Upcoming Events:
Memorial Service for Mary Portolas. 5 year memorial on Sunday, March 31 at Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont, CA
SAVE THE DATE:
PAA Scholarship Deadline is March 31, 2024. Go to www.pancretan.org to apply.
Activities
Annual Cretan Glendi
Minoan Dancers from the Cretan Chapter of Marin and Sonoma perform at our Cretan Glendi
Young members of the Cretan clubs throughout the Bay Area attend the annual Cretan Glendi in 2011
For over 10 plus years, our Chapter has been hosting an annual Cretan Glendi. We host Cretan musicians, offer outstanding Cretan faire and raise money for various causes through the years including: The Athenagoras Institute at UC Berkeley, the Modern Greek Studies program at SFSU, the Annunciation Cathedral Building Fund and Dance program, the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Dance program and so much more. Each year, we try to support various causes that we feel make an impact in our Greek community and beyond.
Annual Christmas Dinner
Each year at our annual Christmas Dinner, we encourage members to donate items to help those who need our help during the holidays. In 2023, we collected toys for The Family House in San Francisco. The Family House serves as a home away from home for families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by providing physical comfort and emotional support, free from financial concerns. We donated over 50 plus toys.
Diane & Kathy delivering the toys to Fozzy’s Room at the Family House/SF
Epimenides/Ariadne Scholarship Program—Deadline is Dec. 31, 2023
Epimenides Secretary Kathy Roque Albert, former District Governor Vasilis Fourakis, Dr. Kenny Frangadakis, Scholarship recipient Natasa Steck, PAA 2nd VP Diane Kounalakis and Epimenides/Ariadne President John Monolakis award the Dr. Kenny Frangadakis scholarship in 2019
For the past several years, our chapter established an annual Scholarship program for graduating high school seniors to assist them while they pursue their college endeavors. The program originally started as a $500.00 stipend and then it grew to $1000.00 stipend per student. In 2018, the chapter established the Kenny Frangadakis Scholarship in honor of one of our most generous Cretan supporters (both directly to our chapter and during our Cretan convention in 2017). Each year, we have been honored to have Kenny as part of our event (given at the Glendi) to honor both the graduating High School student and Kenny. Requirements for the scholarship include that recipients must have parents or grandparents that are members of the Epimenides/Ariadne Chapter.
Former PAA President John Sargetis, a member of the Dias Chapter in Sacramento, awards scholarships to Maria Sooklaris, Niko Misthos and Victoria Baxter in 2011