News

Members and guests celebrate the 60 year anniversary of Ithaca House

On Sunday 14 October, the Ithacan Philanthropic Society celebrated the 60th anniversary of opening of Ithaca House at our clubrooms.

Our 'home away from home' was filled to the brim with members and guests dressed in 60s inspired outfits sipping retro cocktails and enjoying delicious canapes as they reminisced about all the wonderful events they attended at Ithaca House over many decades.

Executive Committee member, Andrew Raftopoulos, paid tribute to the late Nick Sofarnos, the architect who designed Ithaca House and we were delighted that members of Nick's family could attend this special celebration.

Guests learnt about the five generous Ithacans who acted as Guarantors in the 50s, to the tune of 5000 pounds each, to start the process of building Ithaca House (which was recently heritage listed). To illustrate the enormous commitment by each Guarantor, 5,000 pounds represented the cost of a house at that time.

Congratulations to Andrea Scotis, who won best dressed, wearing an original, full length 60s gown in a beautiful brocade.

There are so many people to thank for making the 60 year anniversary event possible including the Executive, Historical and Events Committees.

A special thank you to our members, our friends from AHEPA, and Pano Apostolou from SBS for joining us to make it a sensational day. Click here to listen to Pano's report of our event on SBS radio - 'This is Ithaca': The 60th Anniversary of Melbourne's Ithaca House.

Please continue to support our events so that we may continue to provide the same high level of support for our community here and in Greece, and to ensure that our Ithacan roots are celebrated by generations well into the future.

Children delighted by the entertainment at this year's Chidren's Christmas Party

Our annual children’s Christmas Tree party held on Sunday 3 December was a great success. As well as enjoying balloon making with Noodles the clown and gifts from Santa, the children were also entertained by a storytelling of the Odyssey. Brenda Addie, actor and director, and lover of the Greek classics, retold Homer’s epic Odyssey in a fun and engaging way. The children were enthralled and parents were delighted that their children were learning/hearing/being exposed to the story of our legendary Odysseus.

To view photos of this event, taken by Dennis Katsamas, please click here https://ithaca.org.au/gallery/category/43-2017-children-s-christmas-party

Beba's Finikia Masterclass a great success

On Sunday 24 September at 11am, the first of many cooking classes to come was held at Ithaca House with twelve eager participants and Beba Pappas, as our first master chef. After the unveiling of our new "Ithacan Philanthropic Society" aprons with accompanying olive logo, Beba professionally demonstrated to her students, the step by step process of mixing, making, baking and "melosy"-ing her famous finikia.

Each participant was able to have a hands on experience and could ask many questions to make them just perfect. The smell of Beechworth honey and baking finikia filled the club rooms along with great conversation about cooking, family origins and all things Ithacan. A light lunch prepared by Helen Vlass and Eugenia Vlass-Tsalikis was shared by all, including the Ithacan Historical Society team that supported the day. A video of the class recorded by Pano Paxinos will soon be available for viewing.

Note our new embroidered 100% cotton twill aprons which make great presents are available through the club at a cost of $30 each, with postage of $10 within Australia. Please contact Peter Raftopoulos at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like one. Stocks are limited.

Great night of kefi at the 2017 Ithacan Ball

On Sunday 11 October, guests of the annual Ithacan Ball, wined, dined and danced the night away at the elegant Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.

With music by the band Strofes, guests were in the mood to have fun and judging by the packed dance floor, it was a great night.

The night started with a short quiz which acted as a friendly icebreaker and the lucky winners all received a delicious chocoltae treat from Xokolatl.

Together with lucky door prizes and a silent auction featuring the beautiful watercolours of Jason Roberts from his trip to Ithaca, the night was a resounding success.

View photos of the Ball in the gallery here: https://ithaca.org.au/gallery/category/42-2017-ithacan-ball-11-october

Victorian artist, Jason Roberts, conducts art workshops in Lefki

It's great to see IPS Centenary donations to the Primary School in Northern Ithaca and High School in Vathy being put to good use. Part of the monies was used to purchase art supplies for workshops conducted by Victorian artist Jason Roberts.

While on Ithaca in 2017, Jason volunteered his time to run two workshops in Lefki. The first workshop was outdoors with students sketching local scenes and landscapes.The second was a still life workshop held indoors at the Lefki Morfotiko Kendro where Jason demonstrated still life drawing techniques. The students were very appreciative of the opportunity to develop their creative skills as they do not have access to art classes at school.

The Society is delighted to be featuring Jason Roberts' artwork in the Silent Auction at this year's Annual Ball. A catalogue of works to be auctioned can be viewed at https://ithaca.org.au/events/292-2017-ips-annual-ball-silent-auction

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