Greek Culture Embedded in Opa! Fest

Polish parties, Scottish soirees and Greek get-togethers — if there is an ethnic community celebration in the area, Joyce Rosenthal goes to it.

The 67-year-old Troy resident said her interest in different cultures began as a history major back in 1965. Saturday’s Opa! Fest in Troy was the latest in her cultural fascination. 

“There is no better way to learn a culture than to experience it,” she said.

She said she loved the food and the Greek dancers, but was especially enticed to the festival by the very history of Greece — especially its contributions to medicine, law, engineering and the arts.

“Western Culture is built off of that,” she said.  The classics way back then, they were marvelous thinkers.”

But for many at Opa! Fest, the celebration wasn’t of a foreign culture, but of one they feel kinship toward, along with their friends and family. Many of the faces eating saganaki, buying local goods and watching the elementary age OPA Dancers in the backyard of on the sunny Saturday afternoon, attended to connect to their part of the Greek community.

Peter Tourkakis, an 84-year-old Warren resident and member of the church, said celebrations like these are simply part of his life. He has been an usher in the church for about 30 years. 

“This just feels like I am around brothers and sisters,” he said.

For others, it is about maintaining a feeling of belonging that goes along with one’s culture. Though Geoff Beauchamp doesn’t have any Greek heritage, the 58-year-old Bloomfield Township resident married into the Greek tradition. As an outsider, he said he sees the Greek traditions as being very family focused and welcoming.

“They all have fun, but most are here because of all the Greek society,” said Beauchamp, who volunteered his time at the bar in the festival. “It's about maintaining the Greek culture. There are some people who go back and forth between [Greek Orthodox] churches to see each other.”

Beyond the bonds between friends and family, much of the celebration was in the tradition of the Greek Orthodox Church, a house of worship that recently hit its 75th anniversary.

Paul Tarros, a Birmingham resident and volunteer with St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Bloomfield Hills, grew up attending St. Nicholas. He went from his church-sponsored Boy Scouts troupe, to aiding in organizing Greek festivals at Hart Plaza in Detroit, and back again. He said the church is held dear because of its history.

“It was part of the Roman Catholic Church, before they split,” he said. “Both trace their roots to Jesus.” 

Beyond a party with food, drinks, inflatable playthings and even the religion many hold dear, there is something that makes celebrations like these essential, Rosenthal said.

“It gives [people] an understanding they don't already have,” she said. “It is more than just Greektown. Communities need events like this. It gives you a better understanding of people."