Angelos Kontothanos became not only a friend but a brother in the family of Vasiliki and Sophia. After all, the friendship with their father, Yiannis Filippopoulos, has been going on for thirty years. To keep the memory of the nine-year-old girls alive, he decided to build a park in the green and built on the slopes of Oitis, Mavrolithari, where he himself comes from. With the consent of the father, who then in the deadly fire had shocked everyone in his attempt to find his two daughters.
“With the father of the little girls, we often went up to Mavrolithari. We did the same when we had our own families. After the damage done to Mati, I was trying to think of what I could do so that these children would not be forgotten. So I decided to create a park in their memory in the village that they loved so much, in the Amblas location,” says Mr. Kontothanos to the “Free Press”.
Day by day, the idea grew in his mind, and in 2019, a year after the tragedy, he started looking for ways to make it happen. “The then mayor gave us a 3.5-acre area in the village, which was unused. A pan-Hellenic fundraiser was also held, an account was opened through the Cultural Association of Apantachou Mavrolitharites, with the aim of collecting some money so that the park could begin to take shape. Some events and bazaars were also held along the way. People responded.”
The plans for the theme park, however, “froze” when the coronavirus pandemic reached our country. “Two years bogged down everything” says the initiator of the theme park for Sofia and Vasiliki.
When covid subsided, everything started all over again. “The money that we had saved then, the way life has become more expensive, is not worth the same as it is now, so we put forward again to raise a sum of money again and start. It took a new surveyor, new permits – the new mayor helped us a lot – drone shots to record the trees, the small rivers. Thus, at the beginning of last April, we started the first projects for the shaping of the space”.
In the meantime, with the money collected, timber worth 10,000 euros was purchased and the equipment is expected. “The park will be open to everyone, for families who want to visit it to calm down, have a picnic. What I want is for there to be two libraries in the area, and certainly a sign on which the connection of Vasiliki and Sophia with Mavrolithari is written”.
The Association of Mavrolitharites remains the supporter of the effort. As he says in “E.T. “the president of the Association Giorgos Tzouflas “we are continuing the work of the previous boards of directors who had embraced the idea from the beginning. Our goal is to create a space open and accessible to everyone that will honor the memory of the two girls.”
But the road is still long, as he adds, “any help, whether financial or through a donation of materials or an offer of work, is welcome.”
As Mr. Tzouflas revealed to us, the association’s thoughts include the creation of a graffiti in memory of Sofia and Vasiliki.
With everyone’s help
The bank account that has been opened by the Cultural Association of Apantachou Mavrolitharits for anyone who wants to contribute to the effort to create the park of Sophia and Vasiliki is:
Eurobank
IBAN: GR2402600340000730200997561
Beneficiaries: Cultural Association of Apantachou Mavrolitharits
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