The Church of the Annunciation, located at 175 Oaklawn Ave., celebrated what the Rev. Andrew George called a “double holiday” – Annunciation Day and Greek Independence Day – last Tuesday afternoon inside Cranston City Hall.

Every year, sometime around March 25, Mayor Allan Fung welcomes members of the Church of the Annunciation to City Hall, where he hosts an impressive and informative ceremony highlighted by the raising of the Greek flag.

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome our Greek community here to City Hall,” Fung told a large audience inside City Hall’s Council Chambers. “This is the eighth straight year we’ve been doing this. I personally look forward to this day every year as much as I do enjoy the fine food at the parish’s festival in September.”

Members of Annunciation’s famed Odyssey Dance Troupe, dressed in Greek costumes, recited poems and sang songs about the observance of Annunciation Day and Greek Independence Day under direction of Koula Rougas, the troupe’s co-director.

The ceremony also included the Pledge of Allegiance as well as the signing of the American and Greek national anthems, George’s address, and Fung’s welcoming remarks.

Fung was accompanied by Jeffrey Barone, director of constituent affairs, who noted: “This was an impressive ceremony as well as a history lesson of sorts.”

“March 25 is an important event on the Christian calendar,” George said. “It is the day upon which we commemorate the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the day upon which the Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary to inform her that she had been selected by God and would give birth to the Messiah, the Savor Jesus.”

George, who is the long-sitting pastor at Annunciation, then explained that Orthodox Christian parishes are always named after a particular Christian event or saint. Thus, the pastor went on: “Our parish in Cranston is named the Church of the Annunciation.”

Since 1821, March 25 has been a national holiday for the nation of Greece.

“It is the equivalent of July 4th in the USA,” George noted. “The nation of Greece was enslaved by the Ottoman Turks from 1453 to 1821 when the Greeks began their war of independence, which they won in 1830. Thus, March 25 has become a double holiday, that of Annunciation Day and Greek Independence Day.”

Once the indoor portion of the event was complete, the people went outside where Fung performed the official raising of the Greek flag along with several members of the Odyssey troupe, as proud parents and family members recorded the moment with their cameras.