As you sit in the splendor of these surroundingssprinkled with the atmosphere of your native land. you can swell with pride as you think of Creteits antiquity. its civilizationits culture. And you can stand tall and straight as you dwell on Cretansyour ancestors and yourselvesl And you can take justifiable satisfaction in the progress you have made in this country. The saga of Greek immigration to the U.S. is altogether unusual. Driven by poverty from the stony fields of Thessaly. and the rocky islets of the Aegean. nearly 70% of all Greek immigrants arrived here in a single wave during the first two decades of the present century. So unlike other recent arrivals. they could not count upon compatriots who had come here earlier. to assist them in the process of entering their new. strange. complex individual society. It is not an easy taskit never is--to leave ones homeland and travel thousands of miles to a new place. You bring strange sounding names from far away places to a new and untried area . . . where acceptance is not easy and too often. hostile and repelling. So. you gathered in your own communities--among fellow immigrants and looked to your church and your own clubs and societies for guidance and assistance. That is why the Cretan Association MinosCrete responded magnificently to the cry of tion responded magnificently to the cry of its members as it dwelled upon a program of mutual assistancenot alone to Cretans herebut back in its native island. But when your ancestors came. they brought with them a love of religion. respect for education and great family and neighbor affection.
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