On the first day of the famous Johns Hopkins Spring Fair weekend, the Johns Hopkins Hellenic Association hosted its 3rd Greek Night. The event was a tremendous success, as more than 750 tickets were sold at the door or beforehand.
By Androniki Paras
This year’s food was catered buy the finest Greek-owned local restaurants: Double T Diners, Ikaros, Della Notte, Timbuktu, Valentino’s, Samos, Captain James Landing, Acropolis, Speakeasy Saloon and Hazelwood Inn.
There was also a live performance by Greek-American singer Rena Tsapelas and her New York based band, as well as traditional dancing shows by the Hellenic Golden Coins of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, who performed at the Johns Hopkins Greek Night for a second consecutive year.
In the midst of the celebration, the Association’s President George Petrocheilos and NEO Magazine’s Publisher Dimitris Rhobotis presented an award to Kaliope Parthemos, the Dep. Mayor of Baltimore City, who also is the highest-ranking Greek-American woman in the state of Maryland. Parthemos was on the cover of NEO Magazine for the month of April, and this is why she was honored.
The event’s biggest sponsors where Aris Melissaratos, the former Secretary of Business & Economic Development, who currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the Johns Hopkins President, and John Korologos, the Chief Executive Officer of the Double T Diners, the biggest and most successful diner chain in the sate.
‘‘This year’s Johns Hopkins Greek Night was a breakthrough event. It drew up to three times more locals and students than ever before, and it has established itself as a ‘must go to’ event for the Greek community. I am particularly proud of George Petrocheilos, as well as Neil Vranis and the entire active membership of the Hellenic Association who worked tirelessly all day to satisfy the guests,” said Aris Melissaratos.
“It was such an amazing event’, Petrocheilos said. “I was part of all three Greek Nights here at Hopkins, and this one was incredible: We had more people than the previous Greek Nights together, and it was the first time that the organizations profited fiscally speaking. We had our beloved Dep. Mayor receiving an award at the event, we had ten different restaurants sponsoring our buffet and a 7-people band coming all they way from NYC. The Hellenic Golden Coins brought more than 20 dancers this time and every single active member of our Association was there the entire day, working non-stop and making sure that our guests had an awesome time”.
Petrocheilos was applauded for his leadership and management skills as he has leaded the Hellenic Association to be considered one of the top cultural organizations in the state of Maryland organizing a variety of projects and events and attracting more people to the club than ever: “At the beginning of the year I talked to the General Body and I made sure that those of us who stayed with the Organization would be those who fully understand our mission statement, who share my vision, those who really ‘get it’. Since then, we have had a phenomenal year, organizing projects at the Walters Art Museum, Johns Hopkins, Michael Kosmas’ house, etc. and we are currently planning even more interesting ones. Stay tuned!’’, he says with a big smile on his face.
Since taking over the Hellenic Association he has increased fundraising by an impressive 500%, has been introducing new projects on a monthly basis and has limited the costs dramatically. ‘‘It is our honor to have George Petrocheilos as our President. His strong motivation and willingness to help have greatly promoted Hellenism all over the state. Organizing the Greek Night 2012 is one of the latest achievements among so many over this year. George is mostly distinguished by the group for his leadership skills, but what really makes him stand out is his true friendship and support to all our members,” said Markela Ibo, the Hellenic Association’s Secretary.
