Welcoming the New Year at the Orthodox Academy of Crete

On the feast of the Epiphany, as has become the custom over the years, the OAC and the Municipality of Platanias organized a celebration to jointly welcome the New Year at the premises of the OAC.

The OAC’s New Year's cake was blessed by the President of the Foundation, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selinon, Amphilochios.

On the occasion of this celebration, short talks were delivered by His Eminence the Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selinon, Amphilochios, the Mayor of Platanias, Ioannis Malandrakis, the General Director of the OAC, Konstantinos Zormpas, the Members of the Parliament representing the Prefecture of Chania, Kyriakos Virvidakis, and Manousos Voloudakis, the Thematical Deputy Regional Director, Panagiotis Simantirakis, the Head of Primary Education in Chania, Elias Pontikakis, the Head of Secondary Education in Chania, Manousos Maragakis and the President of the Welfare Organization of the Municipality of Platanias, Antonis Kapnisakis.

His Eminence, in his short speech, referred to the excellent collaboration of the Municipality of Platanias with the local Church and with the OAC, and delivered words of hope and unity towards the local authorities.

He also described the difficulties our country is going through, during which new entrants to universities are called upon to strengthen knowledge, which is power. He also noted that no-one who failed to enter a university school should be deemed as a failure, when such knowledge offers us a number of alternatives. Finally, he thanked everyone who contributed to the success of the young students, first of all their parents, the teacher associations, and the heads of the administrative units.

Mr. Malandrakis referred to the signifcant cooperation between the Municipality of Platanias and the OAC, putting an emphasis on the fact that the very first event of each year focuses on the general concern for education. Such an initiative, apart from rewarding the successful students, corroborates the significance placed by the Municipality of Platanias on the future of the school community in the area, and stresses that the new students’ success reflects on their families, school, teachers, as well as our local community.

On his part, Mr. K. Zormpas, General Director of the OAC, welcomed everybody present at this first event of the new year. He then analyzed the importance and the symbolism hidden in the established tradition of cutting of the New Year’s cake, and ended his speech by saying: ‘The knife cutting the New Year’s cake is probably the only knife that unites (creates a sense of sharing and a common table), instead of separating people. And the best handle is love. What would be the value of a new year in which there was no concern about our shortage of love, unity and creativity? This year we must again remain united as a society, and not give room to extreme antagonism and to the evil of division. For the sake of our land, Crete, Greece and the whole world’.

Afterwards, students from the Municipality of Platanias who had succeeded in entering universities were rewarded. This beautiful event was attended by vice-mayors and municipal councilors of the Municipality of Platanias, representatives of local and cultural bodies, as well as many relatives and friends of the students rewarded. Everybody was then offered a traditional treat, and there was time to exchange wishes for a blessed and peaceful new year.