Greek

Father Michael Pastrikos tends his flock at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, then looks after the strays in Greektown cafes. After services, he pops into the kafeneia with bits of holy bread for the no-shows. It is not communion. Unless you're bedridden, you have to come to church for that. But the bread - made at home as an offering, according to a special recipe, and cut into squares - is considered holy. Called antidoro, it is offered after communion, at the end of services. Since Pastrikos came to the parish in August, the bread can also be had in the smoky little cafes where men - and only men - gather to play cards, talk old-country politics and avoid church.

Bebe V. George, a lawyer who founded a bowling league for people of Greek descent, died of lymphoma at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson on Monday. She was 84. The youngest of five children born to Greek immigrants, she would watch the theatergoers at the old State Theatre from the steps of her family's East Baltimore home. Along with her siblings, she worked at her father's Timonium candy factory in her youth, recalled her sister, Anne G. Kosmides Perentesis of Towson. After graduating from Eastern High School, she worked in real estate for several years before enrolling in classes at the University of Baltimore.

ATHENS, Greece -- Orioles owner Peter Angelos took another step forward in his desire to help field a Greek baseball team for the 2004 Athens Olympics yesterday, when he was in Athens meeting with members of the Hellenic Amateur Baseball Federation.A reception for Angelos was held at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who is a baseball fanatic and avid follower of the Boston Red Sox. Joining Angelos was Orioles director of player development Syd Thrift and president of the Greek federation, Panos Mitsiopoulos.

The old Austrian cities of Graz and Innsbruck offer tourists high culture, great winter sports, good beer and rich food. But they evoke in Baltimore's Savas Kardiasmenos memories of fear, hunger, oppression and unremitting slave labor.Kardiasmenos spent 3 1/2 years of World War II in Nazi work camps near Graz and Innsbruck where often the only alternative to unpaid forced labor was death.Now he wants to be paid for all his hard work.When he was taken hostage by German SS troops in the summer of 1941, Kardiasmenos was 21 years old and a U.S. citizen who had grown up in Greece in a lovely coastal town called Leonidion.

The food looked wonderful. Baked eggplant and tomato filled to the brim with a Greek stuffing. Long-roasted chicken, tender and homey. Golden rings of fried calamari piled high on a plate.The problem was, the food was not on our table. In fact, it was not even on the menu. These were specials the night we visited this new Greek restaurant and carryout on Eastern Avenue.All the neighborhood regulars, including a priest dressed in black from nearby St. Nicholas, knew the drill. They said a few words in Greek to owner Kostas Papavasilis.

Will Noel knows a treasure when he sees it. Lately he has been like a man just put down in Ali Baba's cave.The treasure Noel is contemplating these days is a thousand-year-old book, containing ideas that go even deeper in time. It is the most important ancient text ever to fall into the care of the Walters Art Gallery, where Noel is curator of manuscripts and rare books.It is a "palimpsest," a twice-used book. The Archimedes Palimpsest.The original texts in the book were inscribed in Greek in the 10th century, probably in Constantinople while it was still a capital of the Christian world, and before it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and became a capital of the Islamic world.

THE BEST result from the earthquake a week ago in Turkey was Greece's response. This smaller neighbor and historic enemy responded immediately with physicians, supplies and rescue teams -- and that was just the government. Thousands of ordinary Greeks gave aid, money, whatever they could.Much divides the countries, including seabed claims in the Aegean and Greek aid to Kurdish rebels. But if the two governments can build on this spontaneous goodwill, they can address such problems honestly.

WASHINGTON -- As NATO grapples with how to aid the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians trapped inside Kosovo, the Greek government is trucking tons of food and medicine into the beleaguered province and may soon be joined in that work by a Baltimore-based charity.NATO has become something of a silent partner in the Greek effort -- which is also aiding Serbs in the troubled province. NATO officials have been told when and where the relief convoys are heading so they won't be bombed by mistake.

Nicholas Gus Lambros, a Greek immigrant who in the early 1900s began a string of successful Baltimore businesses -- including several drugstores -- died Tuesday of heart failure at the Hart Heritage nursing home in Street. He was 98.Knowing no English, Mr. Lambros came to Baltimore in about 1915, his ship having landed at Ellis Island, N.Y., part of a wave of Greeks seeking a new life in the United States.Along with his father and two brothers who had earlier come to the city, he ran a street-corner peanut stand -- which generated the money to open the first of five drugstores throughout the city.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland took advantage of this week's congressional recess to head to the West Coast for the beckoning climate, the companionship of old friends -- and the company of Greek-American donors whose financial support he will rely on as he pursues a fifth term in office next year.At several events this week in California and elsewhere, Sarbanes is likely to secure more than $100,000 in contributions, largely from Greek-American donors who have given in the past.

What do you get when you combine the Walters Art Museum's new exhibition, "Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece," and the Baltimore-Piraeus Sister City Committee fundraiser on the night before Halloween? You get one heckuva Greek party. Guests were greeted by event co-chairs Vasi Karas and Georgia Vavas, as well as the Greek goddess Athena, aka event committee member Gayle Economos - adorned in a golden toga and face makeup. "This is a place where Greeks feel at home," event honorary chairman Aris Melissaratos said as he nodded toward guests, including: Niki Marsh, Pinewood Elementary School speech and language pathologist; Kali Maheridis, DLA Piper controller; John Diokoulos, Acropolis Construction president; and Darlene Diokoulos, community volunteer.

Zorb a the Greek was the rare movie that proclaimed it was about the life force and managed to embody it anyway, reviving the spirits of audiences in 1964 and maybe for all time. So it's depressing to see it reduced to a touchstone for a measly little picture called M y Life in Ruins. This cute title rests on top of a sappy scenario about a Greek-American scholar named Georgia (Nia Vardalos) who loses her university job in Athens but finds her soul or spirit or chi or mojo - or, as the Greeks say, her kefi - while working as a guide for a seat-of-the-pants touring company.

The Southwest Baltimore neighborhoods of Violetville and Morrell Park seldom come up in conversations about the city's great dining experiences. But there are a handful of reliable restaurants there with local followings. Julianna's Bar and Grill is in the vicinity, but it doesn't feel attached to any neighborhood in particular. Julianna's is a free-standing building, just off Interstate 95 and adjacent to a hotel property. This building has the look of one of those "Margaritaville" restaurants you might find in Ocean City.

Dr. Constantinos P. "Dino" Chilimindris, who retired from Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where he had been chief of surgery and director of the surgical intensive care unit, died of complications from a stroke at Gilchrist Hospice Care on Oct. 10. The former Cockeysville resident was 73. Dr. Chilimindris, the son of an orange grower, was born and raised in Famagusta, Cyprus. "He decided to become a doctor when he was little because he cared for his father's farm animals," said a daughter, Carolyn "Cara" Stiars of Idlewylde.

Poly sweeper Nick Halkias said his love for soccer emerges from his Greek heritage, something he is as proud of as his success on the field. Halkias, 17, helped the Engineers win the Baltimore city championship last season and has played a major role in their 4-2 start this fall. The senior also wrestles for Poly and plays basketball for the Greek Orthodox Youth Association team at his church, St. Nicholas. He hopes to play soccer in college, where the B-average student plans to major in kinesiology.

Nicholas Gialamas, a retired structural-steel painter who caught on as a regular on WJZ-TV's Manic Monday , died May 15 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson of complications from an illness. The Kingsville resident was 74. Mr. Gialamas worked on ships, bridges and other structures all over the country, including most of the bridges on the Baltimore Beltway and the Harbor Tunnel. Family said he would often proudly point out his work. "Anywhere we went, he would say, 'You know, I painted this bridge,' " said his grandson Zachary Papas of Dallas.

On April 25, 2008, AGNES M. GREEK (nee Deganich), beloved wife of the late Joseph S. Greek; loving mother of Beverly Feldman, Joanne Hill, and Jackie Greek; dear sister of Margaret Ouly; devoted grandmother of R.J. Hill. Friends may call at the family owned Gonce Funeral Service, P.A., 4001 Ritchie Highway, Brooklyn, MD from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. on Sunday. A Funeral Service will be held in the funeral home on Monday at 1 P.M. Interment will be Holy Cross Cemetery.

My friend and neighbor Nick Prevas explained the other evening about how he became historian of the local Greek community. He was 13 years old and at a cousin's funeral. His father, Michael, was greeting the assembled family members and told him to call everyone aunt or uncle. Then, after the wake was over, his father drew him a diagram, a family tree. Nick caught genealogy fever on the spot and that soon morphed into his current opus, House of God ... Gateway to Heaven. It is the centennial history of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, but it is really the story of the people in that congregation.

IT'S ALL GREEK Greeks the world over treasure the independence of their country, which is credited as the birthplace of Western democracy. The Greek Independence Day Mid-Atlantic Parade celebrates the country's break from the Ottoman Empire in 1821, and the contribution of Greeks to the U.S. Of course, you don't have to be Greek to enjoy the marching bands, traditional clothing, floats and Greek food. ....................... The parade marches off at 2 p.m. Sunday on Eastern Avenue at Haven Street.

Critic's Pick -- Casey (Spencer Grammer) deals with big changes after a damaging article is published in the season premiere of Greek (8 p.m., ABC Family).