2008 Greek Independence Day Parade – Part 2
This is the second of several posts on last Sunday’s Greek Independence Parade. Where were we….oh, yeah: marchers in costume! As I said, it’s one of the really nice parts of the NYC parades and I do enjoy the Greek native costume.
The next group was a little odd, but not really. It’s the Olympic Dancers from Pittsburgh, PA. The only thing that’s odd is the name. The Olympics have been trademarked like crazy and I understand that they are really big on protecting it, but “Olympic” goes way, way back. I don’t really know if they protect the name as much as the interlocking rings symbol.
Here’s a closer picture of the Olympic Dancers. They were dancing, but my picture doesn’t quite do it justice.
One of the interesting things about the Greek Parade is all of the Greek Schools that are represented. The next is St. Basil’s Academy. (And all of the schools had one or more priests walking with the group.)
More fraternity action…or in this case, I guess, it would be sorority action. This float was the Association of Hellenic Societies.
And the Greek Parade also had a lot of bank floats. The below is Atlantic Bank. I don’t know their link to the Greeks, but I imagine there is a distinct one.
Another school marching group. They identified themselves as “The Cathedral School”.
And the next group called themselves “The Cathedral After School”. Well, they did come after The Cathedral School, but I’m sure they’re just identifying the time they meet. (But I like to think that they should have transposed it and called it “After The Cathedral School”, but I’m just a guy struggling with the new WordPress editor so my judgement is a bit clouded.)
Continuing in the scholastic vein, next came AHEPA – the American-Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. That is not a particularly euphonious name so I presume it was chosen to match up with the acronym, which isn’t a bad ‘un.
Yet more AHEPAtarians! AHEPAites? AHEPAtonians?
Followed by the Daughters of Penelope. Now, I like that name and the historical/mythological reference.
Right next to me was a raucous group of young men with…paint job faces. They attracted the attention of the Aktina TV reporter who came by for a quick interview.
After they finished the interview, the reporter and cameraman stood about 15 feet away for at least five minutes, probably more. They were just oblivious to the crowd watching the parade…and mostly to the parade. I don’t know if they were discussing what to do next or whatever, but I kept waiting for them to move on. In the meantime, the Boy Scouts came by.
Well, that’s fine; but what about the Pan-Arcadian Federation, you ask? Where were they? Right behind the scouts.
They were followed by a pretty nice group from St. Demetrios Church of Jamaica. This is New York. “Jamaica” is a neighborhood in eastern Queens, not the island nation.
Cathedral High School, which I presume is the same thing as “The Cathedral School” had a marching band.
And where you have Greeks, you can expect to find Macedonians. There were a lot of political references to Macedonia during the parade. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, the name Macedonia was taken and used by others that the Greeks don’t accept as Macedonians. I don’t know the history of it, but I am well aware that there’s a fair amount of bad blood between the Macedonians and the “Macedonians”.
St. Demetrios Church was all over the place. Lots of separate marching groups in the parade. In this float is the mysterious message that their history is for everyone but it isn’t for sale. Kids, this is NYC and everything is for sale. But I don’t know what they are referring to.
Another academic group. In this case, the Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund. I presume the Hellenic Times is a local Greek newspaper.
For my final picture in today’s post, this is a taste of a large group of Ikarians. That is, folks associated in some way with the myth of Icarus.
Of course, the thing I find interesting is that Icarus died in the story. They did name a small sea for him, but he did ignore his father’s wisdom and flew just a hair too close to the sun and paid the price.
-H
Explore posts in the same categories: Events, Manhattan, Parades
Famous Ankles 
June 16, 2008 at 4:35 am
makedonija zasekogas a vie frci pusete mi kurrrrrrr
June 22, 2008 at 1:49 am
Concerning the Ikarians: There’s an Aegean island by the name of Ikaria or Icaria (after Icarus, of course, the island is situated right next to the bigger island of Samos). People descended from this particular island are called Ikarians/Icarians. Mystery solved!
August 24, 2008 at 5:02 am
MACEDONIA TO THE MACEDONIANS, YOU ETHIOPIAN GREEK TRIBE!!!
THIEVES!!!!
September 21, 2009 at 10:14 am
MAKEDON & MACEDONIANS NEVER GREEK!
September 21, 2009 at 10:57 am
MACEDONIA WILL NEVER BE GREEK NOR WOULD CHINA INDIA OR TURKY! IN YOUR PRADE ITS SO IMOPORATANT TO PROVE THAT MACEDONIA is Greek.
WHY!
WHOLE PLANET KNOWS THAT MACEDONIANS WERE OR NEVER greek. MACEDONIANS in greece dont even have basic human rights,etc.
Honest greek people know that MACEDONIANS are differn’t race and are not into propaganda.
September 21, 2009 at 11:18 am
Greece should live up to its name “AS THE BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY and give the MACEDONIANS their rights and land back.
MACEDONIANS IN Greece and outside of Greece will never forget what the world powers did to MACEDONIANS, this includes Greeces war crimes against ETHNIC MACEDONIANS.
MACEDONIAN LAND FOR RENT IS UP! TIME TO RETURN IT BACK to the MACEDONIANS, Greece land of freedom domocracy! MACEDONIA TO THE MACEDONIANS!!!
September 21, 2009 at 11:23 am
The more us MACEDONIANS CHANGE THE MORE WE STAY THE SAME,THAT IS MACEDONIA TO THE MACEDONIANS 30000yrs non greek.
September 21, 2009 at 11:35 am
HELL YER, SALONICA SOLUN (CAPITAL) form THASSOS TASOS (ISLAND) TO Mt OLYMPIAS (GODS) TO TETEVO UNITED MACEDONIA.
MACEDONIA TO THE MACEDONIANS, FREEDOM OR DEATH!!!
April 23, 2010 at 10:41 am
Those slavs are funny! They can not even pronounce the name “Makedonia” since its too Greek for them! See the word “Macedonia” “Makedonia” is a greek word just like the language tha Alexander the Great spoke. Also the ancient macedonians believed in the 12 Greek Gods and ofcourse the participated in the Olympic Games where only Greeks are allowed!
May 5, 2010 at 11:48 am
alexandros your full of shit coward hellanus hellAss cowards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
May 5, 2010 at 11:58 am
Alexander hated you fucken coward Hellass city states traitors, did you forget how many times you betrayed the Monarchy of Kings & Queens of Makedonia.King Phillip & his son Alexander are Haters of the weak land of Democracy shity states (Athens)!
May 5, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Those HELLASS are funny! They can not even pronounce the name “Makedonia” since its too MAKEDON for them! See the word “Macedonia” “Makedonia” is a MACEDONIAN word just like the language that Alexander the Great spoke. Also the ancient macedonians believed in the 12 MAKEDONIAN Gods and of course the participated in the Olympic Games where only Barbaric tribes are allowed! MACEDONIA FOR THE MACEDONIANS, MAKEDONIA FOR THE MAKEDONIANS! MAKEDONSKI Indigenous native MAKEDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 15, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Alexandrovich Veliky Kniaz of the Kievan Rus!
Hail to the Slavs who think they are Macedonians.
In Greek mythology the sons of Hellin (=Greek) where Ion (Ionian) , Magnes (Aeolian) and Macedon (Dorian)
August 15, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Do you know Strabo’s phrase ” So, Macedonia is part of Greece”
And do you know the inscription that alexander send to Athens after his victory at Granicus river saying:
”Alexander son of Philip and the Greeks offer this loot taken from the Barbarians that live in Asia”
But, surely, as Thucidides says, state relations are not based on historical or ideological rights. They are based in power. the FYR state can be a better distabilizer in the Balkan region for people who have the power…
And by the way, can you explain why the ancient Macedonian towns had Greek names? Why Mount Olympus is in Macedonia? Why the Sacred Macedonian Town was named after Zeus? Why the macedonians took part in Pan-Greek games -like olympic games or nemean games etc- !!
Can you tell me why 3 tribes of the Athenian democracy where named after Kings of Macedon? Can you tell me why Alexander’s coins read ” Vasileos Alexandrou” , which in Attic Greek means ”Of King Alexander” … Can ypu tell me why in the Indian tradition Alexander is Greek (Yunan) ? Can you tell me why all of the succesors’ Kings spoke Greek and why the period that alexander emerges to power is called ”Helenistic” Age? Can you tell me why the Region around Skopje -Skoupioi- was called Paionia and it was part of Thrace? Can you tell me why the historians mention that the Greeks -Macedonians- fought off invasions of Barbarians like Illyrians and Thracians? Can you tell me why the Greeks -Macedonians- send off Thracian and Phrygian tribes like the Edoni and the Mygdones to Expand Greece and macedonia?
….
Finaly. If you speak the language of FYR SKOPJI-DONIA to a Bulgarian or Serb, he will understand it. ”It is like the language that the people of Bulgarian villages speak” I was said by a Bulgarian, one day… Bulgarians and Serbs speak Cyrillic Languages -slavic- . So FYR language is not even ”unique” nor ancient!
August 23, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Builder of Lies Says:Your a ignorant piece of MALAKA. Turks agree that greece has stolen Macedonian land you MALAKA & the whole planet knows it too even honest greeks know the truth. Keep writing about your athenian league you are traitorous to the MACEDONIAN MONARCHY, sent your athenian troops to the persians to fight against the MACDONIANS. 1912 was when MACEDONIA & THE MACEDONIANS were divided up amongst greece, yugoslavia, bulgaria & albania FTROG=FORMER TURKISH REPUBLIC OF GREECE. GROW UP & have some humanity or don’t practice your “DEMOCRACY” any more Mr ROMANTIC!!
March 25, 2012 at 11:35 am
You are dead wrong
August 23, 2010 at 2:05 pm
There was a “not so well” known hidden agenda in the Greek Civil War (1945–1949), a conflict between the Right and the Left, where Greeks deliberately aimed to accelerate the Hellenization process of Greek occupied Macedonia. A Hellenization process which began in 1923 with the Lausanne declaration designed to change the national composition of Macedonia by ethnically cleansing the Macedonians.
The Hellenization process began with the eviction of 70-80 thousand Christian Macedonians of whom 30 thousand were evicted to Bulgaria and the rest to Turkey. That does not include the 510 thousand Muslims who were also evicted to Turkey.
The plan of the then Monarchofascist Greek government (that is what it was called then) during the Greek Civil War was to complete the Hellenization process and with that to finally close the Macedonian question for Northern Greece. This Greece planned to do with a monstrous anti-Macedonian cleansing act – emptying that part of Greece of its Macedonians.