It’s Greek to Them

It’s the cradle of democracy, the birthplace of geometry and the land of the first philosophers.

This weekend, though, Greece seemed more like the birthplace of the outdoor party.

At this weekend’s Greek festival in Camarillo, any philosophizing was kept to a minimum as thousands of participants engaged in more earthly pleasures: dance, drink and tasting delicious pastries with such tongue-twisting names as galataboureko, kourambiethes and koulourakia.

Members of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church have been working since March on just the baklava alone, rolling out stretches of filo dough to make 25,000 of the flaky, sweet diamonds--all of which were expected to be consumed during the three-day festival.

The drink and dessert aside, there was some intellectual stimulation to be had.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve learned a lot of Greek,” said Lynn Capriati of Oxnard. “I know the important stuff, like ‘gyro’ and ‘baklava.’ ”

Greek music chimed across the dance floor at the church at Camarillo Airport, and children and adults clasped arms, as if they were reenacting scenes from “Zorba the Greek.” The sharp smell of sizzling Greek cheese, in the form of Saganaki, wafted from booths filled with homemade stuffed grape leaves and vats of cool tzaziki sauce.

Back on the dance floor, Conejo Valley resident Greg Brown performed the zeimbekiko, clapping a hand to his heel, swinging a leg high in the air, and clapping another hand to the ground, before downing a glass of ouzo--a pungent licorice liqueur--from a short glass using just his teeth.

Brown, 18, born and raised in Thousand Oaks, and a longtime St. Demetrios parishioner, has worked to keep ties to his Greek heritage. Despite his rather common last name, Brown said his grandfather came to America from Greece, changing his name, Evangelos Pashopoulos to “Kid Brown” when he took up boxing.

“He knew no one would ever be able to pronounce it,” said James Brown, Greg’s father.

Amanda Putnam, 11, said she is studying Greece in school, though none of her classwork is quite as enjoyable as tearing into a meaty spear of shish kebab.

“This is more about eating,” said her mother, Vicki. “We starved ourselves for days in preparation for this.”

Organizers expected between 8,000 and 10,000 people through the conclusion of the festival at 5 p.m. Sunday, said Christo Pulos, of Port Hueneme, the event’s chairman.

The nearly $60,000 in proceeds from the event--probably the 21st annual, although nobody seems sure exactly how many there have been--go to help the church and a local food pantry.

The only Greek Orthodox church in the county, St. Demetrios is a meeting place for those of Greek heritage, and others from throughout the county. Its population has steadily increased to 150 families, and increasingly attracts other ethnicities, as its members wed and newcomers convert, according to Pulos.

“We have a parishioner who speaks Japanese and Greek,” said Pulos.

But as far as Pulos was concerned, each of the festival-goers had a little Greek blood.

“Everybody’s Greek in spirit,” he said. “If you enjoy life and being around people, you’re Greek.”