A festival featuring traditional recipes of foods and sweets, as well as numerous displays of arts and crafts, was sponsored by The Volunteer Women’s Group of the Gouves Township, in cooperation with the Township, to celebrate last month’s international Day of the Woman.

Throughout the celebration, the Cretan sounds of Hristo Ktistaki on lyra, Thanasi Himonaki on first lute, Antoni Manousi on lute and Babis Theriakis on mandolin entertained the crowds.

The master of ceremonies, Pavlos Mathiouthakis from Kritorama radio station, kept the spirits high.

The Model Senior Citizens’ Home of Gouves offered a handicraft display. (From left) Lambrini Konthoni, Kalirroi Syka and Mrs. Eleni Priniotaki.

Model Senior Citizens’ Home

The Gouves Volunteer Group offered traditional Cretan foods, sweets and snacks. Pictured with their display, from left, are: Kaliopi Linarthaki, Kaliopi Markaki, Maria Kompseli, Maria Tzoraki.

Gouves Volunteer Group

The Kalo Horio Women’s Agro Co-op ΜΙΝΘΗ, a newly organized organization, also offered traditional fare.

In addition to the displays and musical entertainment, a karate exhibition was presented by Emmanouil Amaryiotaki’s Martial Arts Academy in Gouves.

Kalo Horio Group

All exhibits were judged by  Evaggelia Sakelariou,  Mary Pahiathaki, and Zinovia Mourdaki. The winners were:

1^st place: Kalo Horio Women’s Co-op for best presentation and the best selection of foods and sweets.

2^nd place: Yiasemi Erezoglou for her excellent needlework.

3^rd place: Koxari Cultural Association for their traditional Cretan foods like snails with fennel, fava and hortopites.

Following the day-long outdoor festivities, the woman’s day observance moved indoors for open discussion of issues concerning the woman as a vital and active citizen, mother and wife.  

Mayor Yiorgos Nikolakakis offered brief introduction, and mentioned the fact that the woman passes on traditions and holds together her home.

“We need more women’s co-ops in our township,” he said, “and the Demos will encourage it as it should encourage young women like Yiasemi Erezoglou (2^nd place winner) to enter the business market using their talent and enterprising spirit.”

The main speaker, Mrs. Tina Kaklamani, a sociologist, with the department of Philosophy and Social Studies at the University of Crete spoke on “the place of the woman in the population of contemporary Greece.”

Mrs. Kaklamani

“As statistics show, academically the women in our demos are equivalent to those in the rest of the country,” she emphasized. “The woman now enters the salaried job market more as she steps out of the home, although she still has not reached equality in the work place.”

All of the women in the audience agreed that the discussion was a positive step, and Martha Woutsou, a town hall social worker, was enlisted to organize another women’s meeting in order that the issues be discussed further.

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