A lot of Campbelltown residents would know Arthur Panoutsopoulos at least by sight.
They would have seen him behind the counter of his family business, Kings Charcoal Chicken in Queen Street.
Arthur would be busy lifting the massive skewers holding half a dozen chooks cooking on the charcoal as the rest of the family worked the front of the counter serving a long line of customers.
But last October even more people from Campbelltown and surrounding districts got to know Arthur Panoutsopoulos.
That’s because he was given the honour of officially opening last year’s 24 Hour Fight Against Cancer, a tremendously popular local fundraiser.
In an emotional speech, Mr Panoutsopoulos revealed that not only had he lost a brother to pancreatic cancer but that he himself was battling prostate cancer.
Last Saturday night, he attended a gathering of local residents of Greek background and when the traditional Greek dances started, Arthur was the first man up on the dance floor.
As far as Greek dancing went, Arthur Panoutsopoulos was the star at the Macarthur Greeks Inc Taverna Night.
This was the first ever such event where local Greeks connected in such a way.
Close to 150 people, representing most of Campbelltown’s suburbs and beyond attended the event at the Glen Alpine community centre.
And while Arthur Panoutsopoulos was a bundle of infectious energy on the dance floor, so was the performance of the Greek dance group Seismos (earthquake), whose mostly young members hail from south west Sydney.
A traditional Greek band entertained throughout the night, while the Greek food – slow cooked lamb and potatoes, Greek salad, taramosalata and tzatziki – were given the thumbs up around the tables.
A Sydney based Greek newspaper called Neos Kosmos (New World) even sent journalists and a photographer to cover the event.
One of the founders of Macarthur Greeks Inc, John Tsekas, of Leumeah, declared the night a big success and promised there would be many more activities in the future.
To find out more about Macarthur Greeks Inc visit their website here.
