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Interview with Jenny Siormanolakis

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19635

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1960-2023] (interview content), interviewed 26 Jul. 2023

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum fonds

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 2 sound recordings (wav) (87 min.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (86 min., 51 sec.)

Scope and Content: Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Jenny (Eugenia) Siormanolakis conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, James Binks on July 26 2023. 00:00-12:02 Interview opens with introductions. Jenny Siormanolakis shares details about her parents Eugene and Europe Siormanola…

1 document 1 audio

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum fonds

Series: Museum Oral Histories series

Subseries: Many Voices Project Interviews subseries

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 2 sound recordings (wav) (87 min.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (86 min., 51 sec.)

Material Details: Interviewer: James Binks Interviewee: Jenny (Eugenia) Siormanolakis Location of Interview: Prado Cafe, 4321 Still Creek Dr., Burnaby Interview Date: July 26, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 2 Total Length of all Tracks: 01:26:60 Digital master recordings (wav) were recorded onto two separate audio tracks, edited and merged together and converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby Ambient sound from cafe in background of interview

Scope and Content: Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Jenny (Eugenia) Siormanolakis conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, James Binks on July 26 2023. 00:00-12:02 Interview opens with introductions. Jenny Siormanolakis shares details about her parents Eugene and Europe Siormanolakis who were both born in Greece and immigrated to Vancouver. Jenny provides details about the history of Romana Pizza restaurant including; the restaurant partners, the various locations, her father’s work ethics of running the restaurant and the staff who worked there. Jenny provides details about her father's life, his ancestral background and family relations which lead him to immigrate to Vancouver. Jenny shares childhood memories of helping out in her parents’ restaurant and later working there. 12:03 – 26:41 Jenny describes various food dishes that have been on the menu of Romana Pizza and Steak House and Romana Pizza, how they've evolved over time, how her father learned to cook traditional Greek food and develop his own recipes and where he sourced his restaurant food supplies. Jenny conveys how they used social media to advertise the restaurant, describes the election pizza poll that Romana Pizza held during the federal and provincial elections and a baby poll that was held at the restaurant to guess the weight of her and her sister’s babies. 26:42 – 31:47 Jenny talks about her marriage and recollects how she got married in a civil ceremony at Romana Pizza. Jenny talks about her family life while her family was running the restaurant, their decision to sell the restaurant and describes the last days of running the restaurant. 31:48 – 46:33 Jenny conveys the background story of her business “Granpa J’s”. Jenny describes how her uncle Jimmy Voulides, created his own seasoning salt product and after he died in 2003, Jenny and her sister Nora purchased the business. Jenny describes how they developed their business, created new products, their struggles and how they became successful. Jenny describes how their products have been developed from family recipes and recalls how the actor Ryan Reynold’s helped their products become even more successful overnight. 46:34 – 55:38 Jenny talks about different community festivals and events that she’s been involved with including; Greek Day on Broadway (Vancouver) and the Hats Off Day event in North Burnaby. Jenny shares the background history of Greek Day in Vancouver and information about other Greek community events. Jenny talks about the importance of bringing the community together and the importance of knowing the history of your ancestors and where they came from. 55:39 - 1:04:35 Jenny talks about her involvement with the Greek community newspaper “Gnome” and provides details about; the former creator and editor Kostas Karatsikis, the newspaper's content, it's importance in the Greek community and the distribution. Jenny describes some of the articles that she’s written for the Gnome newspaper. 1:04:36 - 1:14:12 Jenny describes some pivotal moments that occurred over the years at Romana Pizza including; placing second in the Vancouver Sun newspaper contest for Best Pizza (1986) and having members of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team frequent their restaurant. Jenny conveys how the restaurant benefited from having a website and using social media as a marketing tools. 1:14:13 - 1:22:42 Jenny talks about her involvement with Kolanki Group West, Euro Find foods and her passion for Greek food and other European foods. Jenny describes some traditional Greek recipes, family recipes, talks about marketing Grandpa J's products and reflects on the menu of Romana Pizza. 1:22:43 - 1:26:51 Jenny reflects on the role of the Greek community, how food plays a roll, the future of the Greek community in Vancouver and Burnaby and the importance of engaging the younger generation. In closing Jenny provides a quote from an article that she wrote “Forgive the mistakes of the past, let it go and realize that we are all equals...”.

History: Interviewee biography: Eugenia "Jenny" Siormanolakis is the daughter of Eugene and Europe Siormanolakis. Jenny’s father, Eugene Siormanolakis immigrated to Canada from Greece in the late 1960’s and her mother Europe Siormanolakis immigrated in 1973. In April 1973, her father and five partners opened the restaurant “Romana Pizza and Steak House” (later renamed "Romana Pizza") located at 4660 Hastings Street in the Burnaby Heights neighbourhood. Jenny and her sister Eleanora Iliakis spent much of their childhood in the family owned restaurant and also worked at the restaurant as they become older. Jenny’s parents continued to own and operate the restaurant until 2014 when they decided to retire from the business. In 2004, an opportunity arose for Jenny and her sister Eleanora to buy their recently deceased uncle’s business Grandpa J’s Seasoning Inc. They launched their business of “Grandpa J’s” seasoning first selling to local restaurants and eventually adapted their product line to include other Greek seasoning products which they developed from their own recipes. They expanded their clientele to include retail outlets and in 2020, they got a boost to their sales when actor Ryan Reynolds promoted their seasoing product "Vancity Grind" on Instagram. Since launching their business they have been featured in many culinary and business publications and were nominated in 2022 as finalists for Product of the Year by BC Food and Beverage. Jenny is extremely passionate about food, her Greek heritage and is an advocate for food security for children and seniors and mental health. Interviewer biography: James Binks has lived in the Lower Mainland since 2009 after relocating from Ontario. James holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia, where he conducted researched on heritage, environment, and globalization in India, Nepal, and Italy. At Burnaby Village Museum, James contributed to the exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”.

Creator: Burnaby Village Museum

Subjects: Buildings - Commercial - Restaurants; Businesses; Elections; Foods; Migration; Occupations - Entrepreneurs; Persons - Greek Canadians

Names: Gnome Publications; Iliakis, Eleonara Siormanolakis; Karatsikis, Kostas "George"; Siormanolakis, Eugenia "Jenny"; Nikolaidis, "Eleni"; Nikolaidis, Stelios; Romana Pizza; Siormanolakis, Eugene; Siormanolakis, Europe; Voulides, Demetrios "Jimmy"

Responsibility: Binks, James

Geographic Access: Hastings Street

Street Address: 4660 Hastings Street

Accession Code: BV023.16.13

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [1960-2023] (interview content), interviewed 26 Jul. 2023

Media Type: Sound Recording

Historic Neighbourhood: Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Heights Area

Notes: Title based on contents of item; Transcription available on Heritage Burnaby

Documents

2023_0016_0013_004

Audio Tracks

Interview with Jenny Siormanolakis, [1960-2023] (interview content), interviewed 26 Jul. 2023

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0013_003.mp3

Pioneer home

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription9713

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [September 1969]

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. ; 9.0 x 9.0 cm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a pioneer home, built in 1910 at the corner of Gilmore Avenue and Parker Street.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. ; 9.0 x 9.0 cm

Material Details: Handwritten text in black ink on back of photograph reads: "Pioneer Home. built in 1910. / corner of Gilmour Ave & Parker st / - Burnaby. 2. B.C. / This picture was taken in Sept. / 1969. Resident at that time / Bill Lambe. auto-worker." Handwritten text in blue ink on back of photograph reads: "(A Bingham / March 11 1971)".

Scope and Content: Photograph of a pioneer home, built in 1910 at the corner of Gilmore Avenue and Parker Street.

Other Title Information: Title based on contents of photograph.

Names: Bingham, Alfred "Alf"; Lambe, Bill

Accession Code: HV976.46.6

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [September 1969]

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Willingdon Heights Area

Scan Resolution: 600

Scan Date: 2023-06-20

Photographer: Bingham, Alfred "Alf"

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph

Images

Pioneer home, [September 1969] thumbnail

Toothpick stump at Gilmore Ave and Parker St

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription737

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1924]

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 11.5 x 6.9 cm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a man sitting near the top of a giant tree stump at Willingdon Heights. According to an accompanying note prepared by Burnaby Village Museum and supported by the inscription on the photograph, the stump was at the southeast corner of Parker Street and Gilmore Avenue in the Willingdon…

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 11.5 x 6.9 cm

Material Details: Annotations on the front of the photograph read: "Gilmour & Parker. South. 1924" and "Toothpick Stump." An annotation on the back of the photograph reads, "Wide - 98 inch at TOB [sic - top] / Ground level 25 feet / SE corner of Parker & Gilmour / March 11 1971 / A Bingham."

Scope and Content: Photograph of a man sitting near the top of a giant tree stump at Willingdon Heights. According to an accompanying note prepared by Burnaby Village Museum and supported by the inscription on the photograph, the stump was at the southeast corner of Parker Street and Gilmore Avenue in the Willingdon Heights district.

Subjects: Plants - Trees

Names: Bingham, Alfred "Alf"

Geographic Access: Parker Street; Gilmore Avenue

Accession Code: HV976.46.3

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [1924]

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Willingdon Heights Area

Scan Resolution: 600

Scan Date: 2023-06-20

Photographer: Bingham, Alfred "Alf"

Notes: Title based on caption of photograph

Images

Toothpick stump at Gilmore Ave and Parker St, [1924] thumbnail

Tree stump at Willingdon Heights

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription736

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1924]

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 6.9 x 11.5 cm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a woman standing by a giant tree stump in Willingdon Heights. According to an accompanying note prepared by BVM and supported by the inscription on the photograph, the stump was at the southeast corner of Parker Street and Gilmore Avenue in the Willingdon Heights district. It is likel…

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 6.9 x 11.5 cm

Material Details: Annotations on the front of the photograph read: "Gilmour & Parker St South 1924" and "Willingdon Heights." An annotation on the back of the photograph reads, "25 feet at ground level / (A Bingham) March 11 1971." Stamped on the back of the photo: "457."

Scope and Content: Photograph of a woman standing by a giant tree stump in Willingdon Heights. According to an accompanying note prepared by BVM and supported by the inscription on the photograph, the stump was at the southeast corner of Parker Street and Gilmore Avenue in the Willingdon Heights district. It is likely that the woman in the picture is Ada Bingham, wife of Alfred Bingham who took the picture.