[MGSA-L] Greek culture has a new home in Midtown Detroit

[June Samaras]

http://www.freep.com/article/20130412/NEWS01/304120077/1001/news

Greek culture has a new home in Midtown Detroit

 April 12, 2013

By Christina Hall
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

For Karla Scherer, the new Hellenic Museum of Michigan -- opening
Saturday in Midtown Detroit's Cultural Center with an exhibit about
the history of Greektown -- is "just serendipity."

The museum -- which celebrates Greek history and culture in the region
and state -- is in her grandparents' historic home, the Scherer House
on Kirby Street, where in the basement her father invented the machine
for the manufacture of soft gelatin capsules.

The museum's mission also holds a special place because her late
husband, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Theodore Souris, was the
state's only Greek-American justice.

"It's wonderful how the circle completed itself," said the
76-year-old, fourth-generation Detroiter who now lives in Chicago. "In
a city in which so many things are being demolished, the fact that the
house will live on is the most gratifying thing to me of all."

The two-story, red brick museum off Woodward Avenue houses Greek garb
and instruments, decades-old photos and the door to the Greektown
neighborhood's former New Hellas Café.

The opening is being watched with anticipation by Greektown merchants.
They are hoping the museum will inspire visitors to make the trip to
Greektown afterward.

"It could be a nice combination to spend the afternoon at the museum
and go to Greektown for a meal. It's so nearby," said Polyvios
Panagopoulos, president of the Greektown Preservation Society and
owner of New Parthenon restaurant.

Yanni Dionisopoulos, vice president of the preservation society and a
managing partner at the Golden Fleece restaurant, hopes the museum and
its Greektown exhibit will remind people that Greektown isn't just a
casino, "it's a whole historic district."

"It will give a reminder that just down the street is one of the most
vivid and historic entertainment districts of Detroit," he said of
Greektown, a less than 10-minute drive from the museum. "We are still
here, through the good and the bad."

The museum has been years in the making. While there are strong Greek
churches and cultural centers in the area, there was interest in
having a unifying place to present Hellenic culture, said Ernest
Zachary, president of the museum's executive board.

Since 2007, volunteers looked at vacant historic buildings to find a
central location and formalized setting to present Hellenic history,
culture, music, art, literature, philosophy and language, said Joan De
Ronne, the museum's vice president of operations.

Organizers said the Scherer House -- former home of the Children's
Museum of Detroit -- was purchased in 2009 for about $355,000. About
$100,000 in repairs, such as upgraded lighting, have been done.

Zachary said organizers are working to make it an environmentally
green building. They plan another $600,000-$700,000 worth of
improvements, such as system upgrades, windows, tuck pointing and
landscaping, in the next three years.

"It's a great opportunity for us and the Detroit community," Zachary
said of the museum, which opens with the history of Greektown exhibit
and the immigration story of Greeks to Michigan more than 100 years
ago.

Greektown merchants contributed photos and mementos; Wayne State
University students helped with exhibit research and photography.

De Ronne said there are plans for art exhibits, music recitals,
children's activities, educational components for schoolchildren, a
coffee and bakery area and gift shop.

Admission will initially be free, and the museum will be open noon-4
p.m. Saturdays. She said organizers hope to draw 10,000 visitors
annually and eventually open the museum several days a week and on
Sundays.

Organizers said there are an estimated 70,000 people in Michigan of
Greek affiliation or descent. But the museum isn't just for them. It's
also for non-Greeks and future generations of Greeks.

"A museum is something that you can always look through the past and
bring it forward," Panagopoulos said. "You can share memories, give
little history lessons on the heritage and the pride."

More Details: Weekend Greek celebrations Hellenic Museum of Michigan

• Dedication and grand opening of the Hellenic Museum of Michigan with
a blessing at 5.00p.m. Saturday
 by Metropolitan Nicholas of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit.
A gala reception follows at 6:30 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

An $80 donation includes valet parking, strolling dinner,
entertainment, tours of the DIA’s Greek Gallery and the presentation
of the annual Hellenic Heritage Awards. There will be tours of the
Hellenic Museum of Michigan building throughout the evening.

For reservations, call 586-779-6111, ext. 3. • 12th annual Detroit
Greek Independence Day Parade at 3 p.m. Sunday on Monroe Street in
Detroit.

67 E. Kirby St. (the historic Scherer House) in the Cultural Center.

Open noon-4 p.m. Saturdays.

Free admission.

www.hellenicmi.org

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June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com