coincidentally seems to cross all generations, whether it’s the traditional folk music & laika or modern Greek pop or even hip hop… why not use that to our advantage in keeping us together?

In answer to that question, Gus is constantly reinventing himself to continue to be involved in the rest of our lives (beyond just the weddings & the baptisms!). Now he has been entering into Concert Promotions where he has brought famous names to perform such as Pamela, the Dionisiou Brothers, Thanos Petrelis, Anna Vissi and most recently, one of the best concerts of the decade, Antonis Remos at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. What Gus strives to do through music, is re-ignite that passion within us who nostalgically yearn for our ‘patrida’ since we are, in our hearts, home away from ‘home’! That is exactly why he’s always extending a helping hand to support and promote other beginning Greek Artists, introducing them to the local Greek Community through his popular Greek Nights. His most recent event was the Sunday Night of Memorial Day Weekend at “H Wood” Nightclub in Hollywood; where he brought Australia’s #1 DJ, “DJ Krazy Kon” all the way to LA to perform, and also featured Greek-American pop singer “Vassy” who sang up a storm in front the local crowds.

When that storm finally settles and all is said and done, Gus’s restless ambitions have taken him one step further to preserve the family values he holds near & dear to his heart. Together with his brother, he’s opened up to the doors to the public, the hip & modern, “Kafe Neo” building it from the grounds up on top of the existing property their father worked on for 35 years in his auto-shop, “the Carriage Shop”. While combining American staples together with Greek-style cuisine, this wonderful little hang-out has already become a favorite to the local Long Beach neighborhoods in the 2 years since it has opened. The kafe’s website www.kafeneolb.com and the historical short video will set the mood to feeling of enjoyment we get whenever we visit the actual ‘kafenia’ in the various ‘plateies’ in almost every town/village in Greece! To some it all up, I think you would agree that it’s plain to see what he passionately believes in no matter what he’s promoting: our future!

“Kafe Neo” is located at 2800 East 4th Street Long Beach, CA 90814, tel: (562) 987-1210.