St George’s Thornbury marks 60 years with feast day celebration

The Greek Community of Melbourne has marked the 60th day of St George Church successful Thornbury with a ample assemblage celebration, drafting section residents, parishioners and civic leaders.

Held connected Sunday 26 April, the lawsuit coincided with the church’s yearly Feast Day and featured some a ceremonial spiritual work and a street festival that saw St David Street closed to traffic.

The time began with a Divine Liturgy led by Parish Priest Fr. Harris Vezos, earlier expanding into a assemblage lawsuit with unrecorded music, traditional dance, marketplace stalls and children’s activities.

Entertainment included performances by Melbourne set Demotika, arsenic well arsenic creation groups O Periklis, the GCM Dance Group and Florina Aristotelis.

Darebin Mayor Emily Dimitriadis and councillor Vasilios Tsalkos attended alongside members of the Greek Community of Melbourne board, including president Bill Papastergiadis, Simela Stamatopoulos, Chris Sikavitsas, Jim Bossinakis, Vicki Kyritsis, Spiridoula Demetriou and Nick Koukouvitakis.

Papastergiadis said the day was an accidental to bespeak connected the church’s longstanding relation successful the area.

“Marking 60 years of St George’s is not lone astir recognising the generations who built and sustained this religion and its programs, but it’s astir the constitution of this important assemblage hub that the religion has developed into,” helium said.

“It’s a spot of worship, a spot to stitchery and a spot from which to present service.”

He besides referenced a missive from the organisation’s archives, written by then caput Mr Deliyiannis up of the church’s archetypal feast time six decades ago, inviting the assemblage to attend.

“It is poignant to spot that 60 years ago, we were staging akin events and celebrations for what is present an established assemblage stronghold successful Melbourne’s interior bluish suburbs,” helium said.

Mayor Dimitriadis said events such arsenic the Thornbury solemnisation highlighted the value of multicultural communities astatine a section level.

“The value of assemblage and our multicultural society is champion reflected successful neighbourhood events such arsenic this,” she said.

Organisers acknowledged the publication of volunteers, including the Church Committee and the Filoptohos, successful supporting the parish implicit galore years.

Church Committee seat Nick Koukouvitakis said the turnout reflected continued assemblage support.

“This solemnisation shows what tin beryllium achieved when the assemblage comes together astir the church,” helium said.

The day lawsuit highlighted the ongoing relation of St George Church arsenic some a spot of worship and a centre for assemblage beingness successful Melbourne’s north.