Many of the most exciting cultural events in the Apokoronas region take place in the village of Tsivaras, which is just 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) from Gavalochori. Although the village has only about 140 residents, it is a dynamic cultural center in part because of super volunteer Kostas Vrontakis and the committee of the Cultural Association in Tsivaras. Kostas was born and still lives in Tsivaras, so he isn’t really a Gavalochori resident. But his large spirit extends over the whole Apokoronas region, so Gavalochori is quite happy to claim him, along with numerous other villages.
First, some basics: Kostas completed high school in Vamos, joined the army, and then began working at the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Chania. That led to a job at the Agricultural Water Company, where he still works in the accounting department. He also takes care of his olive groves, garden, and animals, and he and his wife Angeliki Sartzetaki have raised two children, Thanasis, who is in the army in Rhodes, and Argyroula, who is in junior high school.
On top of all of these activities, Kostas serves as the president of the Cultural Association of Tsivaras, a position he has held since its founding. Growing up in Tsivaras, Kostas appreciated that many of the 200 residents were interested in cooperatively addressing problems in the village. As an adult, however, he noticed that the few collective activities being done in the village were playing cards and backgammon at the café or taking walks together, and he began thinking that something collective and creative could be done to help the residents not only be entertained but to create better living conditions for the village. Working with others in Tsivaras, he established the Cultural Association in 1989.
The programs offered by the Cultural Association of Tsivaras are highly varied. They include open-air concerts of traditional Cretan music, theater performances such as Karagiozis shadow theater for children, cinema presentations, and lectures and discussions about local issues. The Association also sponsors yoga and Pilates classes; workshops on topics such as traditional breadmaking; and piano, violin, guitar, and flute lessons in cooperation with the Conservatory Eleftherios Venizelos of Chania.
Sometimes, the Cultural Association coordinates with nearby villages to sponsor larger events. Kostas hopes such collaborations build a spirit of solidarity among the villages and motivate them to work together to address mutual problems. With the village of Douliana, the Cultural Association sponsored a walk/run through the Livadoura Gorge that runs from Tsivaras to Douliana, and it joined with Douliana to put on a two-day rock festival. Concerts it sponsors outside the school in Vamos can attract as many as 4,000 spectators.
In the early years of the Cultural Association, one of the major activities was field trips for Tsivaras residents during the summer. At that time, there were people who had not traveled many places, and they were thirsty for such excursions. Three or four trips were offered each year, taking up to 85 Tsivaras residents all over Crete and to other islands such as Santorini, Paros, and Kythera. There is not much of a demand for such excursions now, although the Cultural Association still occasionally sponsors hikes through a gorge or more adventure-type excursions for young people.
The Cultural Association also is active politically and environmentally. Members of the Cultural Association used to clean the nearby beaches twice a year, picking up trash and then picnicking together. Its members also have opposed projects that its members believe will harm the surrounding area. In collaboration with other Cultural Associations in the area, for example, they opposed the building of a waste-transfer station that Apokoronas was trying to build in Tsivaras. They objected to the smell that would be spread throughout the area and to the many vehicles that would be passing through Tsivaras and nearby villages to unload garbage. At another time, they objected to a mobile phone tower than was going to be erected above the village. They also filed a lawsuit to stop the trespassing of forest land near the Church of Saint Anthony of Tsivaras.
Another focus of the Cultural Association is the restoration of historic sites in Tsivaras. Its members restored the Church of Saint Anthony of Tsivaras, the well, and the central square in Tsivaras. The most significant restoration project undertaken by the Cultural Association, however, was the reconstruction of the school, which is where many of the Cultural Association’s activities now take place. It had been closed for a decade when the Cultural Association was formed, and it was deserted and decrepit. There were donkeys and goats living in the school, and animal feed and hay were stored inside. In 2011, the municipality of Apokoronas, which is the owner of the school, deeded the school to the Cultural Association for 99 years. Members of the Cultural Association then went to work, replacing the roof, redoing the plaster inside, pouring floors, creating a basement, and building a basketball court. They received funding from the municipality, the region, the EU’s LEADER program that involves local actors in the development of rural areas as well as benefiting from the proceeds from the Cultural Association’s activities. One major benefit of the Cultural Association’s control of the school is that it can apply for financial support from entities such as the prefecture of Chania; the Ministry of the Interior; various European Union programs; and local companies such as ANEK Lines, the SYN.KA supermarket chain, and other prosperous businesses of the area.
The school is important not only as the site for the activities of the Cultural Association but because of the special role it has played in the history of the village. As Kostas explains, the “whole history of the village is in the school.” Before 1940, the school had one classroom, and in 1954, a second room was added, allowing it to serve as the school for both the villages of Tsivaras and Douliana. There were times during the 1950s when there were 70-80 children attending the school. By the 1970s, however, enrollment at the school had dropped to only 12-15 children, so they alternated year by year, one year attending school in Tsivaras, the following year in Kalives, and then back to Tsivaras. The school in Tsivaras closed permanently at the end of the 1977-1978 school year.
Kostas has many fond memories of attending school in Tsivaras. One teacher, who had a motorcycle, used it to take the 10-12 children in the class on excursions, often to the nearby village of Litsarda to see some wells there. All of the children would start walking toward Litsarda, and the teacher took one child at a time on his motorcycle, dropped that child off, and went back to pick up a second child. He kept doing that until all of the children were in Litsarda. (Can you imagine the issues about liability that school administrators would raise today around this creative transportation system?)
Kostas has been instrumental not only in developing cultural activities but sports activities as well. If children in Tsivaras or other nearby villages wanted to play organized sports, their parents had to drive them to Chania, so he organized a basketball tournament that ran for about a decade, drawing hundreds of children every year. That led to the founding of the Apokoronas Sports Association (TANOS) in 2016-2017, with the purpose of creating opportunities for young people to participate in sports throughout the Apokoronas region. One of the projects in which the Sports Association played a large part was the refurbishment of an unused gym in Vamos, where 120-130 children participate in volleyball and basketball and a men’s basketball team also plays.
But Kostas isn’t finished with creating sports opportunities in the area. Before he retires, he would like the Apokoronas region to have access to an indoor modern gymnasium that meets European standards. His vision is that it would cover 10-12 acres and include both indoor and outdoor courts that would enable all age groups to participate in track and field, basketball, and volleyball. Such a stadium would allow the organization of teams that could compete in tournaments around Crete. The Sports Association has managed to create basketball and chess teams that compete in tournaments and championships all over Crete, and a volleyball team is on the way. These very small efforts, Kostas believes, could grow substantially with a sports stadium. He also envisions such a stadium serving as the impetus for global development in the region, attracting people from other parts of Crete and other countries and providing activities in both summer and winter.
Kostas also has a vision for jumpstarting environmental education, educating young people on how to dispose of garbage properly, how to recycle, and how to care for the environment. He would like to see environmental education be a part of the curriculum in the schools in Apokoronas. He is disappointed that institutions in the region don’t seem inclined to tackle the problem because he believes that “everyone has a responsibility.”
Despite all of the successes Kostas has had in providing cultural and athletic opportunities for people in Tsivaras and other villages, he is afraid that many of the traditions and customs of Crete and Greece are in danger of being lost because of a lack of volunteers. For example, for the burning of Judas at Easter, he and two or three older Tsivaras residents collected the wood for the fire, which is something that children used to do eagerly. In large part because of technology, young people now rarely gather together but sit isolated in their houses, sending messages via their phones. As a result, they aren’t inclined to volunteer in community activities. Eventually, this lack of involvement will lead to the loss of local traditions like Klidonas or the burning of Judas at Easter.
At some point, Kostas will step down from his role as president of the Cultural Association, a position he has held for almost 35 years. But who will take over? Kostas is clear about what is needed to make cultural and other activities happen: “When you have the fortitude and the determination, you can make things happen. But you need to be clear, you need to be honest, and you need to be decisive.” Let’s hope this philosophy produces a new generation of leaders for the Apokoronas region when Kostas does decide to hang up his cape. In the meantime, take advantage of the fun, stimulating, and thought-provoking activities Kostas and the Cultural Association of Tsivaras continue to offer.
