HOLY OOM PAH PAH - GREEK FESTIVAL
By Duncan
With my theatrical training, “Oom Pah Pah'' relates to the film and play “Oliver.” The song “Oom Pah Pah'' is a rather risque depiction of the seedy side of life. I get really confused when I put “Oom Pah Pah” together with the Greek Festival at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral. This is in conflict with my conservative Baptist upbringing. Just saying.
Father Gregory Hohnholt is advertising that there will be Greek music, Greek dancing, and Greek cuisine, and who doesn’t like Greek cuisine?
Are we talking Gyros? And I’m assuming there would be a little Oom Pah Pah. I’m hoping for a little Oom Pah Pah. There is no cost to attend this wild and crazy affair. It is advertised as Free.
As Jack, my Personal and Very Close Friend in Milwaukee, knows. “Free” is one of my favorite four-letter words.
Before beginning this story, I must share one of my only experiences with two Greek Orthodox parishioners. I was a wedding photographer from 1990 - 2000. I was asked to photograph a middle-aged couple who would get married in a small Greek church on West 16th Street, Indianapolis.
This is the only wedding I photographed in the Greek tradition. Things went smoothly as planned. The Greek wedding has a couple of things they do differently that I was unfamiliar with, but overall, it was my pleasure to offer them a wedding album with their wedding pictures. Everyone was happy.
A month later, I heard a knock at my door. I opened the door, and the bride from the Greek wedding stood on my front porch. I invited her in, and she got straight to the point. She wanted her money back and had all the wedding photographs with her.
I was surprised, as I did an excellent job photographing their wedding. What could I have done to cause this to happen? No one has ever come to my home and demanded their money back.
She justified her request by telling me that she and her new husband have divorced, and she no longer needs wedding pictures and wants her money back.
I will admit I wanted to laugh. Is this a joke? The look on her face told me she was on a mission. No smoking and joking here. She is insistent.
I went into marketing mode. I’m no longer the lovable wedding photographer who wants to please; I’m now a businessman. If I remember, I was thinking, this could hurt my reputation if I don’t give her her money back.
But this woman standing before me was not the same woman I had photographed during the wedding. This woman was a little off track. And in my mind, I wanted to know who or what pulled the trigger on this happy couple. I had my own sorted ideas as I listened to her rant. This woman is a piece of work.
Then, on the other side of the equation, I have never heard a photographer in my Professional Photographers Meetings Group tell me they had a client who wanted their money back because they got a divorce. This was a tough few moments. I finally escorted the lady to the front door and told her, “No wedding cake, no returns.”
On the way to the GreekFest, I couldn’t get this woman out of my mind. I noticed a lot of cars parked on the side streets, and I wondered why. I got to the location, and there before we was a big sign, “Five dollars to park.
“What do I do, Jack?”
The Mean Yellow low-slung Solstice GXP struggled through the open grassy field. I found a place to park and walked to the Cathedral. Wow, this building is huge.
The Festival was as promised; they had Greek food, beer and wine, music, dancing, and entertainment. Not quite like the Baptist Festivals, I remember going to when I was growing up. Oh, that’s right, Baptists don’t believe in Festivals with beer or wine; they don’t believe in dancing. And I don’t remember ever attending a single American or Southern Baptist Festival. That’s because Baptists don’t have Festivals.” But I digress.
The parking lots around the Cathedral had tents, a big portable stage with guys playing live Greek music, games, dancing, tables and chairs everywhere. I grabbed a Gyro and a drink from a big container of ice. I found a seat at a table and began to watch the crowd as I ate my Gyro.
As I walked around, I noticed a Carmel Police officer standing by himself with his arms folded in front of him. He was wearing shorts but had all the equipment most cops have on their bodies. He, of course, was hired by the Cathedral and was looking for anyone who might cause trouble. (I assume.) Anyway, I walked up to the stone-faced, non-approachable policeman and asked,
“How many people do you think are here tonight?”
“I have no idea.”
“My first time at this event, nice crowd.”
“You might ask the people in the ID and ticket tent; they might know.”
I took a chance and suggested we both walk over and ask the attendance numbers by offering my arm as if to say, “Go with me.”
Much to my surprise, the Cop followed me over to the tent. They were selling raffle tickets and doing ID’s for the younger people who wanted to drink beer and wine. Three young women were in the tent, and as “we,” the Cop and Myself approached. I felt they became a little paranoid that we were looking for something to complain about or find something wrong with their operation.
“Hi, my Personal and Very Close Friend and I (meaning the cop) were wondering how many people were here tonight.”
One of the gals said, “I don’t know, we don’t keep track of the numbers.”
“Are there more people here tonight than last year?”
“Why do you want to know?”
A middle-aged woman in a fishing hat approached the booth and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Relax, I’m nobody. I’m an old retired mortgage banker, and I like numbers. All I asked was how many people were here tonight. I’m not from the IRS, I’m not from the press, I’m just asking a casual question. Of course, the real reason is … My friend here (Meaning the cop) just wants to get a handle on his 10%.”
With a smile, the policeman raised his hands in the air as if to say, “That’s not true.”
The woman in the fishing hat stepped aside and indicated she wanted me to step aside with her.
“Are you nuts? Are you really interested? Is that the truth?”
“Look, it is obvious you are doing this Greek Festival fifty years in a row to generate interest and income for the church.”
“We call it a Cathedral.”
“Okay, you’re making money to support the Cathedral. Teach me what I don’t know.”
She looked up at me and paused for a few moments. Then she said, “Follow me.”
She walked to the Cathedral, and we entered through a small side door that said, Exit Only.
The building includes a 55-foot-diameter dome that weighs more than 50 tons. It was constructed on the ground and lifted by three cranes to the top of the building.
I asked the hat lady her name. She said, “Teresa.”
Teresa started giving me the details of the building. The 20 acres of the ground the Cathedral is sitting on were purchased in 1998. It took a few years to start construction. They began construction in 2006 and finished by the end of 2008. The cost of the building was $7.3 million dollars. The architect (Christ Kamages) followed many design elements of a building completed in 537, in Constantinople (Istanbul).
It was also designed to face Jerusalem and the rising sun. It is one of the largest Orthodox Church domes in the Western Hemisphere.
Who knew we had a building like this right here in our community.
I asked Teresa what she did for a living. She works in the cancer care area of the Indiana University Hospital. She teaches Sunday School and is married with a couple of kids. Busy lady.
I wanted to photograph the inside of the building.
As I did, I noticed Teresa talking to the Priest. Is he a Pastor or a Presbyter? I wasn't sure. So I walked over, and Teresa introduced me to the Dean of the Cathedral, Father Gregory Hohnholt.
I, of course, said, “Nice to meet you, Father. Teresa is trying to convert this Baptist boy to Greek Orthodoxy.”
“How is she doing?”
“Well, I’m impressed with her enthusiasm.”
After an awkward moment, I asked The Father if he would be good enough to take a picture of Teresa and me with my cell phone.
“It would be my pleasure.”
Photograph courtesy of Father Gregory Hohnholt, who attended seminary at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2004. He was ordained a priest on June 13, 2004, by Metropolitan Isaiah at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Dallas, TX, where he served the Holy Trinity community from June 2004 until March 2008. In March 2008, he was transferred to serve under the Omophorion of Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit. He was assigned to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Nashville, TN, serving there from March 2008 until September 2019. Father Hohnholt now serves the community of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Carmel, IN.
I thanked the Father and asked if he could put in a good word for me.
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