Contents
Around Town
We are Sailing!
Hey, guess what?! During the summer months, Rethymnon is going to have a ferry connection with the Peloponnese. The Vicenzo Kornaro ferry will leave Rethymnon on Saturday afternoon for Kithyra and then on to Kalamata, where it will dock just before midnight. It will make an immediate return for Rethymnon where it will arrive at around
10am (Sunday). And on the way back, once again there will be a stop in Kythira.
But what about our own Rethymnon ferry? Well, it’s not easy. The co-operative company Cretan Lines has just had elections for a new board of directors. The promise is to continue efforts to achieve the goal of a direct ferry link between Rethymnon and Piraeus. Other than the general financial crisis, which is of course not helping the effort, directors have also still been waiting (since December 2008!) for an amendment to the law which will allow the price of shares in the company to be reduced from €500 to €100.
Sporting Roundup
As we were going to press the Rethymnon’s women’s basketball team was in Athens taking part in the play-offs to get one of the two available tickets to play in the A2 national league next season. It will be a tough call, as the Rethymnon team is a very young one, and preparation has been rather erratic as most of the players had to study for their school exams! The team is full of youthful energy, but lacks the experience that would come in handy in the play-off tournament. However, at the half-way stage of the play-offs they were in a very good position having won both of their games against the teams of Lesbos and Patras. Come on girls, you can do it!
The 26th Vardinoyiannia International Athletics meeting will take place on July 7th at the Stadium in Gallou. The event kicks off at 15.15 with the hammer throw competition for women. At 17.10 the official opening ceremony will take place after which the meeting starts in full earnest. On offer is a great selection of track and field events. As we haven’t heard of any changes to the ticketing policy, we assume that the entrance to this fantastic meeting is still free.
Rethymnon Aegean, the men’s basketball team are very busy looking for a new coach. They have set their eyes on a return of Stergios Koufos. ‘Who he?’ you may ask, well he is the ‘architect’ of AGOR and was the one in charge when they played the Greek Cup final against Panathinaikos. Apparently there have been several meetings but there is no definite answer yet. And he is also waiting to hear from a team from the A1 division, which would be an attractive job prospect, some might say.
There is absolutely no news on the local football front; must assume they are all watching the World Cup.
As was the case in the last two years, the municipality has provided beach sports facilities on the Old Town beach section. They include two beach volley courts, a beach football pitch, and an open-air chess area. This month also sees the second year for the Rethymnon International Chess Tournament. From the 13th until the 20th July chess players from all over Europe will be competing for the Rethymnon trophy. The tournament takes place in the House of Culture, and on most days competition will start at 5.30pm. For more info, visit the http://www.daor.gr/index.php?chessen website.
Some Good News for Health Care!
The Volunteer Outreach Clinic in Rethymnon could be considered to be somewhat of a unique setup in Greece in its attempt to try and give free medical care to those the state system does not provide for. The cost of providing this free service is quite considerable. Although doctors and nurses volunteer their time, medication and equipment has to be paid for. Funding is provided by grants from the Rethymnon municipality, the Prefecture and donations from the public. When times are difficult, getting the money can be problematic. And times are a bit difficult right now. So the mayor, Giorgos Marinakis, got in touch with the Alexander S. Onassis Benefit Foundation with a request for a donation and hey presto, the board of the Foundation recognised the social and medical benefits of the clinic and approved an immediate donation of €20,000 for the purchase of essential equipment. We think this is a really, really good thing!
