Ahepa

Twelve hundred members of the Order of Ahepa./- 800 of them bachelors, boarded the Cosulich liner Saturnia last week, sailed for Athens.

A casual incident in New York, the second annual pilgrimage of the Order of Ahepa is big news in Greece. This year, because the return of the Ahepans not only coincides with Holy Pasch (Greek Easter, April 20) but also the 100th anniversary of Greek Independence, two Greek war- ships will welcome the Ahepans at Phaleron Bay. Sailing with the Ahepans as patrons, guides, were Senator & Mrs. William Henry King of Utah, former U. S. Minister to Turkey Henry Morgenthau.

"We spend five whole days in Athens." explained Excursion Leader Nicholas Lambadakis, "entertained and feted by Government officials, by the famous Lyceum of Greek Ladies. We are entertained with dances and old mysteries and athletic games."

The Lyceum of Greek Ladies have a very personal reason for performing their old mysteries for the returning Ahepans. The 800 Greek bachelors were returning to Greece with the firm intention of getting married. They were going back to find 800 docile, plump Greek maidens, to bring back to the U. S. with them again. They sought brides who would not make fun of their broken English, who would stay at home and mind the fruit store and raise plenty of children, who knew how to cook lamb kidneys with pilau. Many had already arranged their betrothals. As the Saturnia steamed out, others made a dash for the purser's office to make their choices from a sealed package of 1,000 photographs supplied by Athenian marriage brokers. ^

/-No Greek deity is Ahepa, but a mere contraction for the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.

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