Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

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jarkko
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Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by jarkko »

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I received this letter from Mr. George Koukoudakis, the Mayor of Hydra. More than 200 Forum members spent a memorable weekend (many of us longer!) on the island in June.

Photos of our bench an the inauguration: https://cohen.1g.fi/kuvat/OUR+STONE+BEN ... RA+(2017)/
Dear Mr Arjatsalo,

We also had a great time during your stay in Hydra. It was an honour for us. I would like to thank you and the members of the forum you represent for the help you provide to the Island of Hydra and especially for those in need. Soon we will propose to you some social care projects of the Municipality (social supermarket, social pharmacy etc) that the money you want to donate can be devided.

Meanwhile i would like to inform you that on the 13th of July the Ambassadoe of Canada in Greece was in Hydra. I ask him to help the Municipality of Hydra to establish twinning relationship with the Municipality of Montreal, the birth place of Leonard Cohen. I want to ask your help and the help of your forum towards this goal.

We will be in touch for both of the aforementioned issues.

Thank yoy very much for your help and co-operation. I would also like to express my warm congratulations for the wonderfu work you are doing.

Yours Sincerely,

George Koukoudakis

Mayor of Hydra
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
199Dan
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by 199Dan »

Hurray !
:D
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Dem
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by Dem »

Hi all

in case that some of our friends are wondering
what is the need for a social supermarket or pharmacy
in rich Hydra I can assure you that with Greece now in
the 7th year of its financial crisis there are many people
(unemployed, without social security, homeless) that benefit
from the social supermarkets and pharmacies where they can take
for free or with very low-cost basic goods and medicine.

And I assure you that there are people in need also in Hydra
(for example Leonard's landlady, the late Mrs. Evangelia
and her husband Koulis would have been two of them).

So I am totally in support of such projects.

PS) We could also give a small amount to the organization HydraArk (www.hydraark.com)
who takes care of the cats of the island. The old visitors from our group
will have seen with their own eyes the good work they are doing and how
much healthier (and less in numbers) are now the cats on Hydra

Dem
Athens 2008, Prague 2009, Paris 2012
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Wybe
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by Wybe »

Looks for me a perfect way to spend the extra money on these social projects.

Wybe
2008 -- Brugge, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Helsinki, Oberhausen, Rotterdam -- 2008
2009 -- Antwerpen, Venice, Barcelona .-- 2009
2010 -- 2 x Gent, Lille, 2x Las Vegas, -- 2010
2012 -- Gent, 2 x Amsterdam, Dublin, Verona -- 2012
2013 -- Pula, Rotterdam -- 2013
-- +++ https://www.icantforget.nl -- +++
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jarkko
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by jarkko »

This is to report that we have today donated 10,000 eur to the Social Supermarket and Social Pharmacy of Hydra. These charity projects are operated by the Municipality of Hydra. Our money will be used to buy food and medicines to local people who have urgent needs. There are many - often elderly people - who have no income at all, and no younger generations to support them.

In Montreal we talked with Cantor Gideon Zelermyer of Shaar Hashomayim, Leonard's family synagogue. He had discussed charity projects with Leonard only some months before his death. "Give your contribution to the hungry", Leonard had said. Our Bench Team decided to follow this guidance.

This money was collected in 2014 to celebrate Leonard's 80th birthday; more than 300 members and other Leonard's fans contributed the project. With their donations we built the bench on Hydra (it was inaugurated in June 2017).

With this 10,000 eur donation to social help we have used most of the amount we had in reserve. We left some 2,000 eur to pay the following costs:

o two trees will be planted in the Spring, one on both sides of the bench
o reserve for the maintenance of the bench (the wooden part has to be replaced at some point)
o we promised to make a photo book with names of all donators and photos from our Hydra happenings; it will be done before the next Meetup and the book will be deposited at the Museum of Hydra (+a copy to the Municipality as well).
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
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HugoD
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by HugoD »

Very well chosen! Thank you for the tremendous effort you , and all that have helped you, to make all these things happen!
Lille 2010, Dublin 2012, Mannheim 2013, Rotterdam 2013, Montréal 2017
Happiness is just the side effect of a meaningful life.
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jarkko
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by jarkko »

Dear Mr Arjatsalo,

Thank you very much for your email. Your decision to make a donation to the Social Supermaket and Social Pharmacy of the Municipality of Hydra is an excellent gesture of solidarity to the people in need.
...
Thank you once again for your help and support to the people in need in Hydra.

Yours Sincerely,

George Koukoudakis

Mayor of Hydra
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
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Mabeanie1
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Re: Letter from the Mayor of Hydra

Post by Mabeanie1 »

Thank you for the updates Jarkko. I will admit I had some concerns about what would happen to the surplus funds but I am very happy with the result. It is also nice to know that Gideon was able to confirm that this was in accord with Leonard's wishes (though I don't think any of us would have doubted he would approve).

Will it be possible for those who wish to obtain a souvenir to buy a copy of the photobook?

Wendy
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