Christmas in the Village

Ano Korakiana - Άνω Κορακιάνα (photo: Γιάννη Ματθεοφίλου - Yiannis Mattheophile)

In Ano Korakiana, Christmas is a celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, in fulfillment of the divine will of God, to save us from sin....Γιατί ο Θεός αγάπησε τόσο πολύ τον κόσμο που έδωσε τον μόνο γιο του... John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son...

12/12/17 Ολονύχτιο Βράδυ, παραμονή της εορτής του Αγίου στο χωριό, οι «επιτελούντες» της Λειτουργίας (πατέρας Ευδόκιμος, παπα-Βασίλης, ψάλτες και λοιποί ενορίτες) αποχωρούν από την οικία της Έμμης και της Κατερίνας Σαββανή μετά το καθιερωμένο λιτό δείπνο, επιστρέφοντας στη μικρή  εκκλησία για το Ολονύχτιο και αφήνοντας πίσω τους το σαββανάτικο «κοκκινέλι» συνοδευόμενο από μήλο και κουμ-κουάτ.

12/12/17 In the village, on the eve of the feast of the Saint, the 'performers' of the night-long service (Papa Evdokimos, Papa Vasilis, chanters and other parishioners) had a simple supper at the home of Emmi and Katerina Savvani, before leaving the warmth of the Savvani home with its apples and kumquats, returning to the small church for the 'Overnight' service, το Ολονύχτιο'.

Με το πέρασμα της ώρας η μικρή εκκλησία γεμίζει από κόσμο που παρακολουθεί με προσήλωση την ανάγνωση από το Συναξάρι του Αγίου με τα αποδιδόμενα θαύματα, ενώ οι ψάλτες στα αριστερά και στα δεξιά του ναού δίνουν το δικό τους τόνο, συνοδεύοντας τους ιερείς.

Over the night, the small church fills with people joining in reverence to hear the recital of the Holy Story, while the chanters - left and right of the church - play their part accompanying the priests.

Τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες η Ολονυχτία θα λήξει με άρτους και σπερνά που μοιράζονται στους παρευρισκομένους και ανταλλαγή ευχών για την εορτή της ημέρας.

Early in the morning, the 'Overnight' ends with bread and collyva, shared with the congregation, and the exchange of good wishes for the day.

Εορταστικό κλίμα...21/12/17 Festive atmosphere

Γιορταστική ατμόσφαιρα στο χωριό καθώς πλησιάζουμε στα Χριστούγεννα...
Η Χορωδία πραγματοποίησε την τελευταία πρόβα της πριν από τη χριστουγεννιάτικη εκδήλωση που θα πραγματοποιηθεί με τη συμμετοχή και της Μπαντίνας στην εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου την Παρασκευή 22 Δεκεμβρίου 2017 το βράδυ.
Στον Άη-Νικολόπουλο, η ενορία του Καμπουλιώτη τοποθέτησε φωταγωγημένο καράβι με επιμελημένη πινακίδα, ενώ αναμένεται από στιγμή σε στιγμή η «απάντηση» από την ενορία του Αγίου Γεωργίου.
Και στο πλαίσιο των εορτών διοργανώνεται από τη Δημοτική Κοινότητα το Σάββατο 23 Δεκεμβρίου στις 5.30 το απόγευμα στο «Luna D’Argento» χριστουγεννιάτικο πάρτυ για μικρούς, αλλά ...και για τους κάπως μεγαλύτερους και μάλιστα με μπουφέ από σπιτικές φαγώσιμες δημιουργίες...

A festive atmosphere in the village as we approach Christmas ... The Choir had its last rehearsal before the Christmas event that will take place with the participation of the Bandina in the church of St. George on Friday evening, December 22, 2017.
At St Nicholas, the parish of Kambouliotis displayed a floodlit boat with an elaborate sign. A 'reply' from the parish of Saint George is expected in due course.
And as part of the celebrations, the Municipal Community is organising a Christmas party for young people on Saturday 23rd December at 5.30pm at Luna D'Argento, and, for the slightly older ones, a buffet of homemade creations ...

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                                                       ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ
Σας γνωρίζουμε ότι την Παρασκευή  22.12.2017 και ΩΡΑ 19:30 θα πραγματοποιηθεί στον Ιερό Ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου  η καθιερωμένη Χριστουγεννιάτικη συναυλία των τμημάτων της Φιλαρμονικής μας. Διευθύνει ο Αρχιμουσικός κος Κώστας Ζερβόπουλος και ο μαέστρος Γιώργος Άνθης.
Επίσης οι μαθητές της Φιλαρμονικής μας θα παιανίσουν τα κάλαντα  στις γειτονιές του χωριού μας το πρωί της ημέρας των Χριστουγέννων μετά τη θεία λειτουργία. Τους μαθητές θα συνοδεύουν και τα μέλη του Δ.Σ. για την καθιερωμένη οικονομική ενίσχυση.
Ο Πρόεδρος και τα μέλη του Δ.Σ. εύχονται ολόψυχα σε όλους τους κατοίκους του χωριού μας Χρόνια Πολλά, Καλές Γιορτές και Ευτυχισμένος ο Καινούργιος Χρόνος.

                                                       NOTICE  21.12.17
Our Philharmonic students will also play carols around the neighbourhoods of our village on Christmas morning after the divine service. The students will accompany members of the Board for the traditional collection. The Chairman and Board of Directors extend their wholehearted good wishes to all inhabitants of our village. Happy Nativity, Good Celebrations and Happy New Year. We know that on Friday,  22 December 2017 at 19.30,  the traditional Christmas concert of our Philharmonic departments will take place in the church of St. George, led by Archbishop Kostas Zervopoulos, conducted by Giorgos Anthis.

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Προεόρτια Χριστουγέννων 25.12.17
Παρασκευή προπαραμονή των Χριστουγέννων πραγματοποιήθηκε στην εκκλησία του Άη-Γιώργη η χριστουγεννιάτικη εκδήλωση του Μουσικού Συλλόγου, με τη συμμετοχή της Μπαντίνας και της Χορωδίας.

The Musical Society's Christmas Eve event took place on Christmas Eve at the church of Agios Georgios with the participation of the Bandina and the Choir.

Ο Πρόεδρος του Συλλόγου που προλόγισε την εκδήλωση εξέφρασε τις ευχές της Διοίκησης και στη συνέχει τα δύο σώματα παρουσίασαν ένα ωριαίο πρόγραμμα με χριστουγεννιάτικες μελωδίες. υπό τη διεύθυνση του Κώστα Ζερβόπουλου και του Γιώργου Άνθη αντίστοιχα.Ειδικότερα, όσον αφορά στο χορωδιακό μέρος, η Δώρα Μεταλληνού προλόγισε κάθε κομμάτι της Χορωδίας με γνωστούς ποιητικούς στίχους. The President of the Association expressed the good wishes of the Administration after which the two groups presented an hourly programme of Christmas melodies. under the direction of Kostas Zervopoulos and Giorgos Andreas, the music and singing interspersed with familiar poems recited by Dora Metallinou. Το απόγευμα της ίδια ημέρας, στο Νηπιαγωγείο έλαβε χώρα η χριστουγεννιάτικη γιορτή των μικρών μαθητών με την επιμέλεια των νηπιαγωγών τους, ενώ το Σάββατο το βράδυ, παραμονή των Χριστουγέννων πραγματοποιήθηκε το χριστουγεννιάτικο πάρτι για μικρούς και μεγάλους στο Luna d’Argento. On the afternoon of the same day, after a Christmas Eve celebration for Kindergarten pupils in the care of their nursery nurses, there was a Christmas party, for all ages, at Luna d'Argento. Υ.Γ. Το τελευταίο κομμάτι της Χορωδίας, τα «Κάλαντα» αφιερώθηκαν στο Γεράσιμο Μαρκορά (επτανήσιο ποιητή και δημοτικιστή), η εγγονή του οποίου είναι μέλος της Χορωδίας Κορακιάνας.Y.K. The carols in the last part of the concert were dedicated to the poet Gerasimos Markaras (a Corfiot folk poet), whose granddaughter is a member of the Korakiana Choir.  Christmas in Thessaloniki - until I see a photo of Ano Korakiana's boat *** *** *** Πρωτοχρονιά 2018 Το βράδυ, για μια ακόμη χρόνιά, η γνώριμη φιγούρα του Άη-Βασίλη θα κάνει τη γύρα της στα σπίτια, προκειμένου οι μικροί φίλοι του Αγίου να λάβουν τα δώρα τους και να ακουστούν για μια ακόμη φορά τα Κάλαντα «εν χορδαίς και οργάνοις». New Year Day 2018....In the evening, for one more year, the familiar figure of Santa will make his round of the houses, so that the little ones receive their gifts from the Saint, and once again hear the 'tunes and songs' of Carols. Note: The words in Greek are copied from the Ano Korakiana website administered by Thanassis Spingos who also took all photos, except of the boat. It is a privilege to be able to copy them to 'Democracy Street'. The English translation is entirely my responsibility.  *** *** *** We had Christmas in Birmingham. When the grandchildren came round they extracted small felt velcro'd toys from a sequence of 25 pockets and stuck them on the tree. We've had this Advent Calendar for over 30 years - a present from the Greek side of the family, that we can use over and over.

On Christmas night I strolled up Hamstead Road to St Mary's. Bells were pealing for midnight mass; candle flames glowing through ogive windows; inside was warmth and light. On the way home I heard a few fireworks...

...a fox, sat in the grass beside my path. She turned around and around and strolled ahead and disappeared up Wellesbourne Road, sweetening the temper of the moment...John who'd swung the censer during mass had given me his key.
"I've got to put away my kit. Come and have a drink. Ask Lin too. I've got a bottle of Jack Daniels to open"
He went into the vestry. I went on up Beaudesert and opened his house. He soon followed. Lin, from our home, three houses up, joined us, and later John's wife, Gill, who dug out the bourbon.
"I liked the service" I said "but even Father Bob's quite conservative liturgy is a little remote...in words and tunes from what I know. What's engrained. I was glad to be there...I struggled to follow...except the carols. The church was beautiful, and so warm. I liked Father Bob's sermon...the defacing of the celebrities nativity at Madame Tussauds. He understood. Almost approved."
On Christmas day we drove across town to Amy and Guy and the grandchildren, with presents and some dishes Lin had cooked overnight, stopping on the way to collect Dorothy from her care home - rehearsal for more continuous care when she comes to live with us on a day not yet fixed. How incredibly disabling it is to be unable to walk, or indeed to have any traction in your legs. Moving Dot from place to place, especially in and out of a car, entails playing push-pull with a beloved being who, against every inclination of conscience, evokes in me the frustration of manipulating a sack of potatoes. I’ve become uncomfortably aware of my bounded charity. I suppose this is why love delivered as ‘professional care’ is expensive. I’m better at dealing with small children - my grandchildren I mean. I can wipe bums, clean off dribble, sweep up scattered food and take careless spillage in my stride, but messy vulnerability in old age repels me. I was fine taking my aged mum out shopping and for walks in her wheelchair. We talked and talked, and gazed at the landscape with such shared pleasure, but my mum’s intimate husbandry was in the hands of professional carers, behind curtains and doors; woman’s work, though of course there are men as good. I strive to choose words to protect my conscience.

Christmas lunch 2018

A memory in black and white

Our Christmas card was posted on the Ano Korakiana website...

Ευχές

Γράφει ο/η Κβκ

25.12.13

Mother Greece across the Sea of Kerkyra in Winter Καλά Χριστούγεννα  HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ANO KORAKIANA ~ GOOD NEW YEAR 2014  SIMON AND LINDA, RICHARD, AMY AND ALL +OSCAR, THE DOG

Victorian aristocracy, including the Queen herself, embraced the Scottish landscape - thanks in part to the new railway. Dr Johnson was more critical. But he and Boswell travelled to the Hebrides before Romanticism trained the lowland eye to delight in highland scenery and railways made them easy to visit from the cities of the south. It was depicted as a wild heather-strewn wilderness. In fact it's an enormous park, stocked with ornamental fauna to shoot, paint or photograph; and now every track that doesn't pass under Forestry Commission plantations can be viewed from the air via Google maps. Does this make me love it less?

I'm not an explorer here, more a traveller, even a life-long tourist, inheriting the safety of the land's long habitation by people who made roads and place markers for centuries before the Victorians, let alone me, coming first to the Highlands in 1949 on the sleeper from King's Cross to spend Easter with my aunt at Fasnakyle, her home beyond Cannich, in Glen Affric, and later to celebrate a magical Christmas (in this photo I found at Am Baile, Bay and I are in the middle row, left and right of the tree - Bay just in front of Father Christmas).

My aunt had hired a film projector and we all sat down to watch Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. We and the rest of the children were laughing so loud and so continuously, one or two little ones had to disappear to be sick before rejoining the general hilarity. (It's so good to have help identifying the others in the picture and hoping they also remember all that laughing at slapstick custard pies and silly walks from so long ago). Then Father Christmas - the estate's head ghillie (I believe), I was told years later when I no longer entirely believed in Santa Claus, arrived - and presents were handed out to all after which my aunt organised us to have a group photo with many calls to settle down and look serious just for the camera. This is why we show little sign of the excitement and joy that suffused us. I know I was fit to burst - needing one titter to set me off again.

The human past is part of the area's character - kingdoms, invasions, depravity and civilisation, even where the rigour of the landscape suggests wilderness, anyone with a little thought can see there's more wilderness in the blighted estates of our population-diminished cities than in this sublimely landscaped garden for the enjoyment of those with time to spare, good raincoats and midge repellent. It's true that in the depth of raw winter you're sensible, if stuck somewhere on a drifted road, to have a care to stay in your car and phone the rescue services

Quote from Am Baile: This is a Christmas party held at Fasnakyle House in the early 1950s for the children of employees on the Fasnakyle estate, Strathglass. The estate was owned at the time by Captain Clark. Four members of the Mitchell family have recently been identified in the photograph - Marcelle Mitchell and three of her daughters, Monique, Christine, and Lesley. Marcelle is the lady kneeling beside the little boy on the right hand side of the photograph. Monique is standing near the back, next to Father Christmas. Christine is in the second row. (She has a ribbon in her hair and her face is half hidden by the girl in front.) Lesley is the small blond girl in the front row, holding a present. The girls' father, Mr. William Mitchell B.E.M., was the General Foreman for Messrs John Cochrane & Sons, Ltd, the company who built the Hydro Electric dam in Glen Affric. A fourth sister, Lyn, was born in 1952.

A letter received 19 Oct 09:

 “Also in this picture are Margaret and Kenneth MacLennan, family of John MacLennan, (Johnny to guests, Jock to natives), who was head stalker at Fasnakyle. He succeeded his father, also John, to this position in l941.
Kenny is the little boy (2nd, front row, left, holding his present), he still lives
nearby on estate with his wife and family. Margaret (1st back row, left) has
married and moved away. Their mother Mary was caretaker for Fasnakyle Lodge. Beside Margaret is Lily Henderson whose sister Cathy is (2nd row right,
kneeling, nearly out of picture). Their father, James Henderson, also a stalker,
worked and lived on Fasnakyle Estate.

On 31 Oct 2011 I received this letter:

Dear Mr.Baddeley. I can identify two more people in the Christmas at Fasnakyle house photo. I loved the photo and was very touched to see the innocent faces that I shared a portion of my young life with. The little girl center right with the mask is Frances I think her mother is behind her to the right. I also knew Kenny Mclennan, the young boy to the left.We were all playmates at the time, living on the Fasnakyle estate. My parents were German immigrants who emigrated to Scotland in 1950 to work on the estate.
I was allowed to join them in 1952 and experienced one of those wonderful Christmas' at the Fasnakyle house, one year later than the photo. My father was the Chauffeur for Captain Clarke. The two men met during the British occupation in Northern Germany where my father acted as an interpreter for the British officers. The two men must have hit it off. A small reason may have been that they had something in common. My name was also Margot. My mother was the cook at the house. Frances and I went to school together in Cannich, she was a close friend and I have a school picture of her. What wonderful years they were. I think about them often...My life in the Fasnakyle House was a major event in my life and I am planning to take a trip there next year. I have not been back since 1955. Best wishes, Margot Luedke (Ludke)

Strathnairn in January 2012 - on many walks I'll not make more

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Clear skies for Christmas Day in Handsworth.

As Linda and Dot worked in the kitchen getting ready for lunch, I cycled with Oscar to our allotment and raised a couple of pounds of Jerusalem Artichokes from the clogging earth, washed them clean under the tap by the plot, and took them home to bake with the rest of our Christmas meal. Three generations of us gathered, and with crackers and a bombardment of poppers, sat down.

Lin and I, Christmas lunch - Richard's picture

I took my turn in washing up before, in falling dusk, my son-in-law and daughter and I and Oscar strolled about Handsworth Park, having the place almost to ourselves - an oasis of quiet amid the muted hum of traffic; the calling of duck and geese, black dots on the still water; window lights glimpsed through the branches of leafless trees. Oliver fought sleep so we did a second round of the pond getting home in darkness, to sit down again for Christmas pudding, flamed with blue-burning brandy, laced with cream. Oliver wakes. We rise and go next door where there's a coal fire and sparkling tree. We share presents. For me a jar of Marmite that'll last half a year, Patum Peperium pots, thermal underwear, chocolate and several police procedurals from other countries.

Oliver seemed to like his Christmas present - the toy cooker we've made out of a wooden locker left in the street and collected by Handsworth Helping Hands a few weeks ago. Washers, handle, nuts and bolts, hinges and screws came from a small ironmongers up the Lozells Road; cookware from Poundland; cooker rings, used DVDs; controls sawn from a discarded broom handle.  Into the evening the boy struggled to stay awake; the first Christmas he will remember? At last he, and then his father, fell asleep.

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Τα πρώτα Κάλαντα στην Άνω Κορακιάνα - The First Carols in Ano Korakiana

Τα πρώτα Κάλαντα ήχησαν ολίγον πρώιμα, χθες το απόγευμα, από παιδιά μικρών ηλικιών του χωριού και μάλιστα με τη συνοδεία οργάνων. Πολύγλωσσα ακούσματα, από τα παραδοσιακά κορακιανίτικα κάλαντα, έως και γνωστά ξένα χριστουγεννιάτικα κομμάτια, δημιούργησαν μια χαρούμενη ατμόσφαιρα με αρκετή δόση από «Βαβέλ». Η πρώτη Λειτουργία των Χριστουγέννων θα τελεστεί σήμερα το πρωί, παραμονή της εορτής, στο μοναστήρι του Αγίου Ονουφρίου, ως είθισται τα τελευταία χρόνια. Με λιγοστό εκκλησίασμα, ένα ψαλτήρι (και αυτό κατά τα δύο τρίτα κορακιανίτικο), αλλά και τέσσερεις ιερείς (παπα-Κώστας, παπα-Γιώργης, παπα-Αλέξανδρος και παπα-Πέτρος)…Κεκλεισμένων (λόγω κρύου) των θυρών, υπό το φως των κεριών και τη ζεστασιά μιας σόμπας. Στο απολείτουργο, η επίτροπος της μονής θα μας προσκαλέσει στο αρχονταρίκι για καφέ συνοδευόμενο με κονιάκ, ούζο και κουλούρια, ενώ ο εκ των ιερέων θα ανανεώσει το ραντεβού στον ίδιο τόπο, για την παραμονή των Φώτων. Υ.Γ.1.Μετά το αρχονταρίκι και τον εξωτερικό μαντρότοιχο της μονής, υπό επισκευή έχει τεθεί το καμπαναριό. 2.Φετινές Κορακιανίτικες παρουσίες: ο Γιώργος Κένταρχος και ο Γιώργος Μαρτζούκος στο ψαλτήρι, ο Γιάννης Κοντοστάνος στην επιστασία του ιερού και φυσικά ο παπα-Κώστας.

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'Σε σύγκριση με προηγούμενες χρονιές το γενικότερο κλίμα της εορτής στο χωριό θα είναι εμφανώς συγκρατημένο, λόγω και της δύσκολης συγκυρίας' - 'Compared to previous years the overall tone of the celebration in the village will be visibly restrained, because of the difficult times'