Gyro Fest Canceled Over Concerns About State Requirements

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The Gyro Fest set for Friday and Saturday at the Hellenic Center in the city of Poughkeepsie was canceled. A news release from the Kimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church said that its parish council met in an emergency session Wednesday to discuss concerns about whether the food festival met all requirements from the state in order to safely hold the fundraising event.

"In the meeting, the parish council was presented with several gaps in the Gyro Fest plan that did not align with the expectation of the executive order," a spokesperson for the parish said.

Shortly after noon Friday, the white tents erected in the parking area of the Hellenic Center earlier in the week stood empty instead of being bustling with patrons buying gyros, souvlaki and other Greek dishes

Mike Bakatsias, the parish council president, said in a news release that the decision to cancel at such a late date was difficult.

"However, as council members, we have the duty to conduct church affairs within all legal frameworks," he said. "In making final preparations for our Gyro Fest event, we were made aware that not all preventative measures and assurances were in place, creating a situation that put our parish and public at risk."

Bakatsias said the areas of exposure could not be addressed in such a short period of time and therefore the decision to cancel was agreed to by a vote of five to two.

"Brothers and sisters, the effects of COVID-19 has tested our society and lives in a way that has not been seen in decades," Bakatsias said. "While our parishioners worry about the viability of our parish, the risks discussed at our recent meeting would potentially create a more perilous situation for our parish rather than improving it."

In a phone call to Patch, he said last minute inspections found that the festival did not have the infrastructure for patrons to reserve one of the limited number of outdoor tables, nor did it have a mechanism to monitor and stop people from just buying a sandwich and sitting and consuming alcohol.

Bakatsias said the latter circumstances would be counter to the requirement for festival attendees to wear masks.

The other problem was the outdoor food line where the gyros and souvlaki were cooked and assembled.

Bakatsias said there was no way, on short notice, to limit the number of people in line.

"If the line got to above 50, we had no circuit breaker to turn people away," he said.

There will be some loss as far as the already prepared food is concerned, Bakatsias said. Some of the unopened and still frozen food can be returned.

What will be left over, he said, will be taken to a food bank or Meals on Wheels.

The Gyro Fest had been planned as a take-out event with some limited outdoor seating, though patrons would have been encouraged to take the meals home.

Everyone was going to be required to wear masks, officials said.

Bakatsias said the parish will be meeting with inspector in the near future to find ways to meet all the specifications. He anticipates being able to hold another food festival in September or October.

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