F.O.L. - CULTURAL SOCIETY LONGOS "LORD BYRON"

ACTIVITIES OF THE CULTURAL SOCIETY LONGOS

1924 - 2014
90 YEARS F.O.L. - CULTURAL SOCIETY LONGOS

Sunday, February 2, 2014 - CUT OF THE NEW YEAR CAKE - TRIBUTES

CUT OF THE NEW YEAR CAKE

The Cut of the New Year Cake took place on
Sunday, February 2, 2014,
at 7.00 p.m.at the Cultural Centre Longos.

The new priest of our parish,
Christos Tsoulkas
blessed the New Year cake
together with the former priest,
Dionisios Livanas.

The administrative council of Longos Cultural Society "LORD BYRON"
invited the members as well as its
friends to the established

CUT OF THE NEW YEAR CAKE.

The chairwoman Mrs Natasa Rodopoulou welcomed the guests.

Afterwards the TRIBUTES took place.

This year were honored:

Anna and Angelos Diamantopoulos
as well as
Julia and Efthimios Tsamtsouris.

TRIBUTES

At this event, the administrative council of our society presented once more the life and the legacy
of people who lived and passed by our village and helped the development, the peace and the
progress of this place to a big or to a smaller extent.

Anna and Angelos Diamantopoulos

Angelos Diamantopoulos was born in Longos in 1887
and Anna Diamantopoulou in Andros in 1891 as daughter
of a priest.
They had seven children: Apostolos, Maria, Irini, Fani,
Aryro, Panagiotis and Leonardo.
Working agriculturaly, they also held the office
of sextons at the old St. Dimitrios Church in the 1950ies
and gave this office to their successor Efthimios
Tsamtsouri in 1963.
They lived calm and devoted to their church until old age
and specially Kyra-Anna helped many people of Longos
and others with her practical medicinal knowledge. She
knew the technique to manufacture a salve to cure burns
from old times. She produced the even nowadays
well-known "Salve of Fire".
The older people of Longos remember Anna Diaman-
topoulou as always being kind towards everybody
and with a bright smile on her face.
Angelos Diamantopoulos died in 1975 at the age of 85
and his wife Anna Diamantopoulou in 1982 at the age of
94 years.

Its impossible not to mention their son Panagiotis Diamantopoulos, who became a famous religious singer
at the church Panagia Tripiti in Eghio.

Their grandchildren, Angelos Diamantopoulos, son of Panagiotis, and Danae Kourtopoulou-Papaloukopoulou,
daughter of Maria, took a gift as a memory of this evening.

Julia and Efthimios Tsamtsouris

Efthimios Nikolaou Tsamtsouris or Rallis was born
on August 29, 1909 and died on October 18, 1982.
He had 9 brothers and sisters, but only he
lived with his parents because his brothers and
sisters went to work to Athens or even abroad.
In 1939 he married Aliki Tsagkanika from Selianitika.
In 1945 his wife Aliki died at the age of 23 and left
the 5 year old daughter Irini.
In 1946 he married Julia Asprakou from Kouloura and they
had two children, the son Nicolaos and the daughter Aliki.
Efthimios Tsamtsouris worked as a farmer and as a
day labourer, because the income as farmer was too little.
He was very humorous, loved to sit together with younger
people and made people laugh with his anecdotes.
He participated at theatre performances of the CULTURAL
SOCIETY OF LONGOS and he always acted in funny parts
as the stupid «Gerla» in the performance «The lover
of little shepherdess».
Being very religious, he and his wife Julia were chosen to
hold the office of sextons at the St. Dimitrios Church as
successors of Angelos Diamantopoulos, also known as
Barba-Angelos. From 1963 until Efthimios' death in 1982
they served the Church without pay, except for the little
help they got at weddings, baptisms and funerals. Good
Friday was the day of sexton: they got the collection.
Many people of Longos and those who came from Athens
helped them by giving their contribution because they
appreciated the service Julia and Efthimios Tsamtsouris

did at the parish of St. Dimitrios. They had their own way pealing the church bells so that people knew at any
time, what part of the Sunday Service was celebrated: one stroke after the first peal of the bells, two after the
second and three after the third peal. At the end of the Sunday Service Efthimios Tsamtsouris collected the remainig offering - Kolyva, Litourgies and bread - to distribute it to poor people. This was typical of Efthimios
Tsamtsouris, the father, the religious, the humorous, the man loved by the inhabitants of his village, who never
shied at the work in church. At last we have to mention his attitude towards resistance, as we were told by his
family. For example he was on guard together with other people of Longos, to allow Aris Velouchiotis to disembark
at Rumeli. He also was the only one who answered Pattakos at his visit to Longos, when people were asked to tell
him about their problems.

We have to mention, too, that their
son Nikolaos worked at LONGOS
CULTURAL SOCIETY as an active
member and was member of the
administrative council for many
years.
Their grandchildren Efthimios and
Georgios were members of the
dance department of our society
and we often took pleasure in their
magic dance figures.
Their son Nikolaos took a gift
as a memory of this evening.