Thanksgiving Dinner 2018

This year’s Thanksgiving Dinner was celebrated at the wonderful Ecali Club in Athens. In a festive and pleasant atmosphere, the International Propeller Club of the United States, International Port of Piraeus in collaboration with the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, organized a magnificent dinner, with the traditional turkey dish, on Wednesday, November 21, 2018.

The speech of the President of the Propeller Club, Mr. George Xiradakis:

“Your Excellency US Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic and Honorable President of Propeller Club of Piraeus Geoffrey R. Pyattand Ms. Mary Pyatt

• • Dear Deputy Chief of Mission Mary-Kate Burnes
  • Dear President of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce Simos Anastassopoulos
  • Dear Economic Attaché Chip Laitinen
  • Dear Commercial Counselor Keith Silver
  • Dear Commander of the Hellenic Navy Fleet Logistics, Vice Admiral Nikos Kafetsis
  • Dear Defense Attaché Captain Timothy Ketter
  • Dear Representatives of American Farm School of Thessaloniki
  • Presidents and Members of the Board of Different organizations
  • Dear Members of American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
  • Dear Past Presidents and Past Governors of Propeller Club of Piraeus
  • Dear Governors, Officials and Members of the International Propeller Club of United Sates of America – Port of Piraeus
  • Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

On behalf of the International Propeller Club, Port of Piraeus I would like to welcome you and thank you for sharing with us this special evening that Propeller Club is jointly organizing with the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

The meaning of Thanksgiving has undergone numerous transitions. Starting as a harvest festival, it turned to be a gathering in unity, an expression of gratitude for survival, an extension of ourselves, giving to underprivileged people. To my heart, the true meaning of Thanksgiving focuses upon empathy and relationship; and by saying Empathy, for those who have Greek as a mother tongue, I mean «ενσυναίσθηση», to put yourself in other people’s shoes.

The power of Empathy is a great gift of human beings. It is the key to the human relationship. It’s a deep and heartbreaking emotion. I am pretty sure that all of us, gathered here tonight for this Thanksgiving dinner, have the ability to feel empathy for other people’s misfortune. The destructive wildfires that have churned through Mati and California this year, killed hundreds of fellow citizens, leaving homeless and devastated people.

Such devastation automatically gives us a good reason to be grateful for the most important element as human beings. Life! On another note, Empathy shows the path to support each other, look after each other, and remember that once we’re all together, we have the chance to overcome the trials of our time.

Allow me on behalf of the Propeller Club to express my gratitude to the American Embassy for its tireless support to our Club, to our friends from the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce for the fruitful cooperation and to the entire maritime community for its strong backing which culminated to a unique Amver Awards Event reaching a record number of 1.200 participants and 95 sponsors that enable us to continue our historical mission.

Last but not least, a special thanks and gratitude to Mr. Simos Anastasopoulos for his efforts to bring together so many companies capping in a very successful Thessaloniki International Fair organization.

I wish you all, a wonderful Thanksgiving evening!”

Part of the Speech of H.E. the Ambassador of the United States in Greece and Honorary President of the Propeller Club of Piraeus, Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt:

“Good evening! Simos, George, it’s a great honor for me and Mary to enjoy Thanksgiving with you tonight. It’s one of our favorite holidays, and it represents some of the best American values. There is a lot for us to be grateful for this year as American diplomats in Greece. And it’s a pleasure for us to share this holiday with you tonight as you have been such a key part of the US-Greece relationship, and understanding the American and Greek contexts and what’s best in both. Thanksgiving is, of course, about giving thanks – and tonight I would like to express my gratitude to each of you for your support and assistance to the Embassy and the bigger US-Greek bilateral relationship.

I am particularly grateful that together with our partners from the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce we put together a Thessaloniki International Fair that I think will be remembered as a real milestone in the US-Greece relationship. And through your partnership in this endeavor, US-Greece relations have hit the high water mark; riding on that momentum, I hope that moving forward we will be able to take it to new heights.”

Part of the Speech of the President of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Simos Anastassopoulos:

“Mr Ambassador of the US and Mrs Pyatt, Mr President of the Propeller Club and Mrs Xiradakis,Ladies and Gentlemen. Thanksgiving may not be a traditional Greek celebration. But through the years of spending this day with our friends from the Propeller Club and our American friends we have come to appreciate the occasion. We consider all the things that we should be thankful about,  we recognize our good fortune and we gather here to express our gratitude and prayer among friends. I see great value in recognizing and appreciating the material and spiritual possessions we enjoy today as prosperity and well-being should never be taken for granted, which is why it makes sense to take the time to reflect on the world and our position in it.”