Up until l927 each church, namely the Holy Trinity on Seventh Street and the Saint Sophia on Pierce and Hayes, held separate celebrations for March 25th, Greek Independence Day. It was about time that the Greeks forgot what took place during the First World War, which had divided them, and united to celebrate March 25th. We succeeded in convincing the boards of the two churches to have a single celebration and we hired the Scottish Rite Auditorium on Sutter and Van Ness Avenues. We invited the city officials and made the celebration worthwhile.

I had the help of many people. I cannot forget the name of Anastasios Mountanos, who was at that time the editor of the California Greek Newspaper. He has since passed away. He was one of the finest, the most learned gentlemen we've had in San Francisco and a bon vivant as well. He was a man with whom I became very friendly. I learned a lot from him.

We charged one dollar for admittance. The proceeds were donated to the Near East Foundation, which at that time was doing philanthropic work for the Greek refugees that had left Asia Minor and who were living in abject poverty. The Greek Government was overwhelmed with the burden and we felt that it was part of our duty to help with what little we could.

The affair was a huge success and many city officials attended and participated. It was also the beginning of uniting the Greeks of San Francisco and getting them to forget their division and to look ahead to doing bigger and better things together.