Mother Lodge Chapter 1, Atlanta, home to where Hellenes founded the Order of AHEPA in 1922, hosted a centennial celebration tribute weekend, June 24 to 26.
Atlanta’s “Tribute to AHEPA” events included the dedication of the AHEPA Founding Monument at the Thalia N. Carlos Hellenic Center, a keynote address by Ahepan Tim Tassopoulos, who is president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A; and presentations on early Greeks in America and on AHEPA’s eight founding fathers by Stephen Georgeson and Dr. Victor Polizos, respectively.
In remarks delivered to a banquet audience of 300, Tassopoulos offered three recommendations for AHEPA’s next 100 years: 1) to honor its history, 2) to lead by serving, and 3) to develop the next generation of leaders. The audience included approximately 75 members of the extended families of AHEPA’s founding fathers, including the daughter of a founder, George J. Campbell.
Supreme President Jimmy Kokotas and Daughters of Penelope Grand Vice President Georgette Boulegeris unveiled the AHEPA Founding Monument and addressed the community (more pics).
Chairman of the Board Nicholas Karacostas, PSP; Supreme and Grand Lodge officers, and several Past Supreme Presidents, attended.
Also during the weekend, organizers facilitated visits to the Civil Rights Museum of Atlanta and to AHEPA’s “Tribute to Olympism” sculpture in Centennial Olympic Park. The sculpture was dedicated in 1996 to commemorate the Centennial Olympic Games and absorbed shrapnel from the Olympic Park bombing.
