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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.mp3
Turning 50: The History of the Burnaby Village Museum
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription18874
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 13 Sep. 2022
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 video recording (mp4) (100 min., 5 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 29 fps
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a video recording of a live Zoom webinar hosted by Burnaby Village Museum curator, Jane Lemke. The webinar is titled "Turning 50: The History of the Burnaby Village Museum". The webinar is the first in a series of six webinars presented in partnership by Burnaby Village Museum and …
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 video recording (mp4) (100 min., 5 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 29 fps
- Material Details
- Host: Jane Lemke
- Presenters: Deirdre Lott; Richard Lott; John Adams; Jim Wolf
- Date of Presentation: Tuesday, September 13, 2022. 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
- Total Number of tracks: 1
- Total Length of all tracks: 100 min., 5 sec.
- Recording Device: Zoom video communication platform
- Original recording of 100 min., 5 sec. was edited to 88 min., 43 sec. for viewing on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a video recording of a live Zoom webinar hosted by Burnaby Village Museum curator, Jane Lemke. The webinar is titled "Turning 50: The History of the Burnaby Village Museum". The webinar is the first in a series of six webinars presented in partnership by Burnaby Village Museum and Burnaby Public Library. The live webinar was also made available on the Burnaby Village Museum's facebook page. Community members were invited to participate by bringing questions during the interactive online sessions. In this webinar, Jane Lemke shares photographs and stories about the history of the Burnaby Village Museum as it turns 50 years old. Lemke and past staff talk about the early development of the Museum, large restoration projects throughout the years and recent initiatives to highlight histories of Burnaby's marginalized communities. In a pre-recorded interview, Richard and Deirdre Lott share their experiences as the first director and curator of Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum) when it opened in the 1970s. The interview is supported with photographs of the early days of the museum including original presentation drawings by Rudy Kovach, construction of the village, buildings and exhibits. The couple speak to the challenges of the time period including the acquisition of artifacts to create exhibits within the buildings. John Adams, former curator and executive director of Burnaby Village Museum between 1974 and 1979 shares his story and experiences over the years. John supports his talk with photographs of collections, exhibits, special events and programs during his time at Heritage Village. John talks about the acquisition of buildings and artifacts that were added to the site during his time as curator. Buildings mentioned include, the Village Church and Ofuro that were built on site and Bell’s Dry Goods, Tom Irvine’s house, the Royal Bank that were moved to the site. Artifacts mentioned include, contents purchased from the Way Sang Yuen Wat Kee & Co. Chinese Herbalist shop in Victoria to support a new exhibit inside Heritage Village, a steam donkey and saw mill equipment from the Anderson Sawmill in Powell River and the appraisal of the Lubbock farm house and buildings considered for acquistion. Jim Wolf shares a slide show of his personal experiences of being involved with the museum in the eighties and nineties. Jim begins his story with first being recruited as a teen volunteer in 1980. He speaks about the mandate that was introduced in 1980 to have a living “outdoor museum” of the lower mainland with a special emphasis on Burnaby with a static portion of the museum supported by collections of genuine Burnaby artifacts. Jim talks about his experiences as a staff member working with collections and exhibits, working as an education assistant helping to facilitate public programs and as a curatorial assistant to help catalogue artifacts. Jim also talks about his involvement with the Burnaby Historical Society, his contribution as a historic researcher in publishing local books on the history of Burnaby as well as his involvement in the Heritage Inventory of Burnaby in 1985 which help lead to the eventual acquisition and restoration of the Love farm house by the Burnaby Village Museum. In the last part of the presentation Jane Lemke speaks about the history of the museum over the last twenty years. Jane highlights some of the changes to the museum including the restoration of the Interurban Tram 1223, free admission to the site that was introduced for the 40th anniversary in 2011 and the renovation of the Chinese Herbalist shop exhibit. Following the presentation, Jane Lemke chats with the presenters about the evolution of the museum over the last 50 years and the group answers questions from the attendees.
- History
- Jane Lemke has worked in various museums in the Lower Mainland and has been the Curator at Burnaby Village Museum since 2019. Her educational background includes a Master of Arts degree in History and a Master of Museum Studies degree. Her research focus has been on trauma and memory and its role in shaping Canadian identity. She loves sharing memories and stories of Burnaby with the public. Jane sits on the Council of the BC Museums Association and is the Chair of the BC Museums Association Professional Development and Education Committee. Richard “Dick” Lott was the first director for Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum) when it opened in 1971. Dick worked as a designer for architecture firm, Hopping, Kovach and Grinnell who won the competition for the design of Heritage Village. Dick was hired to manage the project and then became an acting director of Heritage. Dick continued to work as director until the spring of 1972 when he returned to work for Hopping, Kovach, Grinell. Dick worked on various projects including; Museum of Anthropology working with Arthur Erickson; museum designer for the EXPO’86 pavilion and was the head of exhibits to build Science World after EXPO; project manager for the World’s Fair in Spain – Expo ‘92; Vancouver Aquarium (1960s); Communications Museum in Brantford, Ont.; International Science Centre in Amsterdam; National War Museum and his last project working in Hawaii for NASA. Deirdre (Stuckey Norman) Lott was hired in 1971 as the first curator for Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum) working under the direction of Richard Lott. Deirdre was first hired under the Corporation of the District of Burnaby’s Local Initiatives Program (LIP) and was a University of British Columbia graduate student who worked at Museum of Anthropology. Deirdre went on to work in Public Relations and Education in Museums and was the Public Program Coordinator for Museum of Vancouver. Deirdre Norman married Richard Lott in 1976. Deirdre left the Museum of Vancouver after their first child was born. Deirdre continued her career working as a freelance contractor in Continuing Education in Introductory Anthropology. John Adams has a BA in history from UBC and a Masters degree in Museology from the University of Toronto. He worked at Burnaby Village from 1974 to 1979, serving three years as Curator and two years as Executive Director. He then went to the Royal BC Museum as Provincial Museums Advisor before becoming a Manager with the BC Heritage Branch. Since 2000 he has operated Discover the Past, a heritage business in Victoria that specializes in historical research, writing and conducting walking tours and lectures. He also taught museum studies for twenty-eight years at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria. He is the author of seven books, most recently Chinese Victoria: A Long and Difficult Journey. Jim Wolf worked at the Museum starting in 1980, eventually holding many roles within the City of Burnaby and recently retired from his long serving role as the Senior Long Range Planner. He guided the city’s heritage program from 1989 and this year was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Heritage BC. As a historian and heritage consultant he has authored and contributed to award-winning books on Burnaby, New Westminster and historic architecture. He is currently working on a number of projects including a biography of architect Samuel Maclure and a book documenting the architectural design and construction history of Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, B.C.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Buildings - Civic - Museums
- Names
- Lott, Richard
- Lott, Deirdre Stuckey Norman
- Adams, John
- Wolf, Jim
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Century Park Museum Association
- Burnaby Historical Society
- Responsibility
- Lemke, Jane
- Accession Code
- BV022.27.1
- Date
- 13 Sep. 2022
- Media Type
- Moving Images
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
Images
Video
Turning 50: The History of the Burnaby Village Museum, 13 Sep. 2022
Turning 50: The History of the Burnaby Village Museum, 13 Sep. 2022
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Moving_Images/2022_0027_0001_002.mp4