Editorial
It's a truism that tragedy often brings people together. And while the recent Turkish earthquake was a terrible disaster in terms of human life, it was heart-warming to see the Greek national response and, more locally, that of the Symi people to the plight of the Turkish children affected.
Although there has always been plenty of two-way traffic between the two ports, this particular demonstration of friendship was also an illustration to those that believed that there was a long-standing hatred between Greek and Turk, that politics is one thing, while human decency is quite another.
We happened to be in Dacha on the day that the official Symi
party was due to arrive, and as the two national flags were being erected side by side on
the Turkish harbour front we heard one Greek sailor say; "thirty-five years old and
in all that time I've never seen this before. I never thought it would happen, but
it's good".
Disaster the earthquake certainly was, but if it has helped to bring one small section of people in each nation closer together, then something good has come from it
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Two interestingly different views of the health qualities of Symi in this issue. One from an English newspaper saying that the
lifestyle here promotes longevity, the other from local chemist Yiannis Tsavaris who says
that from his professional stand-point there is still much to be done to improve general
health-care standards on the Island.
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We are sad to report the sudden death of English resident Tony Huwgego - a well-known
Chorio figure - on the last day of August. Our sympathies go to his widow, Penny and
their family.
Tony Easton
Editor
'Same Old Symi'
Attracts our Holiday Winners
Paul & Annie Pederson (Symi Visitor Subscribers) being congratulated by Mayor
Militiadis Sarrisis
Unlike a lot of places, Symi doesn't change, says Paul Pederson......and that's why the
winner of the Visitor Millenium Holiday Competition and his wife Annie have been coming
here regularly over the last six years.
Paul, a consultant engineer and Anne, a hospital superintendent, live in Aalborg, Annebergved, Denmark and have visited Greece something like 25 times, "but the first time we saw Symi we were lost to such a beautiful island and when we're here we make the most of it by walking or renting a motor-cycle, to get to the less accessible parts".
When Paul received the phone-call telling him he had won the competition, he was astonished, he says. "I wondered what it was all about, because I had more or less forgotten that I would be in the draw for the prize".
The couple's children, son Jari (23) and daughter Karina (26), have never visited the Island, but Jari has his own claim to fame - he is a professional footballer and top scorer for the champion Danish club AAB.
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