FLUSHING, NY – History was made on February 17, 2024, as the Inaugural Hellenic History Tournament (HHT) was held at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Flushing, NY. Co-chairs Dean Moskos, Past District 6 AHEPA Governor, and Lainie Damaskos-Christou, District 6 Daughters of Penelope Governor, were successful in their collaborative effort to bring this regional tournament within the AHEPA Family for the first time to the Empire State. Many chapters and individual donors throughout the district helped sponsor the teams and raised the funds required to award $4,500 in Scholarship award prizes and cover the expenses of this full day’s event that included breakfast and lunch.
The focus of this event is to inspire our youth to invest of themselves to learn Hellenic history. Seven teams from Schenectady to the Bronx, from Astoria to Port Jefferson competed for the top two scholarship prizes. The first-place winners were from Niskayuna High School in Niskayuna, NY sponsored by the AHEPA Schenectady Chapter #125. The Hellenic Heroes team included captain Mihir Kulkarni, Alexander DiCarlo, and Vincent Shi. The second-place team winners were from Saint Demetrios High School in Astoria, NY sponsored by Crescent Apothecary c/o Nick Papaioannou & Family. The Scythians included captain Victor Sabirianov, Victor Stojanovski and Amina Ibodulaeva. All seven teams participated with enthusiasm and determination in a jeopardy-style tournament that had contestants using their razor-sharp skills to decipher between the multiple-choice questions in categories from Ancient, Middle and Modern eras of Greek history from the Hellenika textbook by Peter Limber.
To support the HHT event, many AHEPA Family dignitaries participated towards its success including Themistocles Frangos, AHEPA Supreme Counselor, Peter Ragoussis, AHEPA District 6 Governor, Michael Labatos, AHEPA District 6 Lt. Governor, Harry Yanakis, AHEPA District 6 Treasurer, Christina Fileas, Maids of Athena District 6 Governor, James Hutchison, Canadian AHEPA District 23 Governor, Christopher Gallis, AHEPA Board of Auditors member, and Basil Katsamakis, AHEPA District 6 Director of Education, among many other volunteers from AHEPA Gus Cherevas Estia-Pindus Chapter #326, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Wm. Spyropoulos Greek-American Day School community. Finally, special thanks to the AHEPA District 7 (CT & RI) Nicholas Nikas, Past District 7 Governor & Past Supreme Governor, Region 4 and Founder of the HHT, and Gregory Simones, PD7G and District 7 Secretary who served as the advisors for the past two years.
Next year is promised to be even larger and better as the tournament grows in popularity. The first and second place winning teams are invited to compete in the International Championships tentatively to take place in Nashville, Tennessee in July 2024. We encourage all students from 8th-12th grades to consider participating in next year’s tournament. It is inclusive to students of all cultural diversities and religions who reside in the State of New York. For more information go https://www.ahepad6.com/hht. The AHEPA District 6 Family will be hosting its 88th Annual Convention at the Rivers Casino at Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady, NY on June 14-15, 2024.
