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Interview with Georgia and Alex Chronakis
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription20395
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1934-2023] (interview content), interviewed 8 Nov. 2023
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recordings (wav) (41 min., 57 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (41 min., 57 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Georgia Chronakis and her son Alex Chronakis conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher James Binks on November 8, 2023. 00:00:00 - 00:08:39 Georgia and her son share biographical details about Georgia and her husband Louis Chronak…
- 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
- 1 sound recordings (wav) (41 min., 57 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (41 min., 57 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: James Binks Interviewees: Alex Chronakis and Georgia Chronakis Location of Interview: Fraser Wilson Room, Burnaby Village Museum Interview Date: November 8, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 41:57 Digital master recordings (wav) were converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Georgia Chronakis and her son Alex Chronakis conducted by Burnaby Village Museum researcher James Binks on November 8, 2023. 00:00:00 - 00:08:39 Georgia and her son share biographical details about Georgia and her husband Louis Chronakis, including their Greek background, migration to Canada, marriage, children, Louis’ career as a mechanic and gas station owner and owning restaurants in White Rock and Burnaby. 00:08:40 - 00:13:59 Georgia and her son Alex recall the great memories of owning and operating their restaurant Mionas Taverna and share details of their family life in Burnaby and White Rock. 00:14:00 - 00:19:15 Alex and Georgia talk about Louis Chronakis' work experience and how he became involved in the restaurant business. They share their experiences of operating Minoas Taverna including their opening in 1986. 00:19:16 - 00:36:59 Alex and Georgia describe some of the foods that were on the menu of Minoas Taverna, the design of the restaurant, the Minoan history that it’s based on, memories of running the restaurant and why they decided to close. 00:37:00 – 00:41:52 Alex talks about his involvement with Greek festivals in Vancouver and Alex and Georgia reflect on their life in the future now that the restaurant has closed.
- History
- Interviewees biographies: Georgia Giannias Chronakis was born in Selassia, Sparta, Greece in 1941 and when she was sixteen years of age she moved to Athens. In 1964 Georgia immigrated to Canada and lived in Montreal before moving to Vancouver a few years later. In 1966, while living in Vancouver, she met and married Ilias "Louis" Chronakis who was born in Crete, Greece. Soon after marrying, Georgia and Louis Chronakis bought a house located at 3823 Kingsway and welcomed their first child, Anna. Four years later, Georgia and Louis moved to White Rock but continued to own their house on Kingsway and rented it out. While living in White Rock, they had three more children named Virginia, Alex and Ellie. Louis was a trained mechanic working independently and for various companies including CP Air, BC Ferries and Esso before deciding to get into the restaurant business. He partnered with another businessman to open a Mr. Mike's franchise and later a cafe and Greek restaurant in White Rock. In 1986, Georgia, Louis and family moved back to Burnaby and moved into a house on Sandall Street and began converting their former home on Kingsway into a restaurant which they named Minoas Greek Taverna (Minoas Taverna). They opened the restaurant on May 1, 1986, just one day before Expo '86 was opened. In 2023, after 37 years of running their restaurant they sold their business but continued to own the land and building on Kingsway. Alex Chronakis is the son of Georgia and Louis Chronakis and was born in 1972. Alex has spent time working with his family running their restaurant and has been involved in the Greek Day Festival in Vancouver. 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
- Foods
- Occupations
- Occupations - Entrepreneurs
- Occupations - Mechanics
- Buildings - Commercial - Restaurants
- Buildings - Commercial - Service Stations
- Migration
- Persons - Greek Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Kingsway
- Smith Avenue
- Street Address
- 3823 Kingsway
- Accession Code
- BV023.16.21
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1934-2023] (interview content), interviewed 8 Nov. 2023
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Georgia and Alex Chronakis, [1934-2023] (interview content), interviewed 8 Nov. 2023
Interview with Georgia and Alex Chronakis, [1934-2023] (interview content), interviewed 8 Nov. 2023
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0021_002.mp3Cecil Lee business records series
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15033
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1970-1980, predominant 1970-1979
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Series
- Physical Description
- 12 cm of textual records + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of business records collected and created by Cecil Lee while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chinese mandarin oranges. Records include correspondence, photographs, documentation regarding …
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Julie Lee and Cecil Lee family fonds
- Description Level
- Series
- Physical Description
- 12 cm of textual records + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of business records collected and created by Cecil Lee while he was employed as a Produce Buyer for Kelly Douglas Limited and Western Commodities Limited and responsible for the import of Chinese mandarin oranges. Records include correspondence, photographs, documentation regarding travel within China along with export and import information, contracts, financial reports, credit applications, Chinese trade fair information and ephemera.
- History
- Kelly Douglas and Company Limited was founded in 1896 as a wholesale grocery business. In 1946, its headquarters moved from Vancouver to Burnaby and a manufacturing plant and warehouse were built on the site at 4700 Kingsway. During the nineteen seventies, Kelly Douglas and Company Limited and the Produce Department of Western Commodities Limited were located on this site. In 1986, the building was demolished and the produce department of Kelly Douglas was relocated to 6451 Telford Burnaby and the head office to 808 Nelson Street, Vancouver. In the nineteen seventies, Cecil Lee worked as a produce buyer for Kelly Douglas & Company Ltd.and Western Commodities. In the mid-1970s, Lee was asked to oversee the import of Chinese mandarin oranges into Canada. Until that time, mandarin oranges had come from Japan and were sold in the winter, especially at Christmas. When the Japanese market could no longer keep up with demand, Kelly Douglas & Company looked to China. The company relied on Lee’s cultural knowledge to build this very profitable part of their business. Cecil Lee designed the cardboard Chinese mandarin orange box to replace wooden container
- Subjects
- Foods
- Agriculture - Fruit and Berries
- Accession Code
- BV019.6
- Access Restriction
- Subject to FIPPA
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproductions subject to FIPPA
- Date
- 1970-1980, predominant 1970-1979
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of series
- A large portion of these records are subject to FIPPA, contact Burnaby Village Museum for access