FLASHBACK TO 1924: Bristol Confectioner Pays For School In Greece

A regular feature looking back at what was being printed close to 100 years ago in the former Bristol Daily Courier. This week’s entry comes from the January 25, 1924 edition of the newspaper.

Mill Street Confectioner Pays For School In Greece

Prompted by a desire to aid children of his native land and to give to the people of Greece, an opportunity which he did not have, a well known Bristol merchant has donated the entire cost of a school building for Tsernesi, County of Zagorlow, Greece.

Basil Pappajian, the Mill Street confectioner and ice cream dealer, while he is rather reluctant to speak for publication of his charity, nevertheless, stated that the report was true and that he is paying the full cost for a school in the town of his birth.

“They need a school over there,” he said and a sad look came into his eyes as he thought of the poverty and the lack of healthy and proper care of the desolate children of that section

“In 1921 when the Turks invaded this little town of Tsernesi, they laid waste many of houses, burned the crops, and massacred many of the inhabitants. Since then there has been a great number of orphans and these children have not had the proper education and training because in the invasion.”

“I have often thought how I could help them,” he said, “and the idea of a school came to me. I got in touch with the Commissioner of Education of that Country and had plans sent over to me for a modern school. The plans were approved and then sent back A short time afterward, the architect’s drawings were sent to me, bearing the official seal of the Greek Department of Education.”

Exhibiting a sketch of the plans: “Here,” he said, as he pointed to two large rooms, “are the two class rooms – one for the boys and one for the girls. They are equipped with everything necessary for the continuation of classes. The rooms are large enough to accommodate all the children in the village. In the rear will be the offices and dormitories. Off to one side, the gymnasium will be located and all this space,” as he indicated the ample territory shown by the drawling, “will be the playground. Everything is complete The school is situated upon a slight hill which overlooks the town. The school itself rests with the rear perched on the top of the hill and the front resting on its stone foundations along the incline. This necessitated the building of several flights of marble stairs, but It will make it look more beautiful.

“Oh the misery over there,” he claimed, “no one can express it Their suffering is intense and they have no place to go for warmth or learning. Now, I hope, they will have a building where they can learn to read and write and study in peace.”

Asked whether the school would be open to only a certain group, he immediately replied that the school would be free to all those who wished to attend.

He also stated that work was being rushed so that the children would be able to start in the beginning of the term.

“I hope that it will be ready by September so that the children can go to school at the same time that the children in this country are starting.”

The school will bear Mr. Pappajian’s name on a bronze tablet near the main doorway and the school will be dedicated as soon as it is competed.