Greek festival provides plenty of food, culture

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By Mary Louise Speer | Saturday, September 23, 2006 12:18 AM CDT | () comments

Nick Loomis/QUAD-CITY TIMES Georgia Kalomas of Moline dusts fresh loukoumathes, deep-fried pastries, with cinnamon at the beginning of the Big Fat Greek Festival at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Rock Island on Friday.

People are feasting on Greek culture and hospitality this weekend during the second annual “Our Big Fat Greek Festival” at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Rock Island.

On Friday night, hundreds of people ate their fill of Greek delicacies such as spanakopeta (spinach and feta cheese pie) and dolmathes (grape vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs), tapped feet during the Greek dance performances and toured the interior of the church.

“It’s a Greek theme, it’s Greek food, it’s Greek everything,” says volunteer Kay Coin of Rock Island.

The Rev. Leo Gavrilos, church pastor, stayed in constant motion as he made sure visitors had a good time during Friday’s festivities. Certainly St. George is a religious community but the congregation is also a social community, he said.

People had no excuse for leaving hungry. Volunteers in the kitchen dished up plate after plate of food for the waves of hungry families. Outside, children played games in the kids area while their parents purchased desserts and coffee. Colette Spurgetis, a volunteer in the Pastry Gilka: Life’s Sweet Side booth, dished up melomacarona, a nut-topped cookie made with cinnamon and orange flavoring, and flaky sweet baklava layered with nuts and butter and topped with syrup.

Coffee maestro Theo Grevas of Theo’s Java Club opened customers’ eyes to the finer side of life with freshly brewed Greek coffee. The secret to making the perfect cup to let the coffee foam up three times in the pot and say “Opa” before serving it.

Mary Rankin of Davenport gave guided tours of the church’s sanctuary and narthex. The front of the sanctuary is furnished with a bishop’s chair and baptismal font and iconic panels of Jesus, archangels, St. George, and the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. The Royal Gate to the holy altar is opened only when the Bible or chalice and host are brought out for the service, Rankin said.

The icons or images of religious figures are a distinctive feature of the Orthodox churches.

“Icons . . . are windows into heaven. You don’t paint an icon, you write an icon. It’s a visual story,” she said.

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.

If you go

What: Our Big Fat Greek Festival

Where: St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2930 31st Ave., Rock Island

When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., today

Admission: $2, under 12 is free

Special: Food, church tours at 2, 4, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., icons, religious articles and literature for sale, and the Macedonia Youth Dance Troupe from Chicago appears at 1, 3, 5 and 8 p.m.

Greek wine-tasting 5-7 p.m. Cost for that event is $20