GOCSA celebrates Epiphany

February 2022 Due to Covid restrictions, a much lesser crowd attended the Blessing of the Waters ceremony at Henley Beach on Sunday January 9th, organised by the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia. Due to the restrictions, the traditional festival on Henley Square was cancelled this year. However, the much-anticipated Blessing of the Waters ceremony and the throwing of the cross from Henley jetty drew around 12 swimmers, including three girls, each one hoping to be the lucky one to retrieve it from the water. This year the lucky swimmer was 30-year-old Chris Likouras of West Beach. The young man, was presented with a gold cross and a trophy by the Community’s President Mr Bill Gonis and Archimandrite Markos Papa-Panayiotou who also gave him his blessings. Among the special guests and dignitaries were Matt Cowdrey MP - for Colton Matt Cowdrey representing the Premier Steven Marshall, Mark Butler MP Federal Member for Hindmarsh, Jayne Stinson MP Member for Badcoe, Jake Hall-Evans - Liberal for Lee, City of Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans, Deputy Mayor of City of West Torrens George Vlahos, Councillor of the City of Charles Sturt and new Labor candidate for the State Seat of Colton, Paul Alexandrides. During the official part of the festival, the Hon Matt Cowdrey MP congratulated Chris Likouras for his effort to retrieve the cross and thanked the Greek community of organising such an important event for Adelaide. A similar event was also held on the day by the Greek Archdiocese at the Glenelg jetty.

Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia