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This page will keep you up to date on what's going on at our church.
When it comes to this festival, everyone is Greek
By JENNIFER AMY MYERS
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| Stacy Theofilopoulos of Chelmsford helps dish out the mouth-watering cuisine at last weekend's
Greek Festival hosted by the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church. DISPATCH/TORY GERMANN |
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| Dispatch
Staff
DRACUT -- What is a Polish family doing at a Greek festival? Eating, of course., "We definitely enjoy Greek food," said
Stephen Wasylak of Dracut, seconds away from diving into an inviting piece of baklava on Sunday afternoon at the Assumption
of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church's third annual Greek festival.
"We came around lunchtime to insure that there would be enough food, because who knows what would be left by dinner time?"
laughed Wasylak.
Stephen, his father Stephen Sr., and his wife Linda lunched on lamb shish kebabs -- charcoal broiled marinated cubes of
lamb on a skewer -- rice, salad, and stuffed grape leaves while his daughter, 10-year-old Victoria, opted for chicken.
"We are slowly broadening her horizons," said Linda Wasylak, as she went with Victoria to get a chocolate chip ice cream
sandwich from the ice cream man parked nearby.
"I like nuts, like cashews, but I don't eat them in desserts," said Victoria, defending her decision not to partake in
the flaky baklava, a sweet pastry made with several layers of filo dough, nuts, butter and honey syrup.
"Ummm . . . smooth . . . creamy, very good, and a nice-sized piece too," was Stephen Wasylak's verdict upon tasting the
baklava. "She doesn't know what she is missing."
Upon entering the church grounds, the Wasylaks and other festivalgoers were greeted by a whole lamb slowly roasting on
a spit over an open fire. Crowds of people sat under a large tent or tables adorned with umbrellas, munching on Greek specialties
that are quickly becoming American favorites.
The food and music festival, held Aug. 19 to Aug. 21 on the grounds of the Byzantine-style Mammoth Road church, is an annual
fund-raiser to benefit the church's building fund.
In the early morning hours of April 25, 1999, a fast-moving, five-alarm fire that started on the porch of a neighboring
three-story building, destroyed the church's former home on the corner of Mount Vernon and Butterfield streets in Lowell's
Acre neighborhood.
In March of 2000, church officials announced their decision to rebuild in Dracut and on April 20, 2003, the new $2.5 million
Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, Dracut's first Greek church, opened its doors.
"Now we are working on constructing a community hall in the downstairs of the church to be used for Sunday school and other
gatherings," explained Parish Council President Nikitas Flaris, the organizer of the festival. "We had about 1,000 people
come by on Friday night and another 2,000 on Saturday; things have been very busy and steady."
The Rev. Dr. Cleopas Strongylis of Lowell's Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church visited the festival to show support and
applaud the church's efforts to raise money for its building fund.
"Under the leadership of Nikitas Flaris and his board, a number of things have been accomplished during the last few years,"
he said. "It is quite amazing."
No matter the location, it seems that people of all backgrounds are unable to stay away from a Greek food festival, especially
a festival where all of the food is provided by Lowell's famous Olympia restaurant.
"Spinach pie is very popular and the Greek salad is always special, but lamb is the favorite -- especially in a gyro,"
Flaris said.
Flaris was not kidding about those gyros. Gyro masters Steve Panteliodis and Elias Tsismenakis worked their magic at the
gyro table, expertly stuffing large, soft pita pockets with thinly sliced and perfectly seasoned spit-roasted lamb with lettuce,
tomato, onion and a creamy special sauce.
Throughout Sunday afternoon, people continued to flock to the festival, yet it seemed that no one was willing to leave.
It was not unusual to see people head back to the enormously long food table for second or third helpings of kebabs, loucanico
(Greek sausage), Greek meatballs simmered in tomato and wine sauce, grape leaves stuffed with herbs and rice, and of course
the decadent desserts, including baklava, kourambiethes --shortbread cookies dusted with confectioners sugar -- and galaktobouriko,
Greek custard with filo.
Sunday was Cheryl McGrath's first visit to the festival.
"I'm Irish and new to Greek food, so I stuck with the chicken kebobs, which were very good," the Lowell woman said. "The
festival is really nice and the desserts are excellent."
Mary Orcutt of Lowell, who is of Greek decent, said that regardless of one's ethnicity, once they step foot on the church
grounds, they are Greek.
"When it comes to festivals, everyone is Greek," she said.
Back from the ashes, church sees bright future
| By DAVID PERRY, Sun Staff |
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DRACUT -- The season of resurrection has a special meaning at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Church.
This handsome Byzantine church at 1160 Mammoth Road literally rose from the ashes two years ago, a few miles from its original
structure in Lowell.
And in this Eastern Orthodox Holy Week, which crests with an Easter service Sunday, there's double-meaning to “resurrection.”
“Resurrection is at the center of the Christian faith,” says the Rev. Philip Gialopsos, the church's pastor.
The Dracut church opened its doors on Palm Sunday (April 24, 2003), four years to the day after a five-alarm fire destroyed
the church
that had stood since 1964.
Few things were salvaged, but they include icons of Archangel St. Michael and the Virgin Mary holding a young Jesus. They
stand at the front of the church today, along with icons donated from the chapel at Tewksbury Hospital.
“It was very devastating,” says Gialopsos, sitting in one of the church's 50 new hardwood pews, donated by
parishioners. “It took a couple of years to build this church.”
Gialopsos retired as pastor of the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Lowell in 1990, but was called to lead
the Assumption of the Virgin Mary flock soon after.
“Like in the Catholic church, we face a shortage of priests,” he says, “so they utilize the retired
priests.” (Gialopsos, who turned 80 this month, has been ill lately and the church has been led by the Rev. Peter Chamberas,
who is also retired and drives more than 90 minutes each way from New Hampshire to lead services.)
Bishop Metropolitan Methodios of the New England Greek Orthodox Church in Boston said the new church should be built in
Dracut. There were already four others in Lowell.
Though there was some concern among those on the church's committee, they agreed.
“He knows best,” says Nikitas Flaris, the church's president.
In the meantime, the church held morning services at Lowell's Transfiguration Church for a year, then gathered for worship
in the small parish house on the 2.5-acre Dracut property.
There was a groundbreaking at the property on Sept. 17, 2000. It would be the first Greek church in Dracut.
“It was truly a miracle,” says Flaris.
The late Telemachus “Mike” Demoulas, “a man who understood that life is short and important,” says
Flaris, donated $100,000.
Many were generous.
“It was not only members of our church community, but members of the greater Greek community of Lowell,” says
Gialopsos. “They felt some connection.”
There were financial hurdles in the $2.5 million project and there's still a “large” mortgage, says Flaris.
“But it is paid faithfully. And this church grows every week. It is amazing.”
There is more to come. Construction on the downstairs church hall begins this week.
The church itself, a “central”-style building modeled after places of worship in Constantinople in the 6th-8th
centuries, is domed, symbolizing Christ's protection.
“You know,” says Flaris, “if everybody went to church, what a different world it would be.”
Sunday is Easter there. It's a place where the people are familiar with resurrection. |
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