HCGM Greek Independence Day Celebrations…ONLINE!
March 25, 2020, is the 199th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, which coincides with our Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. In any other year, children would be preparing for their school shows and the parade and we might be planning to go to church. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis, we must adapt our celebrations, festivities and the Divine Liturgy to this new reality. Our morale, however, remains high.
Greeks have demonstrated on many occasions in the past and are continuing to do so, given the immigration crisis at the Greek-Turkish borders, that we will never surrender and can always overcome whatever challenges we face!
The HCGM has planned the following series of activities to connect our hearts, our minds and our spirits on this important day:
8:30 AM – Watch the Facebook Live Broadcast from St. George’s Cathedral of the Divine Liturgy for the Annunciation of the Theotokos.
10:30 AM – Join our “Virtual Parade” – Have an ethnic costume? Dress up your children and take a video of them marching around the house. No costume? No problem! They can put on their school uniform too! We will create a post on the HCGM Facebook page where you can share your videos or photos for everyone to see.
12 PM – Tune in to 105.1 MIKE FM for our first ever radio show in Greek for children: an hour of patriotic songs and poems to honour our forefathers who gave their lives for our motherland to be free. There will also be a history lesson with a teacher from Socrates-Démosthène. This is a program that will continue every Wednesday during the school shutdown so mark your calendars!
2 PM – Are the children feeling inspired? Make a video of them singing a patriotic song or reciting a poem. If they don’t know what do sing, may we suggest the Greek National Anthem? Share the video with us, and don’t forget to send it to yiayia and pappou too!
4 PM – Time for Greek-themed arts and crafts! We will post some ideas on the HCGM Facebook page for simple projects they can do at home. Share pictures of the finished product on the HCGM Facebook page.
6 PM – It’s time for bakaliaro and skordalia (salted cod and garlic potato dip). We can’t help you much more with this one but it is the traditional dish of the day!
There are a few more ideas we are working on so follow our page closely for updates!
Join us in our celebration. And don’t forget to hang your Greek flags wherever you can.
We’re Greeks, we’re proud! ΖΗΤΩ η 25η Μαρτιου 1821.