The most beautiful garden in
Paphos By Bejay Browne
Paphos
municipality is running a spring competition, to find the
most beautiful garden in Paphos and are asking participants
to send in photos of their gardens. A spokesman from
Paphos municipality said: “We would like people to pick the
best photo of their garden, and showcase their talent for
gardening and love of greenery, flowers and nature. Prizes
are a cruise, an air ticket to Athens and a voucher from a
nursery.”
The competition is open to people residing
within the municipal boundaries of Paphos and participants
should send one digital photograph of their garden to:
cultural.service@pafos.org.cy with their name, address where
the garden is, the subject of the photo and a contact phone,
he said. This should be done from May 3rd until May 10th.
“From May 10th to May 17th, all of the photos will be posted
on the Paphos Municipality Facebook, without the name of the
sender, so that the public can vote for the best,” he said.
Between May18th to May 23rd, the ten photos with the most
likes will be picked and will remain on the municipality
Facebook page for the public to vote for the best among
them. A special jury will then conduct site visits to
each of the 10 finalist gardens individually, between May
24th to May 27th, to ascertain the authenticity of the
photos and form their own view of the competing site.
Subsequently, the results of the visit and the result from
Facebook will be added up (40% will count the ‘likes’ on
Facebook and 60% the jury score), this will result in the
top three places. The three winners of the competition
will be announced and awards will be presented, after the
Anthesteria Flower Parade, which will take place on Sunday,
May 29th at Poseidonos Avenue in Kato Paphos.
For
more information contact the Cultural Service of the
Municipality of Paphos on 26822218 and 26935523.
STAR SHORT MAT BOWLING
FANTASTIC!
The only word to describe our first Charity Day held on 9th
April. 90 bowlers from all 5 clubs on the island
participated in group matches throughout the day. It was a
great achievement that all 52 matches played in the
tournament ran to time. We managed to raise 2, 275 Euros on
the day.
This money will be equally divided between
our nominated charities The Friends Hospice Foundation
Paphos and the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society.
Thanks
must go to all Star members who worked so hard in the weeks
leading up to the event and on the day. Their generosity and
commitment ensured that the various stalls were well stocked
and help was available for setting up, moving mats,
timekeeping and faultless results updating. Everyone
involved deserves a big pat on the back for helping to
ensure that the Charity Day was such a big success.
The number of players on the day necessitated more mats than
we had at the time so our thanks are also expressed to
Shogun for the loan of two mats and associated equipment on
the day.
We would also like to thank our sponsors who
donated gifts and prize vouchers. These included Chris Parry
from 3D Global, Thessaloniki Tavern, Railway Inn, Andry’s
Hair Salon, Atlantica Oasis Hotel, U.K.C.A., Neo’s, Kolios,
koh-i-noor, Poppadums, Coco’s, Michelle Monk, Revival, Hair
by Tracy, Computer SOS and Mario’s in Tala.
Following the day’s activities, a wonderful buffet meal was
provided by the owners & staff at the Star Restaurant that
was enjoyed by all 92 bowlers and friends who gathered for a
little R&R. The raffle alone with 32 prizes raised 542 Euros
towards our total grand amount. Colinz Rocking the Country
provided the live entertainment and despite some tired legs
managed to get quite a few on the dance floor. Many thanks
to all at the Star (Demitris, Chris etc) who worked so hard
during the day and evening assisting us in so many ways.
Either side of the actual Charity Day we played our 10s
matches against the two Mimosa teams.
On Friday 8th
April our team played 2 matches against Mimosa Sharks
winning all 8 games played. On Sunday 10th April we played
Mimosa Dolphins and secured 2 wins and 1 draw in the 8 games
played. Well done to all who played some enjoyable and close
games.
Check out the website for up to date
information on the 10s and other in-house competitions.
Website address is:- www.starshortmatbowlingcyprus.com
The final of the 2-Bowl drawn Mixed Pairs competition
was played on 27th March. Maria Milligan and Peter
Bullivant secured a comfortable win (20-4) against Becky
Holt and Derek Lemon. Well done to the winners and all
players who participated in the competition.
The
Frances and Norman Trophy (Drawn Mixed Triples) competition
is well underway and has reached the semi-final stage. The
first semi-final will see Team A (Derek Lemon, Malcolm
Hughes & Linda Maidment) against Team B (Geoff Tilebrook,
Ronaldo Foster & Gwyn Dickinson). Second semi will be Team G
(Chris Collins, Bren Dickinson & Larraine Perry) up against
Team E (Pam Tilebrook, Beverley Smith & Nigel Stead).
We now meet 6 times a week including Monday and Tuesday
evening sessions which have proved to be successful and well
supported. Several new- to-short mat bowls players are
attending the evening sessions, getting to know the game and
honing their skills before joining in some of the daytime
sessions.
Why not give it a try? Just turn up at any
advertised bowling session, watch to see what it’s all about
or join in and have a go. No pressure and we welcome any new
players. You can be sure of a warm, friendly welcome at any
time even if you’ve never bowled before but think it could
be something for you. Give it a go, meet some new friends
and enjoy yourself.
Many thanks for the cakes
provided by John Harold on 15th April to celebrate his 69th
Birthday. Went down a treat with our half-time drinks.
Colin has now had his replacement hip operation and is
up & about with his walking stick. No doubt he’ll be back on
the mats before we know it. Keep up the good work Colin and
hope you’ll be bowling again soon.
Star Short Mat
Bowling Club is a non-profit making organisation with
accrued funds being donated to the various charities as
agreed by the members. Come along and join us sometime.
Please contact Paul on 97787484 or Sue on 99952142 for
further details and information about any regular scheduled
games.
Sunday: 9.30am for 10.00am start Monday:
6.30pm for 7.00pm start Tuesday: 6.30pm for 7.00pm start
Wednesday: 9.30am for 10.00am start Friday: 9.30am for
10.00am start Friday: 1.30pm for 2.00pm start
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Online petition to curb boy racers in Paphos
By Bejay Browne
A campaigner is drumming up support
for an online petition to address the continuing problem of
noisy ‘boy racers’ that he said are using a popular seafront
road in Paphos to race their cars and bikes.
Mark
Hemming is petitioning Mayor of Paphos, Phedonas Phedonos,
to step in and address the problem which he said is
affecting residents, tourists and local businesses. He said
this can be solved by introducing a number of speed reducing
measures, including speed bumps.
The problem centres
on anti-social owners of ‘souped up’ motorbikes and cars
speeding and revving up and down Poseidonos Avenue, in Kato
Paphos, an area popular with tourists, on a regular basis
through the day, night and into the early hours, he said.
Ashley Goddard, of the Thanos Hotel group, which
operates two luxury hotels in the area said that he has
received numerous complaints from disgruntled guests who
have been disturbed by the noise late at night. He said
holidaymakers are disappointed that the authorities don’t
seem to take any action to prevent the practice. “Our
night mangers call the police when guests complain, but
often by the time they arrive, the perpetrators have gone,”
he said. The Hotel group has sent numerous letters to the
municipality, the police and the District Office, but no
firm action has been taken, he said. He said that
although the bikes and cars, many of them modified, look
good when they’re parked outside cafes close by, when they
leave, often late at night, drivers like to show off and
screech up and down the road at speed. “One day there
will be an accident. Many of the motorcycle riders aren’t
wearing helmets either. It’s a pity and it’s been going on
for some time. The police need to show a presence there and
there need to be speed bumps to help slow them down. Some of
the cars are so low, that they would have a real problem
going over them at any speed at all.”
However, a
spokesman for Paphos municipality said that speed bumps are
not a solution and that they would cause problems for other
road users. “It has been proved that speed bumps are not
a solution, they solve some things and create others. The
answer is to push the police to step up controls in the
area. This is the heart of the town and the police must
ensure security of the area.”
Head of Paphos traffic
police, Zinon Psathites, said that police respond to any
calls they receive and that there is a regular police
presence in the area. “We always have traffic patrols in
this area and if we receive a complaint about racing and so
on, we will follow it up accordingly. We will stop cars,
other vehicles and bikes, check them and the driver and
increase patrols in the following days to reduce the
problem.” He added that if residents support the creation
of speed bumps in the area, they should write a formal
letter to the police and it would be passed on to the
appropriate committee.
In his petition to the mayor,
Hemmings has made a number of suggestions to eliminate the
problem of speeding noisy cars and bikes. These include:
erecting more speed restriction signs along Poseidonos
Avenue, creating permanent speed bumps and ensuring that the
police and the courts impose heavy fines or confiscate
vehicles. He also proposes that two further raised
pedestrian crossings are added with dropped curbs for
wheelchairs and mobility scooters. “The crossings
pedestrian crossings currently on Poseidonos Avenue are
negligible and aren’t wheelchair friendly.”
The
petition may be viewed here:
https://www.change.org/p/mayor-paphos-embaressment?recruiter=125519625&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
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Japanese travel agents visit Paphos
By Bejay Browne Travel representatives from Japan visited
Paphos and met local officials with the aim of developing
tourism to the town ahead of it taking over the Culture
Capital title. Head of the Paphos regional board of
tourism, Nasos Hadjigeorgiou, said that a small delegation
from the Japanese Association of Travel Agents was invited
to Cyprus by ‘Pafos2017’. “We met with them, exchanged
ideas about preparing special packages for Paphos which
their members will be able to take advantage of,” he said.
Hadjigeorgiou gave a general presentation about Paphos and
what it has to offer and the tourism board gave further
information for the delegation to take back to Japan, with
the aim of passing it on to its members, who may be
interested in putting together packages for ‘Pafos2017’, he
said. “If they have members who are interested to put
together special packages, then they will be able to return
and see the hotels, meet with transport companies, guides
and travel agents and so on,” he said. The Japanese
representatives also met with the mayor of Paphos, Phedonas
Phedonos and discussed specific ways to promote tourism.
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Paphos pensioner hands over his pension
By Bejay Browne
A Paphos pensioner has handed over a
month’s worth of his pension to the mayor as a way of
contributing to the regeneration of Paphos.
Sotiris
Hadjialexandrou arrived at Paphos municipality and presented
the full amount of his pension to Paphos mayor, Phedonas
Phedonos.
The elderly resident had been part of a
packed audience that attended the mayor’s presentation of an
overview of ten major infrastructure and development
projects currently underway in Paphos. He said that he
had been so moved by the experience, that he wanted to do
his bit to help. Hadjialexandrou visited Phedonos
personally and handed over the cheque. He said that he had a
deep appreciation for the efforts the municipality was
making for Paphos to become a modern city “worthy of its
long history”.
“Paphos has turned a page and is
changing,” he said. “As a resident of this city, I felt the
need to contribute to the best of my abilities for the
completion of infrastructure projects that will define the
image of the coming decades. My hope is that other people,
who love and care about Paphos will follow suit, because
Paphos is all of us.”
Receiving the cheque, the mayor
described the initiative of the pensioner as “a touching
movement with real and symbolic content”. “I warmly thank
you for this wonderful gesture and express the hope that
your actions will set an example,” the mayor told
Hadjialexandrou
According to the municipality, the
pensioner declined to be photographed.
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