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Greek Heritage Night Deemed Major Success!

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The American Hellenic Institute's sponsored Greek Heritage Night that was held on May 28th, has been deemed a major success!

The baseball game organized with the Philadelphia Phillies, was played at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA, with about 1,000 participants in attendance. AHI's official press release can be read in full below.

Ahi-Sponsored Greek Heritage Night At Phillies Game A Home Run

Greek Ambassador Throws Out First Pitch; Meets with Philadelphia Mayor

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute-sponsored Greek Heritage Night held in cooperation with Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, May 28, 2014 at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa., was a tremendous success. Approximately 1,000 persons attended Greek Heritage Night to help the Phillies stage a ninth inning rally to beat the Colorado Rockies, 6 to 3.

"On behalf of AHI, I sincerely thank the Philadelphia Phillies, especially the unbelievable unwavering effort of the Phillies' Director of Publicity, John Brazer, without whose support the event could not have been a success," AHI President Nick Larigakis said. "I am also deeply grateful to the Greek American community of the Tri-State Philadelphia area who came out in droves to support Greek Heritage Night and proudly displayed their Hellenic pride. Finally, the event could not have been a success without the incredible backing of certain individuals and entities that helped to promote it and to sell tickets."  He added, "AHI has received tremendous positive feedback about the event, and it will be something we will explore replicating in other major league cities. In fact, we have one lined up for September in Washington."

At the baseball game, Ambassador Panagopoulos threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The popular Phillies mascot, The Phillie Phanatic, sported an Evzone costume custom-made by the Phanatic's seamstress, Kim Hanley. During the middle of the fifth inning, The Phanatic led Pegasus Dancers, a Greek dance troupe under the direction of Youth Advisor Mela Akranis, from Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Upper Darby, Pa. A two-minute promotional video about Greece, made possible by the Embassy of Greece, was played on the ballpark's Jumbo-tron.

(Source: http://ahiworld.org/component/content/article/1873.html)