July 27, 2005
Greek night tastes success
Taste of Greece serves more than 1,200 dinners
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Whether driving up for take out or sitting down for a meal, more than 1,200 diners reveled in a feast of Greek food.
The Fourth Annual Taste of Greece event, held at the First Congregational Church, featured grilled kabobs, roasted potatoes, spinach pie, cheese pie, bread, Greek salad and baklava. All cooked and served by a crack team of 50 volunteers from the Traverse City Orthodox Mission Church, which meets at the First Congregational Church.
These volunteers kept traffic flowing both indoors and out, relaying orders into an assembly line kitchen staff who put together plates and take-out boxes at a brisk pace. About half of the meals sold were for take out, with this year's new drive-up feature providing fast-food-speed service.
"It was a great success, for what we planned on we came very, very close," said John Batsakis, the head chef of the event. "It's hard to tell how many people are going to show, we just have to guess and intuition."
Batsakis owned the You & I Lounge for 16 years, selling it in 1993. He introduced Greek food to Traverse City by having gyros on the menu as well as offering weekly Greek nights that also featured belly dancing. People love Greek food, he said, and the popularity of Greek night has jumped every year.
"It's rich food, a lot of butter and olive oil but it's tasty," said Batsakis, who noted organizers began planning the event in January.
"Lots of phyllo dough, when you cook with it you have to be patient," he added. "When I grew up, we only had things like that very seldom because you couldn't buy it prepackaged yet, you had to make it from scratch."
The Taste of Greece night was a fund-raiser for both the Orthodox Mission Church as well as Habitat for Humanity. Organizers designated Habitat as a recipient of proceeds to honor the generosity and welcome shown to the growing Orthodox Mission Church by First Congregational Church. The church, which began six years ago, has grown quickly and now includes 55-60 families from around the region.
"We are a small church but an enthusiastic church," said Harriet Rennie, president of the Orthodox Mission Church's council. "It's just amazing to think that six years ago we didn't know each other, didn't have a church, and look what has happened."
"We have a Sunday school and a beautiful choir, the music is just marvelous," Rennie added.
Many members drive for an hour or more to Traverse City for services, coming from Charlevoix, Cadillac, Kalkaska and other northern Michigan communities. Without the Traverse City Orthodox Mission Church, the next closest Orthodox church is in Sault St. Marie, Muskegon or Grand Rapids.
Founders believed that, corresponding to the regional population boom, more Orthodox families must also have moved here. Enough people did live in the region so the Traverse City Orthodox Mission Church began in September 1999. Rennie noted that since then, many families in the congregation either moved here or choose to buy a cottage or vacation here because of the church.
"It is a very tight-knit community but everyone is welcome to come to our services," she said, adding that the church is experiencing growth in a different realm: "We've had ten baptisms just since November."
They met at the Grace Episcopal Church until last December, moving to the First Congregational Church because of extensive renovations there. A visiting priest travels from downstate usually the first and third Sunday of the month though the congregation may soon have a full-time priest.
In addition, someday members hope to have a facility of their own but for now cherish the hospitality of the churches that have hosted them.
"Both churches have just embraced us and supported us as we did this," Rennie said.