Our San Francisco

History

It was on May 5th, 1926, that a small number of Cretan immigrants gathered together in a home to begin a Cretan “parea” and to organize a society later to be named by those same immigrants as the Epimenides Chapter, legally known as the League of the Cretans of San Francisco. They met as often as they could, from home to home or apartment to apartment, over tsikoudia and kalitsounakia, to carefully organize and keep their beloved customs and religion. They succeeded in keeping all that they had prayed for, religion, country and family. Now, collectively and all united with one purpose in mind, their earliest goals were to be able to support other Greek communities. During these early years the club was the only Cretan fraternity in California. The Cretans that formed these chapters Epimenides and the ladies chapter Ariadne were proud that their clubs helped to maintain their native traditions and cultures.

When World War II was upon us, the Epimenides Chapter took pride in raising and donating the huge amount of $7,000.00 to send to Greece. They joined with other PAA Chapters to continue to host fundraisers for the war effort.

Over the past ninety plus years,, the Epimendes Chapter has strongly contributed to local charities, medical research, scholarships programs, education and churches. The earthquake of 1989 destroyed the Annunciation Cathedral in SF. Epimenides, working with the Ariadne Chapter, managed to raise and donate over $50,000.00 together to help rebuild the church. Again in 2001 following the tragedy of 9/11, the Epimenides Chapter raised over $8,000.00 for the victim’s families. In celebration of the Chapter’s 75th Anniversary, the chapter hosted a special dinner dance to honor and salute our pioneer members who served our Epimenides Chapter for more than 40 years. Over the past several years, our Chapter annually hosts a Cretan Glendi and each dinner dance benefits a charity (the Modern Greek Studies Program at San Francisco State University—Kazantzakis Chair; the Athenagoras Institute in Berkeley, CA; the Epimenides/Ariadne Scholarship Fund and the Annunciation Cathedral Building Fund, among other projects). In 2009, the Epimenides/Ariadne Scholarship program was established and annually awards at least five to six scholarships to our young adults to help them with college expenses. Our chapter continues to support the PAA300 program with a commitment of $10,000 for cultural, educational and scholarship programs; in 2020 we donated funds to help establish a new graduate student exchange program between UC Berkeley and the University of Crete; we donated funds to help front line workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and we raised funds to help the families who lost loved ones to the disease. We honor the passing of our members with a donation to their local churches. We participated in the annual Greek Independence Day Celebration in SF and we have a seat on the board of the United Hellenic American Society. Each year we look at ways that our chapter can make a difference in the lives of our members and in the greater world around us. We take great pride in the work that we do and in our resolve to perpetuate and preserve our culture.

Epimenides was honored to host a three very successful national conventions in 1946, 1974, 2017 and assisted the Cretan Youth of San Francisco in hosting a national PYA Convention in 1983. The Chapter has also hosted PAA District Conferences and PAA National Board Meetings over the years. Epimenides honored all of the District VI Governors with a Governor’s Ball. Our members have participated as delegates in conventions all over the US and Crete. Over the years, we have boasted a number of National Officers including National PAA President, the late Nick Delakis (Delis), PYA National Youth President, PAA National Youth Supervisor and current PAA 2nd Vice-President Diane Kounalakis, PAA General Secretary Antonios Kounalakis, PAA Philanthropic Chair, former District VI Governor and past PAA Women’s Executive Director Roxanne Koston. In addition, past Cretan Youth members John Monolakis (current Epimenides/Ariadne President) served as PYA Vice-President; Adrienne Konstan and Maria Koston served as PYA National Youth Secretaries and Dimitri and Yvonne Koston served on the National PYA Boards.

We would also like to salute all of our past Epimenides Presidents. Their dedication and hard work have managed to keep us together in harmony. Those Presidents are: K. Vavouris, John Lefakis, I. Papadoulakis, Alex Harhalis, Spiros Paizakis, Antonis Vatsakis, Antonios Tsoungarakis, Dimitri Kokolakis, Emmanuel Katotakis, George Miridakis, George Havredakis, Nick Delakis, Nick Papadakis, Stanley Mamalakis, Col. Gus Francis, George Xirakis, Kosta Baladakis, Antonios Kounalakis, James Peros, George Cocoles, John Bakogiannis, George Volikakis, Jimmie Pappis, Anthony Sooklaris, Ted Constantine, Steve Monolakis, Elefterios Kavros, Christos Daskalakis, Diane Kounalaks, Roxanne Koston, John Monolakis. We apologize if we missed any names as our records are limited over the years.

Epimenides and Ariadne become one chapter

In March 2008, the Ariadne Chapter merged with the Epimenides Chapter to form the newly created Epimenides/Ariadne Chapter. The Ariadne Chapter was originally formed as a women’s chapter in 1940 and the late Melpa Manos-Frangos helped organize the first meeting of over 45 ladies and young women at the time. The first President was Melpa Manos-Frangos, who served for several years as President and went on to become PAA Ladies Supervisor and District Governor. The other past Presidents Mary Hatzis, Sophie Volanakis, Stella Mamalakis, Frosso Sthathoudakis, Vera Lourakis, Anna Kounias, Helen Sooklaris, Helen Delis and Roxanne Koston. The chapter was quite successful over the years, hosting numerous fundraisers for local charities and supporting the various Greek churches in the community. They worked in tandem with the Epimenides Chapter and it just became a natural progression that the chapters should merge as one over time.

Cretan Youth of SF

Established in 1974 during the Pancretan Convention in SF, the group was one of the most vibrant youth groups around the country. Not only did the Youth Chapter host a National Convention 1983, but it also hosted several youth conferences over the years and established one of first national PYA Dance groups. Many of its members, as noted earlier, have and continue to serve the PAA/PYA. The chapter also supported local and national philanthropic projects, hosted ski trips to Lake Tahoe, road trips to SLC, bike-a-thons, and so much more. The chapter became dormant for a few years but in the late 2000s was reinvigorated under the new name Erotokritos (now changed to KPHTH/SF). A special thanks to the late John Lendaris who, in the early days of the club, served as youth advisor and a friend to so many youth members. His memory, his love of Crete and his spirit lives on in all of us.