July 2009
Dear Friends of Kythera,
In the last newsletter I sent out a request for assistance in pin-pointing natural water-sources on the island. Anestis Diakopoulos and Manolis Baveas were quick to help and so far we have details of sources at the following:
1. Kaloyerou behind Agios Nikolas
2. Petrouni
3. Agios Mama (half an hour from Petrouni)
4. Routsoinas (apo to Kalakathi)
5. Keramari in Karavas
6. Amir Ali
7. Portakalia
8. Milopotamos/Neraitha
9. many pools below Neraitha
10. Road down to Pelagia
11. Brisi at Mitata
12. Mudaro at Mitata
13. Gonia between Paliopoly and Mitata
14. Brisi at Viarathika
15. "Sithero-Nero" near Diakopoulanika
16. Kavpi behind Diakopoulanika
You can see the location of most of them on this map:
www.kythera-family.net/download/WaterSprings1.jpg .
If you have a moderately current browser - Explorer or Firefox - you should be able to click once on the map to enlarge it.
We're still VERY short on water sources in the south of the island, and I'm sure there are lots more in the north as well. Some reports came in of springs which once ran strong but now are dry or only flow in the Winter/Spring after good rains. We'd like to hear of those ones too. For example the one at Tryfillianika falls into the later category - it apparently dries up in the Summer. Perhaps it simply needs a healthy cleaning - the roots and branches of vegetation around and within a spring can block a smaller Summer flow. We're putting together a "chain-saw" party planned for late July clear the Tryfillianika spring - if you're interested in helping or know of other springs which could do with a good pruning please let us know. You can send your additions to me either by email or, if you're in Australia, just call our man in Sydney – George Poulos – on 02. 9388 83 20. He'll take notes and send me over the information.
Another interesting aspect of the water on Kythera is it's original source. Does it come from the mountains on the Peloponnese – snow-capped in Winter – as someone once told me twenty years ago? Kythera, although an Ionian Island, is geographically part of the Peloponnese – the straight between Kythera and the mainland is in fact just a deep ocean-filled valley. So a water-channel underneath it is quite probable. If you know more about the geography and water currents of Kythera please let us all know!
But back to all the water on Kythera. A hundred years ago, when Kythera's schools were full and about 14,000 people inhabited the island, every inch of the island worth cultivating was used. The famous springs at Karavas and Mitata made them major centres of food production. Timetables were posted as to when which family could use the collected water and for how long... Nowadays, at least in Mitata, the water once so precious, flows unused down the valley when the collection pool under the "Vrisi" is full, which is almost always. Our great-grandparents would turn in their graves if they knew! Perhaps one could create a fresh-water fish-farm on Kythera to utilise the water – after all, fresh fish on Kythera are so expensive now you can easily spend half your holiday budget on a large fish meal down in Avlemonas. And the waste-water from such a farm would be rich in fish-manure - perfect for a growing "perivoli"! - so nothing need go to waste.
Fish-farms are a black-hole area in Greece when it comes to the bureaucracy surrounding them. It's not that you have a lot of paperwork to do if you want to create one – there is currently no valid government policy covering them so the authorities can't even give you the paperwork to complete. It seems that the only thing more difficult than finding a job on Kythera is creating one. But we aren't giving up that easily...
The Green Island
Until we can swing it with the fish-farm, we will follow the crowd and start testing the island's suitability for solar and wind farms. Of course not with the 100 metre wind-towers which are already scarring the sky-lines all over Europe, but rather smaller arrays of generators and solar-panels which could make Kythera energy self-sufficient. We are applying for permission to set up a test area on Kythera where we will erect a variety of different wind-generator models as well as solar panels to see which are best suited to the epic climatic conditions which bless Kythera. The prices of the newest range of green-generators have fallen considerably, and the Greek government has guaranteed a high price – about 40 cents per kilowatt hour – for energy produced by renewable sources for the next twenty years, so the project is more commercially secure than most. If you're interested in learning more or perhaps even in participating financially in the project, send me a mail!
Best regards,
James Prineas ([email protected])
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Message Board
(direct link to message board with contact facilitation: http://www.kythera-family.net/index.php?nav=36)
Panaretto
submitted by Gaye Hegeman on 14.06.2009
I am looking for Panaretto family members and wonder if anyone has done their family tree in which the following names occur? My great grandmother, Panayiotitsa Panaretto born around 1855, lived in Potamos with her husband George Emmanuel Andronicos who came from Kousounari. I am a descendent through my grandfather Theo Andronicos. Can anyone explain why their name was spelled Panaretto and not Panaretos? The smallest clue could be of assistance and I am open to any information. Thank you.
Gaye Hegeman ([email protected])
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....looking for information about renting a house........
submitted by Ciske Nieuwenhuiijs on 16.06.2009
Last year I stayed for two weeks on Kythira. I enjoyed this stay very much and "fell in love'' with this lovely island. Since then I am looking for all kind of information about renting a house on Kythira...not only during the holidays, but to live permanently on the island! It's very difficult finding the right information; there are lots of houses, but only for sale or to use as a holiday accommodation. It's not my intention to leave for Kythira very soon; at this moment I'm just looking for all kind of information.
Who can help?? Looking forward hearing from "anyone''. (Sorry...my English isn't very good...)
C. Nieuwenhuiijs ([email protected])
The Netherlands
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Aroney from Innisfail area and Townsville/Charters Towers
submitted by Michael Thompson on 24.06.2009
Hi,
Would there be anyone out there with information of the family Aroney who came from the Innisfail area?
My grandfather Theodore Boyde Aroney came from this area and his father owned a shop. When WW2 Started my grandfather joined the army, while his mother (May Aroney) separated from her husband and took the children out to Charters Towers. My grandfather sent his pay back to his mother to feed his sisters and brothers.
What i would like to know is the name of my grandfather's father, as grand-dad never spoke of him. A history of the family would be interesting also.
With thanks
Michael Thompson ([email protected])
Tongala, Victoria
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Souris Family in Johannesburg South Africa
submitted by Devon Souris on 27.06.2009
Hi all,
Can anyone help me find more information on the Souris clan in Johannesburg, South Africa? I live in Pretoria, South Africa, and am desperate to find out more on my family as well as where in Kythera we come from. I am trying to find our Family Coat of Arms /Crest.
Devon Souris ([email protected])
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Sailing, Anyone?
submitted by James Prineas on 02.07.09
My family and I are considering buying a catamaran (Hobie 16 or something similar) for Kythera. Is there anyone out there who might be interested in going in with us and sharing the use of the catamaran? A used catamaran in good condition with a trailer could cost anywhere between 5,000€ and 8,000€ - they are unfortunately more expensive in Greece than in Australia, the US or northern Europe. Send me a mail if you'd like more information: [email protected]
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Kytherian Youth Reunion - Sydney Australia
Peter Tzannes
WE are a group bringing together the Kytherian youth groups from 1970 through to 2000. This covers the SYKO (Sydney Young Kytherian Organisation), KYA (Kytherian Youth Association) KANGA, and others. We will be having a cocktail party reunion for all past members and guests of functions conducted by these groups during that time. These included Greek Olympics, New Years eves, Ski trips, horse-riding, movie nights, dances etc.
Go to Website for more details and to join our information list
http://www.kytherianyouthreunion.org.au
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KYTHERIAN LIFE. THEN AND NOW
by Maria of Lourandianika
As a child I enjoyed a life which was enriched by my parents opening their home and their hearts to the many relatives and friends who, in many cases, had come from Kythera, to start a new life in Australia. Special among all those people was a cousin of mine who had arrived in Australia from Kythera. To this day, we speak on the telephone and reminisce of days gone by. Like the pillow fights, which would inevitably take place when it was time to settle down for the night. Having been told a bed-time story by my father, I still found time for a pillow fight with my cousin, who is now, as always, such an important person for me. Many years have passed, but we are still as close as when she first came into my life.
On hot steamy summer nights we would all sit together on the back veranda as my mother would iron, the air having cooled after the oppressive heat of the day. How we would laugh and joke as we exchanged our daily experiences.
My father was a rather flamboyant man and the family home reflected this. The kitchen was the hub of the family home, and my mother, such a wonderful cook, deserved nothing but the best as far as my father was concerned. So, when he decided to extend the house, he included a very large kitchen for her, as she spent so many hours preserving the olives which would be delivered in wooden crates by truck from country towns, along with so many other products which had been grown on the farms run by Kytherians. It was not well known that quality farms, along with cafes, were associated with Kytherians starting new lives in Australia.
Little did I know that, in years to come, I would be collecting olives from the heavily laden branches on our family-owned land, recalling the trucks which had made so many deliveries of already-picked olives.
Our home was a place where relatives arriving in Australia, from Kythera, often gathered. Coming to Australia after leaving a small Kytherian village they had spent their entire lives in was often frightening for them. Young women, my cousins, were assured of a home and a loving family at our place to allow them to make the transition from life on Kythera to a new one in Australia.
Our kitchen was the centre of activity. Not only for cooking and preserving the produce which had been collected and sent, but also for the frequent guests, sitting at the large table, where so many stories were told. My father would stand me and a close friend on the bench tops of this large kitchen and we would sing the Greek national anthem, and then, amidst the applause and laughter, my father would throw silver coins on the kitchen table. How often was I stood up there to recite poetry. I was not aware until many years later that our guests were always Kytherians.
I found my interests changing even as a young girl. My father bought me an air rifle. I spent hours every day with a tin can on a paling fence, practising my newly acquired interest. When I was 15 years old, en route to Kythera, my father purchased himself a rifle in Italy, and he purchased one for me as well. He always acknowledged my new interests, and, while on Kythera, he would allow me to go hunting with him and the young men. My years of practising were rewarded: I often returned home with pheasants and rabbits at the end of our hunting session. We were welcomed by my mother and other family members, as this meant we would enjoy a wonderful meal which would be prepared by them.
These memories were spoken of recently, when, due to the state of my health, a reunion was held in my bedroom. Fourty-three years had passed since the last contact, but they vanished and as we talked and laughed. My husband, who is not of Greek background, asked if we were all related. Yes, of course we are all related - our family-ties span over 200 years!
Such love and memories can never fade. We are Kytherians, no matter where our circumstances may have taken us. Especially with the technology available now, such as the very email you are reading, we are able to stay in touch with loved ones.
I would like to dedicate this article to my very special and much loved cousin, who arrived from Kythera as a young girl and brought so much joy with her into my life.
Maria (Marcellos) Whyte
[email protected]
4 Trinity Crescent.,
Sippy Downs 4556
Queensland.
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THE KYTHERA BOOKSHELVES PROJECT
Dear Fellow Kytherians and Philo-Kytherians,
Please take a moment to read about a very important grass-roots project whose aim to promote literacy on the island of Kythera.
Kytherian Society of California member, Cynthia Cavalenes-Jarvis, is spearheading The Kythera Bookshelves Project, to furnish shelving for the first “lending library” on the island. The Kytherian Society of California, has pledged financial and technical support in hopes that other individuals and organisations will join the effort. Please review the website by clicking on the link below, and consider supporting The Kythera Bookshelves Project by making a tax deductible donation today.
There are addresses on the website indicating where to send donations as well as a Paypal button for the convenience of donating online.
http://web.mac.com/vikvf/KSOC/Literacy.html
Your support will make a world of difference in the lives of children and adults on the island. Any amount you are able to offer would be greatly appreciated. Please forward this email to others who may be willing to help promote this worthy project.
Vikki Vrettos Fraioli
[email protected]
Secretary of Technology
Kytherian Society of California
http://web.mac.com/vikvf/KSOC/Home.html
