Look, what we're talking already seems like yesterday.
Greek Fest coming back again this year for the 300th anniversary.
What is this?
It's 61.
61 years.
Same thing.
61 years.
Yes.
So what was I doing 61 years ago?
I don't want to think about it.
Okay.
61 years ago.
Wow.
At the same place.
Camisi's Greek Orthodox Church.
That's right, Don.
Yeah.
Right there.
Right there on this.
It's on Green Bay Road just south of Highway 20.
You'll see the rides.
You can see them because it's right next to the road.
You'll see.
This is easy to spot.
You'll smell it for one thing.
And it's really good.
Tom Savas is here.
You've been involved with how many years?
I'm going to say around 45 years.
Yeah.
45.
I know.
I know.
When I first met you, your children were newborns.
Pretty much, yeah.
And now they're married off doing their own thing.
Yes.
Yeah.
Hold on.
My back just hurt.
I'm thinking about that.
So every year we go to Greek Fest.
We usually go on a Sunday after church.
We go run out to Greek Fest and dig out.
And when I went into the commercial to say, oh, what they're doing is that's the flaming cheese.
It's called Saganaki.
Right.
Right.
And it's the flaming cheese.
This is my favorite part of it.
And this is June Dairy Month.
So hey, OK, it works.
Flaming cheese, they light it.
I don't know what they put on it, but whatever it is, it lights up the pan and they go, oh, you can hear them all over the place screaming that.
The yearos and and not a Saganaki perfect.
This is what I get every year the same thing and inside you have rotisserie chickens You have the pastries.
I also have a pastry
set all made on
site.
Hey, I'm just thinking of all the pounds I lost 40 pounds and it's all coming back on Greek fest all right talk about the dates for it It's this weekend, but it starts on Friday
right right Friday from 5 to 9 and then Saturday noon till 9 and Sunday noon till 7
So there's plenty of time to come on over and have some great, authentic Greek food and enjoy it with your friends.
It's a lot of fun.
Now, the honey puffs.
Oh, yeah, the honey puffs.
It's like these little balls of dough, but they put they drown it in honey.
But they're light.
They're not heavy.
They're very light.
They are
light.
And oh, you get a little that six of those and a little cup and
the honey puffs.
They're delicious.
They are delicious.
The syrup is is kind of what makes them as long as well as the dough, you know, that that dough, you have to let it rise and get it just right.
And then you fry it and then you put that syrup on it with the honey and the cinnamon.
Oh, come
on.
In the clothes.
I mean, I gained a pound just looking for that description.
And you can go indoors.
You won't have to because it's going to be a beautiful weekend.
But you have indoors.
you have like shops inside.
Right, yeah.
Let's talk about the shops.
Well,
we call it the Ahura, which is a marketplace.
And then you can buy many of the different types of Greek spices and oil and different things like that.
Wine, some Greek wine we'll have in there.
So that's a neat little thing too, as well as that's where we have the pastry.
and there's room to sit down and it's air-conditioned in there, so it's nice inside too.
I don't think you'll need the air-conditioned this weekend, a high of 73 on Saturday.
Beautiful weather.
Yeah, it's gonna be gorgeous, sunshiney and it's great.
Okay, let's talk about, this is also, you also have the carnival rides there as well.
Right, we've teamed up with Elpine for quite a few years and Donnie Macy does a great job, a clean job there.
And they have the wristbands that's unlimited rides from noon till four.
That's on Saturday and Sunday.
So that's always a big bonus for those that, you know, like to just come out for the rides.
And like I say, he does a great job and we've been doing with him for quite a few years.
You know, last year, I was going to get a lemonade and I got it at one of the carnival stands there, the lemonade stand.
And this woman got one.
She pulled out a credit card and paid for it on credit card.
I felt saying you
The lemonade was like 75 cents.
You couldn't.
You don't have 75 cents in your pocket.
But then I realized I'm one of the few people that uses cash anymore.
Nobody uses it.
Even to pay parking meters around it.
You got to have a credit card now.
Right.
And
it's
interesting because we have the they have a kiosk there for credit cards.
And I think that's going to make things as far as getting tickets a lot smoother and quicker.
Well, they did they did the when she was getting they had a little credit card thing that she swiped it for the lemonade.
I must be look like some ancient old Methuselah to these people when I say both I pull that cash and it looked to me like oh I remember that in the old days Lincoln used to use cash I remember that is that the Confederate or Union money what is that and yet but that's that's when I realized I'm in the dark on this stuff because everybody's you use credit cards but I use it the supermarket I use it stores it not to buy a lemonade but that's she everything she does she just pulls out that credit card and buys it
yeah
And I'm looking at her like, what are you there?
She's looking at me.
What are you pulling out of your pocket?
They have money.
What is that wallet?
What are you keeping that thing?
All right, let's talk about some of the other things out here.
Greek, I never had coffee in my life, but I know people love coffee, Greek coffee.
Let's talk about
that.
We have two types of Greek coffee, actually.
One is kind of a smaller demi cup type
coffee,
which is a powdered coffee, strong, have it with sugar.
And then we have what we call a frappe.
which is a blend of coffee and sometimes cream or sugar on ice and it's really sweet, just a delicious coffee.
So both of those coffees are great.
And by the way, there's no charts to get in.
I mean, you can see a parking car.
You have plenty of parking there on the side of the church.
Free parking on our property.
You just walk in and then you get your food.
Yeah.
But there's long tables.
I see a lot of people bring their extended families.
because you have these long tables set up picnic tables.
We try to make
it family style.
Yeah.
And then you've got the entertainment.
What do you find these dancers?
These are young kids dancing.
Well, they are
actually our own from our own parish here in Racine.
So grown.
Yeah.
And, you know, they they practice and you walk by and you're watching them practice and the adults are teaching them to practice and in costume in traditional folk Greek costumes that and they they perform.
Each day, Friday, they'll perform at 7 p.m.
Saturday, they'll perform at 5.30.
And then Sunday, they'll also perform at 1 p.m.
They're a lot of fun to watch.
We're talking to
Tom Savas.
He is the... Do you have a title with the... I don't.
I just don't want one
anymore.
I'm just the helper.
I'm a volunteer.
The old man of the Old Man Festival.
Yeah, that's it.
The young people look at you.
So tell us about the old days, how it used to be.
Did you guys have tents back then?
How was the cooking?
How was that done back in the day?
Yeah, talking about that.
All right, so we have more time coming up in a moment.
We'll talk about the demonstrations they have there, the cooking demonstrations, the whole bunch of stuff going on at Greek Fest.
Excuse me.
And it's right there on Green Bay Road at the Kameces Greek Orthodox Church.
You can visit just south of Highway 20.
You'll hear all the smell of food, but you'll see all the rides and.
The excitement, there are plenty of free parking.
You want to have a problem with that.
Don't worry.
Every time I think of Greek Fest, you know, the on Ohio, was it Ohio?
Yeah, I think it's Ohio or yeah, they have that walk span going across Ohio.
Is it Ohio?
I think so.
You have that walk span that goes where people can get up and walk across a little bridge going across them.
You guys had a banner for Greek Fest and somebody cut out the R. And it's a geek fest.
Every time I talk to, I talk to Rich, our salesperson and I say, oh, geek fest.
He said, why do you keep calling that?
Because that's what the banners said.
Geekfest.
They cut the R out of it.
That's funny.
That's funny.
All right, more with Tom coming up at the moment, 716, local news, timeless hits, WRJM.
Sunshine today with a high near 73, cloudy, slight chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight, lows 56, cloudy tomorrow, high 68, sunny on Saturday, highs near 73, partly sunny on Sunday with a high near 82.
Do you sweat out the weather, by the way, when this stuff comes up?
Absolutely.
I do anyway.
Everybody's saying extra prayers in the church for
weather.
Then Mother Nature comes and
waters the ground for us.
Well, whatever you asked for, it worked this year because it looks like nice weather on the way.
The Commissis Greek Orthodox Church, the 61st annual Greek Fest.
You know, the majority of people living in Racine weren't even born when this started.
When you think about it, move that microphone closer if you have to in there.
Sure.
I want to hear every word you have to say.
OK.
Wow, 61 years.
61 years.
Yeah.
All right.
It's Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week, 5 p.m.
to 9 p.m.
Friday, noon to 9 on Saturday and noon to 7 p.m.
on Sunday.
Now, the Greek Orthodox Church, that's where this is based for.
It's the Kameesis Greek Orthodox Church.
If you want a church tour, you give those too.
We do, Don.
I appreciate you bringing that up because if the folks want to learn about the history and traditions and beliefs of the Greek Orthodox Church,
We do have tours on on every day 5 30 and 7 30 on Friday then on Saturday the church tours at 1 o'clock and 7 p.m.
And then on Sunday church tours are at 1 and 6.
We just got some new iconography.
That's just absolutely
beautiful is that
that's pictures of saints and holy days like you know like Like a Christmas like nativity or a Easter type
picture that is painted in a traditional church orthodox way.
So it's brand new and it's absolutely beautiful.
Cooking demonstrations.
Now Greek cooking is what we're doing here.
It's a special type of cooking.
You have demonstrations so people learn the secrets, huh?
Pretty much.
You know, first of all, almost everything we make is made on-premise.
We do it ourselves.
And we do have a
a featured chef from Chicago coming in to show some of these things.
So yeah, he's going to do a demonstration Saturday at 3 p.m.
And then he's also going to have a demonstration on Sunday.
But the main one will be on Saturday at 3 p.m.
You know, I went to one of the Greek restaurants around here, Greek diners.
And they had Saganaki on the menu.
Oh, and I got it.
It was very good.
It was excellent.
It wasn't the same.
And I can't put my finger on it.
Maybe it was being outdoors.
Maybe it was.
I didn't hear the chef in the kitchen yell, oh, I didn't hear any of that.
I didn't see the flames or just.
But it was very good.
It just wasn't the same as Greek Fest.
Well, something about that outdoor opera.
Yes, you
have to have the opera, that big exclamation of just the fun and the excitement of it, because you're right, it does.
flambé in it, the fire, it's just a lot of fun and it's delicious as you know.
But when you get it, it's nice and hot and cheesy.
And melted
with some
bread, it's just a delicious appetizer.
Oh yeah, they give the bread with it too, yeah.
Yeah, some pizza.
All in cooking tents, you get to see the rotisserie chickens cooking out there.
I'm not talking about a couple, I'm talking, it looks like a hundred of them out there, but
you go through them all.
Oh yeah, well, I think we can cook about 200 at a time, but it does take time, and you have to have the patience, make sure it's cooked thoroughly, and it's just a delicious rotisserie, outdoor rotisserie barbecued chicken.
Something else they never had, a beer.
I don't know why I just never had one.
I tasted it once.
What's Greek beer?
Well, we have mythos, which is a beer made in Greece, and it's a lager.
It's a delicious flavored lager.
I don't know how to explain it.
It's a good beer.
We'll have mythos along with the Miller products, because that's who we work with for many years.
locally beer as well.
When do you start putting this together?
This is, you know, I was talking.
Not soon enough.
I have the 4th Fest people coming in next week.
People do 4th Fest, the parade in Racine.
And they start the next day right after the 4th of July.
I can't imagine what it's like to put the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade together.
I can't imagine.
Can you imagine?
No.
I mean bands all over the country and they have singing people.
Everything's afloat.
They have the balloons.
They have to have everything timed out perfectly for television.
They got Broadway musicals put on there on the right in front of Macy's.
I don't know how they do it.
Well, it takes a lot of planning.
I don't know how you put this together.
Greek Fest.
I couldn't put that together.
It's tough.
But you have to have all these personnel running these tents.
Right.
You have to have people taking the money.
You got to have people making the food, preparing the food.
That's a big undertaking.
Set up in three days.
Yeah.
It's a big event for us.
Absolutely.
You're right on there, Don.
Now, the Rappel, it's a $1 million prize this year.
Well, not quite.
I wanted to see it.
I just was testing you
to
see if you said yes.
No, no, no, no.
It's $1,500 is first prize, second prize.
That's
just, yeah.
Great Wolf stay.
And then third prize is $300.
Tickets are $2 a piece or three for five.
It's affordable and it's fun and good luck to everybody who buys a ticket.
Do you ever see the movie?
Um, when Gary and Ross ever see that movie?
It's about real estate sales people.
And, um, what is his name?
Who played the Al Pacino's in it?
There's a whole bunch of big stars in it.
I can't remember the guy who played the, um, the spokesperson of the company said, wait, I'm going to contest here.
I'll think of his name in just a minute.
He was the guy in trouble with that movie Rust.
He was making, um, can't think of his name.
Anyway, he says.
First prize, a Cadillac.
Second prize, this mug.
Third prize, you lose your job.
You better come in first or second.
You want first prize only.
But your prizes are excellent.
That's good.
And we talked about the Greek marketplace.
Give me some of the things you sell there.
Well, like I say, there's like some nice Greek olive oil and some of the different types of seasonings and spices and
different Orthodox Christian items and they sell some wine there and some some of the tzatziki sauce and
oh yeah yeah yeah and when I get when I get euros there's a place here in town sells euros when I get them say this with us again tzatziki tzatziki sauce a little white sauce you put on oh yeah gotta have that
yeah types of things like that things you can take home and put on your kitchen table for a meal and
things you can put on maybe a dresser or on the wall, different things like that.
So there's a lot of authentic Greek items that people enjoy.
Let's talk about the food one more time.
Lamb, and that's what you put in yearos, it's lamb.
Well,
yeah, the yearos and we have... And it's not gyros, it's
yearos.
Well, we don't we don't mind however you pronounce it
if I'm listening to you say gyros I'm gonna call you out on it right there.
So yeah, and the chicken is I think a favorite too because it's a it's a half a chicken
It's a rotisserie chicken right over the coals right you can see it cooking right there on the grounds
People sometimes will just buy a whole chicken and put it in a bag and take it home.
So if you want to just you know come in and
buy something and leave.
That's fine.
Stick around.
Like you say, the weather's going to be beautiful.
So we have the euros, the honeypuffs,
the honeypuffs, which is the
flaming cheese.
Yeah.
The pastries we talked about.
We also have corn, corn roast, corn roast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And all these nice people throw a
few Greek season spices on that.
Then you have corn on the cob.
We talked about the Greek coffees and the beers and the Miller products.
Yeah, we it's it's a
A wonderful, what I like to think of as a family food type festival, Greek food festival.
And that's, that's pretty much what we are.
Now you have the Kamisi dancers.
I guess it sounds like when they, when they leave the Greek fest, they go on the road.
They wind up at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Comissi dancers.
Then they move on to Caesars Palace in Vegas after that for their residency.
Well, just the senior group does.
The junior group.
The Comissi dancers.
It just sounds like they go on the road after they get down with this.
And they're in full costume too.
And they're young kids and some kids that are a little bit older.
And it's fun to watch them.
They're very entertaining, Don.
I got to tell you one last thing about this.
I don't know if you watched Seinfeld.
It was an episode where George Costanza fell in love with this woman and she decided to join the Greek Orthodox Church.
And George is going to follow her there.
He wants to join.
And the priest at the Greek Orthodox Church is telling him, well, if you want to join the church, that's fine, but you've got to study and take a test.
And he says, why do you want to become a member of the Greek Orthodox Church?
And he looks at the priest as the hats.
I love the hats.
So he joins.
And then the woman leaves the church and goes somewhere to some other city.
And he's stuck at the church because he didn't want to.
He just was following her there with his hat with the hats.
I love the hats.
Typical typical George Costanza.
Oh, a quick review.
Greek Fest is this weekend happens once a year, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, this weekend, 5 p.m.
to 9 p.m.
Friday, noon to 9 on Saturday, Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.
And I go every year and not going to miss it this Sunday.
I'm going to go.
And I can't wait for the food.
I got to starve myself before I go there.
So I'm getting the pounds back.
Thank you very much, Tom.
My pleasure.
Thank you, Tom.
And you've been there for 40, how much?
About 45, 40 years.
Give or take 10 years.
Give or take 10 years.
Tom Savos.
And that's great.
I love going to there.
And it's so convenient.
Right around the block from the
radio station.
It's conveniently located.
Yeah, right there.
Right.
And again, it's on Highway 31 Green Bay Road, just about a block or two south of Highway 20.
Plenty of free parking, free admission.
Just get hungry and bring some food.
Bring the family.
Bring neighbors with you.
It's a great place to sit there and talk all day long.
I mean, there's no waiters and waitresses chasing you out from your table.
Just clean up after yourself.
That's all.
They have baskets there for you to clean up.
Thank you, Tom.
Thank you, Don.
Good seeing you, old friend.
Thank you.
I just showed a picture of you from 2014 when we were there at Green Fest.
Yes.
And the man in the picture was one of the priests who just passed away recently.
Yes,
Father John Ketchum, the
two of us
on the radio with you.
Yeah.
You look happy in the picture.
That's all it counts.
You look younger too.
Yeah, no glasses.
Well, you don't have gray hair.
Yeah, a little bit.
Not a lot.
Well, I don't have some hair.
Yeah.
I'd rather have the gray hair.
You've got plenty.
Don't worry about it.
Thank you, Tom.
Tom Savage from Greek Fest this weekend.
See you there.
Don't miss it.
See you there.
