January Greek Language MeetUp

Καλή Χρονιά! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. We'll try to keep that holiday spirit going at our next Greek Language MeetUp on Thursday, January 29, at 7 pm. It's the Free State's turn, so we'll MeetUp at Mykonos Grill in Rockville. Though we will follow our usual format of chatting with our παρεα, I will bring a question to discuss as a theme for this MeetUp,

There are a few more Hellenic events to flag, including:

• The Smithsonian is holding an online event on Tuesday, January 20, at 6:30 pm on*“The birth of the Sitcom in Ancient Greece,”* via Zoom: The Birth of the Sitcom in Ancient Greece - Smithsonian Associates
• Our friends at the Hellenic Society Prometheas invite us to their inaugural Cultural Heritage Awards Gala on Saturday, January 24th, at 6 pm, at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park at 3111 Fairview Park Drive. The gala will honor three notable members of our community, Dr. Nicholas Patronas, Mrs. Sophia Tsangali, and Father Steven Zorzos, "who have championed the spirit of Hellenism and its historical and cultural richness" with music provided by pianist Dr. Mary-Victoria Voutsas, the Palko Greek Music Band with singer Sophia Pelekasis, as well as DJTheo. Tickets are $150 and can be purchased at DC Greeks.
• The Hellenic Center is holding a New Year’s gathering dedicated to honoring the Greek shared heritage at The Hellenic Center, 6506 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 2:30 p.m. The program will feature remarks by Mr. Elias Pappas, CEO and Executive Officer of Odyssey Charter School, Dr. Ioanna Lekakkou, Vice President of Hellenic Education & Global Outreach at Odyssey Charter School, and the traditional cutting of a vasilopita. Please RSVP by January 10 at [vicechair@helleniccenter.org](mailto:vicechair@helleniccenter.org).
• The annual Celebration of World Greek Language Day will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8th at 3:00 pm at Saint George in Bethesda. The main speaker is Mr. Dimitri Dandolos, a founding board member of the Odyssey School in Wilmington, Delaware.

A pretty nice list of events, highlighted of course by our MeetUp on January 29th at Mykonos Grill. Να τα πούμε! - Athan