Upon entry the first visible evidence of Greek Culture is a welcoming pavilion strewn around the borders with blue and white Greek flags over a square pattern of tables. Zesty fumes of oregano filled the air and accentuated the display of Misko Pasta which is pasta made in the shape of small grains of rice. Near one edge of the lot rested a set of pavilions where participants stuffed their faces with ethnic food to tantilize the senses.
Deserts came from the local Italian restaurant Pantuso’s, located at 707 Horizon Drive. They were prepared by Nikki Blackburn and her son Chris who is also they owner of the restaurant. Laukamathis, a traditional orb shaped Greek pastry was served along with a traditional cookie, Koulari’kia. The cookie is one of Chris’s favorites because of its connection to his great grandmother, Litsa Sampinos. She immigrated from Greece along with his Grandfather, Gust Papas, and the remainder of his family.
The Blackburn family played an influential role in passing on the tradition of Greek cooking. His restaurant and father’s side of the family are Italian, but the Greek roots of his mother’s side were an important part of his upbringing as a cook. When cooking ethnic food of the best quality, Chris emphasizes the freshness of his ingredients.
“Cooking is not a job, it’s a passion. You must have a passion to do it,” Chris said.
Another man at the festival, Trian Pantsantarus, whose wife Chesoula prepared some of the Baklava and other deserts, came with a story to tell. They moved from Greece in 1951 and Pantsantarus worked for his uncle for about ten years in Price, Utah. Pantsantarus worked as a sheep herder until he made enough money to buy property in Phoenix. Pantsantarus later sold it and moved to the Grand Junction area where he has lived for almost 60 years. His family came here from Greece during World War II for economic reasons and they always attend the festival.
“We make [the] festival to make money for the Church, [and] for the people around this area to have a good time because they know Greek festival is good. Look how many people have come here.” Pansantarus said.
About $6,000 of the proceeds will go to Saint Nicholas Church for repairs and maintenance, and the remainder of the money will go to various charities such as Catholic Outreach.
A large amount of the money that comes in is because of the dancers who come with dances meant to both entertain and to teach. The Tsamikos is one dance that originated in a region of Greece known as Northern Epirus. It celebrates the independence of Greece from the Ottoman empire in 1821. Each of the 400 pleats on the skirts worn by the dancers represents one year of slavery. The Tsamikos is also celebrated in a region called the Kleftes and became a war dance recognized as a Hellenic national dance of Greece.
The Hellenic Dance Academy of Denver consists of about 200 people. They are all volunteers of the Assumption of Theotokos. Three dancers from the company, Effie Andranakos, Micaela Andrainis, and their companion Maria kept the crowd alive and spoke of their inspirations for dance.
“When we were little babies, we would go to weddings and showers and see little kids and adults dancing. We were like ‘I want to do that because I am Greek too,’” Andranakos said.
Father Luke Uhl of the church ended the festival by sharing a few words with the guests.