Vicky Floris is one of our honorary ES members, a custodian in Brock Hall and a UBC employee since 1986.
Vicky is very involved in the Greek community here in Vancouver and is looking forward to another year volunteering for Vancouver Greek Summerfest, a ten day festival that runs from Thursday June 26 – Sunday July 6, 2014.
Vicky mentioned the festival to me the other day and I thought writing about it here was a great opportunity to introduce everyone to Vicky and help spread the word about this amazing festival that she’s been a part of since 1978.
Visiting the festival
Vancouver Greek Summerfest runs for ten days around the July long weekend on the grounds of the Saint Nicholas & Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church. The festival is family friendly and free to attend.
To Vicky, the heart of the festival is the food, which she has lovingly prepared, cooked, baked and served for many years – she recommends the roast lamb dinner or, for vegetarians, the spanakopita dinner. But, there are also cultural performances from Greece, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, and Poland, in addition to several church tours each day.
The festival is run entirely by volunteers and the proceeds from food sales support the Saint Nicholas & Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek Community of East Vancouver Society as well as a number of other Canadian registered charities.
About Vicky
Vicky grew up in the city of Patras, Greece and moved to Vancouver in 1972. She came to visit siblings, fell in love with Vancouver and never looked back. Her love of cooking and food was inherited from her father and mother who ran a restaurant together throughout Vicky’s childhood.
Reminiscing fondly on family restaurant life, Vicky remembers being ten years old and heading to the restaurant after school to “peel eight pails of potatoes, eat dinner at the restaurant, then walk home to finish my homework.”
She worked in restaurants her entire life until she began her career at UBC. When she first moved to Vancouver, she worked in the kitchen of her brother-in-law’s restaurant, at which point she swore she would never marry someone in the restaurant business.
A few years later, she met her husband who, it turns out, owned a restaurant. And together, they opened two more.
Vicky maintains her passion for food and the local Greek community through her tireless work with Vancouver Greek Summerfest giving “whatever help is needed.”
If you get the chance to check out the festival, keep an eye out for Vicky serving up some amazing Greek food! And if you see her around Brock Hall, make sure to say hi and ask her about the fest.