Because of WW1 and aftermath, Peter was unable to return until January 1921, by which time he had remarried a fellow villager, Vasiliki Chiaculas and had one son, Spiro, born in 1918. They re-established themselves at The Corso and in early 1922 were joined by Jim and Sam after they sold the Mullumbimby shop to George Pappas, although Jim seems to have been a silent partner from time to time - with a separate cafe at Circular Quay in the mid 1920s and a partnership with George Soulos in a cafe next to the Enmore theatre in the late 1920s. Nevertheless, Carkagis Bros traded at The Corso for the next 13yrs before returning to this region in the mid 1930s to take over the Canberra Café in Lismore from Jack Feros. By this time Peter’s family included Dimitri (Jim 1921), Eugenia (Vera 1922), Elias (Lou 1924), Vasilios (Bill 1926), Maria (1928) and Pamela (1929). Jim and Sam never married and Peter’s descendants are now the only bearers of the Carkagis name in Australia.

The most substantial café in town from about 1912 to the early war years appears to be that of the Syrian Charles Koorey with the Cosmopolitan Café in River Street, rebuilt sometime after a fire in 1909 and boasting that ‘It is the largest and most up-to-date place of its kind outside of the Metropolis’. His likely brother, G. Koorey, had a draper’s shop next door.

The first Kytherian was Kharalambos Kritharis (Crethar), the eldest son of Vretos and Efrosine (nee Coroneos), born 1887 in the northern village of Karavas. He reached Sydney in late 1907 after a stay in Athens and came to Ballina in early 1909, allegedly acquiring a fruit shop in River Street, about where Wallace & Co now stands. But at that time there were six fruiterers and two refreshment rooms in town and Harry is not listed under any until recorded as proprietor of an Oyster Saloon and Cafe in 1911. More than likely he was an employee of Peter Carkagis and bought the business when the Carkagis Bros moved to Mullumbimby in 1910. In that year he was joined by his 18yr old brother Minas (Menus) and in early 1914 by his 17yr old brother Angelo. Menus however, returned to Greece in 1913, probably prompted by the Balkan Wars, and subsequently served with distinction on the British destroyer ‘Latona’ and on the staff of Vice Admiral Kerr in Salonika for the duration of WW1, earning many commendations for his services as an interpreter.

Their father had been a lighthouse keeper at Karavas and died in 1907 as a result of a faulty discharge while dynamiting fish, a supplemental source of income for his large family of 15 children.  More of his children and grandchildren later settled in Australia, particularly in Lismore and district where the Crethar clan became the most numerous of all Greek families. Harry, who became a good friend of Matthew Perry, was a popular figure in the town and when he died during the Spanish Flu epidemic in Ballina in 1919 was one of the rare people to warrant an obituary in the Northern Star. Throughout 1918/19 the Northern Star was recording a Spanish Flu death rate of one person per day at times.

A few years later Angelo moved to Lismore and started the family’s long association with that city. Menus however, returned from soldiering in 1920 and the folklore goes that there was some controversy over the division of the spoils from Harry’s Will. Allegedly Angelo got the bulk of the estate and thereafter there was bad blood between the two. Kosher or not, the Ballina Oyster Saloon had morphed into Crethar’s Sundae Shop by late 1919 and was registered in Angelo’s name, but 3yrs later was advertising as Crethar Bros Refreshment Rooms, even though the company registration remained A. Crethar & Co. It’s hard to get a handle on Angelo’s business machinations; then and later he had a whole series of convoluted trade names, partnerships and other odd management arrangements. In early 1922, after a 6 to 8mths sojourn in Brisbane, Menus settled in Tamworth (where he married the Beauty Queen Maria Vangi), but whether he retained any share in the Ballina business is a mystery.

Their cousin, Harry Nicholas Crethary, arrived in town in mid 1920 and seems to have been installed as manager, although there’s a vague understanding he was an equal partner in the business. He was certainly managing the business in 1923 after Angelo moved to Lismore. He sold the business to Comino Bros, on his own or Angelo’s behalf, in Jul24 and also moved to Lismore, possibly via a sojourn at Coraki. Another likely cousin, George Peter Crithary, worked intermittently in Ballina whilst based in Lismore and Casino over the period 1918-22.

Also from Karavas was Nick Angelo Coroneos (Crones), who landed as an 18yr old in 1923 and came directly to Ballina to work for Angelo Vic and/or Harry Nick. He spent 18mths here before moving to Lismore and becoming one of Angelo’s long-time managers and later his partner in various ventures.

They managed to off-load to Mrs Kendall in early 1920, but shortly afterwards she passed it to another Karavitiko, Andrew Nick Venardos, who had come to town in late 1916 to work for Harry Vic Crethar. He was 20yrs old when he landed in mid 1910, perhaps with Menus Crethar, and had spent all his time in Sydney working for his brother Jim (Stamati Barnardo) in a large café in George Street, until being prompted to come to Ballina. He sold out to the Feros Bros in Dec23, eventually settling in Warwick with the Warwick Cafe, marrying Chrisanthy Diacopoulou and begetting Doris who wed Jim Alex Samios of Kyogle, both taking over the Bellevue Café in Warwick in 1959. Andrew’s brother Peter married Kyranee Zantiotis, the sister of Ernie and George of Casino. Their son, Stavros, later came to Casino, sponsored by Ernie and George. Everybody interconnects.

Andrew’s brother, Dimitrios Nick Benardos, who landed from Karavas in early 1906, old-aged at 27, had a short sojourn in Ballina in early 1910 between leaving Murbah and establishing a shop in Sydney. He initially had spent 2yrs in Sydney and then seems to have become a farmer around Bundaberg for a year or so until moving to Brisbane and thence to Murbah in late 1909 to work for Theo Andronicos.

They are probably both connected to Theo Dimitri Banardos who landed in 1910, aged 26, and went straight to Casino to work for the Cordatos. He remained for 2yrs and then wandered all over the place until finally settling at remote Moulamein in 1927.

And they in turn are probably connected to Dimitri Anastasios Zantiotis who landed from Karavas in 1910, aged 17, and came to Ballina around 1913, remaining for a couple of years until returning to Sydney to work for Dimitri Benardos. In the mid 1920s he and brother Andreas introduced the Zantiotis to Gunnedah, where their descendants still run the Busy Bee Café. They are cousins of the Zantiotis who established at Casino in 1936 and whose descendants also remain well-known citizens.

Yet another Karavavito in the area at the time was George Nicholas Diacopoulos, the brother-in-law of Andrew Venardos, and maybe working for Andrew when he was recorded in town in late 1920. He landed in mid 1912, aged 18, and was on walkabout for many years until a more lengthy stay with his cousins at Gosford around 1921 and thence to his own cafe in Grafton. His cousin, Nick John Diacopoulos, was 14yrs old when he landed in 1914 and went direct to Lismore for a year or so, eventually settling at Gosford around 1920 where he and his brothers subsequently built the giant complex called PNA House in 1950. (PNA = Peter, Nick and Angelo)

Kritharis, Coroneos, Vanges, Diacopoulos, Souris, Tzortzopoulos and Zantiotis make up the main families of Karavas, from where almost three quarters of the remaining population migrated to Australia and America after WW2. The Kytherians were the main Greek regional group around the Richmond, but within the Kytherian cohort the Karavitikos dominated.

By the early 1920s the manpower intensive café/restaurant/oyster saloon concept seems to have been losing favour and most proprietors were changing the orientation of their businesses, concentrating on the simpler formula of providing confectionery and light refreshments for the holiday makers rather than meals to the home market, although the traditional grills and hot meals remained on the menu. An advertising blitz through the Northern Star, with a daily circulation of about 7500, reached most of the Far North Coast’s potential holiday makers and café customers. The Crethar Bros transformed into Crethar’s Sundae Shop and the traditional Australian ‘refreshment rooms’ increasingly emphasised their ‘summer confections’, although continuing to highlight the 'restaurant' side of the business more so than the Greeks. Stirling’s Premier Restaurant, taken over by Hurford of North Lismore in mid 1920, and Morton’s My Colonial Refreshment Rooms, taken over by a bloke named Weekley around the same time, continued to serve traditional fare. The market was getting very competitive. Interestingly, at the time the Crethars moved out two other refreshment room proprietors, Oddie and Piggott, also relocated to Bangalow. By this time Ballina’s growth rate had levelled off, having lost a lot of its shipping trade to Byron Bay, which also had the advantage of a rail line to feed its port with growing trade to and from the Richmond hinterland. Between 1911-21 Ballina’s population grew 34% (2061 to 2768), but over the next 12yrs could only manage a growth of 10%, while overall the Richmond came in at 25%.

Ballina – Feros

The Greek changing of the guard occurred in 1925 with the Comino Bros leaving town in late 1925 following a disastrous housekeeping report from the local health inspector, leaving Feros Bros as the only Greek presence in town, at which time strong River Street cafe competition was coming from the refreshment rooms of Mrs Riley (who guaranteed Fresh Oysters Daily), Mrs A Lattimore (advertising that Australian’s help Australians, so why worry. Lattimores are Australian, so come to Lattimores…), G.H. Burns (opposite the Bank of Australasia), Fred Surtees with the Ballina Fish, Oyster and Bait Depot near the Centennial Hall, Hair's Refreshment Rooms (Mrs A.E. Hair & Co claiming The only place in Ballina where the LILY hygienic paper cup is used, and Mr Hair urging people to try his Famous Machine Made Bread), and H.O. Williams with a cafe somewhere or other (possibly trading from the Old Bank Refreshment Rooms), while Mrs and Miss Murray had the East Ballina Kiosk, Mr Wells with a kiosk at the Ballina Baths, and Mrs Lattimore also with a kiosk outlet at South Beach. The following year Maloney Bros opened The Growers Cafe and Mrs B.E. Dooley opened the White Rose Cafe near the Commonwealth Bank, while Hewitt's fruit, confectionery and tobacco shop arrived to compete with McDonald's... the Fruit Man of River Street.

The Cominos were Nick and Chris, two of the seven sons of Peter George Comino (Galanis), of Dourianika on Kythera, who established themselves progressively at Armidale and Guyra from the turn of the century. This anecdote from the Comino Reunion Book may explain their short Ballina sojourn: “Nick Comino arrived in 1923 and settled in Guyra until late 1924. But then with his brother, Chris, they established a small business in Ballina. They were both young and carefree. Rumour has it that they both wanted to attend an evening of entertainment at the local Town Hall. However, only one could go as the other had to stay and mind the shop. Nick decided to sneak out the back door without telling his brother, whilst Chris sneaked out the front door, also without telling his brother. It was only after they met one another at the door of the Town Hall, after the performance, that they realised they had left the shop unattended all night. Needless to say they went broke....”

Mrs M. Duff, whoever she was, stepped in and picked up the pieces of the Bon Marche in early 1925, renaming the place The Bon Ton Sundae Shop. But she too found trading difficult and sold out to Nick Peter Panaretto towards the end of the year who proclaimed the place Ballina's Leading Refreshment Rooms, just before custom increased with the summer holiday season. Nick, 15yrs old when he landed in 1908, had spent about 10yrs in Sydney before heading north, and is believed to have come here after a few years in Brisbane. However, he too seems to have experienced a slackening trade and sold up a year or so later to move onto Tenterfield to work for George Tsicalas, leaving a mystery presence in the Ballina shop.

In the meantime the Feros Bros had arrived in town to give some longevity to the Greek cafe scene. The ‘brother(s)’ in this case appear to consist solely of Nick Jim Feros and his first cousin Mick George Feros who came from Lismore in late 1923, just after the Great Barrow Wars, to acquire a shop on the opposite side of River Street to the Bon March, quickly adding a wholesale and retail fruit sideline. (Nick’s brothers also moved out of Lismore after the Barrow Wars; George and Tony to Byron Bay and Peter to Toowoomba, leaving Jack to hold the fort in Lismore.) In 1927 Feros Bros claimed ...Two up-to-date shops. Meals all kinds and all hours. Fresh oysters and lobsters daily.... The location of the second shop is a mystery, but the River Street shop boasted itself as The Largest and the Best Refreshment Rooms in Ballina.

One of these navvies could have been the mysterious Chris/Cornelious Chakos who established or acquired the Riviera Café in River Street sometime in 1932, possibly earlier. In early 1933 Chakos (Tsakos?) sold the place to another mysterious bloke, Nick Psarros/Psaros. But there was a cock-up. Chakos owed George Toogood, proprietor of the Ballina Beacon newspaper amongst other interests, ~£8, being the remainder due for 'plant and furniture'. Toogood apparently had a lien on the stuff until Chakos paid up. Psarros bought the place thinking he acquired the wherewithal along with the business, but in a court case in May33 the magistrate ruled that 'no bona-fide sale took place' and gave Toogood the right to remove all the 'plant and furniture'. What happened after that is obscure, but the mid year census disclosed only two Greek-born males in town, both Feros. Psaros, who was identified in Lismore in Jul33 at the reception for Archbishop Timotheos, could be Nick Peter Psaros, 14yrs old went he was sponsored to Australia from Neapolis Vion in early 1930 by the Kytherian Theo Charles Comino of Blayney.

Dimitri Stratti Tsicalas (Jim Chicalas), the nephew of George Tsicalas earlier of Lismore and Bangalow, became a café proprietor in town in late 1933 and perhaps the Psaros/Chakos business is the one he acquired. He was was born in Smyrna in 1908 and came to Australia in 1923, initially to work for his Andronicos rellies at Muswellbrook before working his way up the coast to Casino, where he spent 5yrs prior to this Ballina sojourn. He sold up in mid 1935 and moved off to Gloucester for another 18mths before finally settling in Charleville.

Into Jan31 council staffing was down to 14 people on a work sharing arrangement, while many of the ~100 unemployed, who by then had formed themselves into the Ballina Unemployed Association, were camping in the sheds at the parks and using cricket mats for beds. The ration bill was growing rapidly, but seems to have peaked by July with the issue of 1398 food relief dockets to 350 unemployed at a cost of £1098. The total bill for 1931 came in at £10,056. There were still 350 unemployed on the books in June 1932 when the dole bill struck a new record of 1746 food orders (£1135), but at that time Ballina inexplicably missed out on the first of the grants under the new unemployment relief schemes, perhaps because the council was broke and wasn't in a position to make a contributing share as a condition of the grant. At Christmas however, when there were ~250 unemployed on the roll, council was granted £200 (out of the £1110 applied for) and contributed its share by taking a £200 loan at 3% over 5yrs.

The mid 1933 census disclosed that Ballina was suffering more than any other town on the Northern Rivers, with a combined median income of £59 for male and female breadwinners, way below the region’s median of £78 and below the State at £71. Its unemployment came in at 23.1%, while the regional average was only 9.0% and the State stood at 21.7%. In Jul33 the council adopted the work-for-the-dole scheme, which by the end of 1934 was proclaimed the smartest thing they'd ever done after road work that would have been on the back-burner for many years was completed. But the scheme didn't pick up all unemployed as at this time there were still an average of 75 people drawing the dole at an average cost of £180/mth.

These conditions, in conjunction with his non-English speaking wife's homesickness, were probably the catalyst for Nick Feros’s return home in Mar1933, although Feros Bros continued trading with the assistance of his brother George who came across from Byron Bay, leaving brother Tony to contend with the new Bay competition brought by Ward’s Refreshment Rooms, advertising with the slogan ‘An All Australian Café’. Mick probably needed a hand as he was trying to run the carrier and wholesale side of the fruit business as well as keeping the River Street café functioning with Meals all hours... specialists in oyster suppers ....Try our wonderful Sundaes.... They stepped up the competition in early 1934 by dropping the cost of a three-course meal to 1/3d, the only Greek café in the whole Richmond-Tweed region to do so and probably indicative of Ballina’s reduced circumstances. They also sought the Catholic patronage by offering ‘Special rates for fish and chips every Friday.’ A year or so later George’s nephew, Peter Emmanuel Miliotis, turned up and went into partnership with Mick, leaving George free to return to Byron Bay to give brother Tony a break. 

In the meantime Beddow's Wentworth Cafe appeared in River St in late 1931, while Maloney Bros added to the competition by the erection of another new 'up-to-date-cafe' in early 1932. In mid 1932 Ted Eyles' Premier Cafe, specialising in fish and oyster meals and 'first class fish and chips', appeared between Wallace's Billiard Saloon and the Star office. And all while Burns' cafe in the Wigmore continued to proclaim itself as 'Ballina's Leading Refreshment Rooms'. In late 1933 Burns appears to have relocated to 131 River St, still broadcasting 'High Class Meals All Hours.' But the competition had been reduced by one after the Sneesby's Blue Bird Cafe went up in smoke in mid 1931 in a fire that gutted 5 shops, including Moneysavers' Department Store, with a bill of £10,000. (Moneysavers never reopened, joining its Lismore branch which folded at the same time, throwing another bunch of employees on the dole.)

[And Burns continued to lead the innovation race. In late 1934 he was first in the Richmond-Tweed region to introduce the term 'Milk Bar' to his shingle, giving the locals a taste of the runaway craze that had been spreading from Sydney since 1932. It was 12mths after his lead that the Feros started advertising that A modern milk bar has been installed in the popular tea and refreshment room..., by which time they were becoming essential accessories in all seaside feedlots. (The Burns cafe morphed into the Monterey Cafe and Milk Bar in the hands of the Poulos Bros in 1936, 30yrs after which the next milk bar revolution arrived with the take-away waxed container.)]

Fish and chips remained a staple, while fish continued as a significant contributor to the Ballina economy, 273,405lbs of various species sent off to the Sydney markets in 1932 (but dropping to 225,760lbs in 1933.) Conversely, oysters increased from 338 bags in 1932 to 574 bags in 1933. There were four major leases despite the Chamber of Commerce lobbying the Department of Works to keep the sea-walls free for holidaymakers. But the Department figured the walls under lease were better cared for by private lessees, while the public was doing serious damage helping themselves to free oysters. The final decision in 1932 left the Public... with ...over two miles of good walls from which to collect.... But oyster harvesting became secondary to supplying mangrove sticks to oyster cultivators elsewhere, one contractor alone supplying 250,000 to Port Stephens in 1934.

The Feros' were still trading as 'Feros Bros' when Mick’s brother Peter landed in 1939, initially spending a year or so at The Bay prior to coming to Ballina, at which time Peter Miliotis, also from Mitata, moved on to Chinchilla. (But the partnership arrangements are all a bit tricky. George and Tony Feros didn't formally withdraw from the partnership of Feros Bros & Co of Ballina until mid 1938, leaving Mick Feros and Peter Miliotis as the sole partners in Feros & Co. And then in mid 1939 Miliotis withdrew, leaving Mick Feros on his own, presumably until sometime down the track he offered his brother partnership shares. Mick had acquired his cousin Nick's shares in 1936, apparently after Nick had done a quick return trip in 1936 to assess trading conditions, subsequently electing to join brother Peter at Toowoomba in 1939.)

Peter Miliotis’s nephew (perhaps cousin?), Jim George Castrisos (Miliotis), landed as a 9yr old in 1921 and went straight to the guardianship of the Lismore Feros, spending a couple of years at the Marist Brothers School before moving to Brisbane to join his father George and continuing his schooling with Jack and Jim Sklavos, the nephews of George Sklavos, earlier of Mullumbimby. He subsequently simplified the family ‘paratsoukli’ to Miller and married Angela Balson from Mikrasia (Asia Minor) ~1944 Kempsey, sometime before settling in Chinchilla. Jim’s son George, born 1945 Chinchilla, went on to become a highly acclaimed Australian film producer/director and Oscar nominee. He has since contributed many thousands of dollars to the restoration of the large village church, which was built by his great, great grandfather, Fr John Sklavos, the first parish priest. 

Other Feros who came and went include a cousin John Jim Feros who came to Ballina in 1924, staying 2yrs before moving onto Brisbane, where he worked for Samios Bros, earlier of Mullumbimby, thence to Mitchell working for another set Samios Bros prior to ending up in Monto working for Chris Patrick earlier of Coolangatta. Charlie Nick Feros of Dorrigo was here from the late 1930s until his enlistment in 1941, relocating to Lismore upon discharge in 1946 and thence to Sarina in Queensland.

All Feros had their origin in Mitata, one of the oldest villages on the island, but those who came to the north coast were all from the quarter of the village called Sklavanika. Folklore has it that the original Feros families of Kythera were refugees from Spain in the late 1700s and arrived bearing the name Ferenque (sp?). They, like the Crethars of Karavas, serve as an example of the power of chain migration: original family names from Mitata include Feros, Protopsaltis, Samios and Miliotis, all of whom have had a higher concentration in the towns on the north coast than elsewhere in NSW.

Peter Feros sold his shares to Mick in about 1945 and moved to Lismore to go into partnership with his cousin Jack Feros. Mick, who had taken on the lease of The Kiosk at East Ballina in 1944, carried on trading in Ballina as Feros Bros, while the main outlet, The Oceanic on River Street near the corner of Cherry Street, developed a sideline as one of the popular bait shops for the holidaying fishermen. It subsequently became the Pacific Café in the hands of the new owners after he sold up in about 1955 and relocated to Lismore, from where his substantial wholesale carrier business continued to supply many of the Greek shops in the region with fruit and veggies. But Feros Bros remained one of Ballina’s longest continuous trade names as Mick is believed to have established another small cafe/retail fruit outlet in Ballina shortly afterwards. Rumour has it that he loved a bet. He died in Lismore in 1964, at the young age of 50, leaving wife Vasilia (nee Goulouris from Mytilini) and six children.

While The Kiosk at East Ballina remained a popular spot for the public, the proprietors found it hard going in the face of the trade downturn in winter, causing many lease forfeitures over the years. In 1939 the Council rebuilt the place at a cost of £2277, but forfeitures continued, and for a couple of years was even in mothballs as the Council couldn't get one tender until Mick Feros was granted a long-term lease in mid 1944, at a rent of £2/5/- a week for 5yrs. He attempted to get a liquor licence in Feb47, but a protest by the temperance ladies thwarted his ambition, as they and church groups had done to Jack Davis who had made similar overtures during the Depression. (Perhaps the license would have given it viability in winter as a trendy restaurant - as early as 1926 the North Coast Federated Chambers of Commerce chose the place for a talkfest, with a huge contingent of businessmen from all over the region who toasted Mrs and Miss Wells for their exceptional catering.) Mick, who probably installed a manager, didn't complete the full 5yrs and handed over to Mrs Barker in 1948. The Poulos family returned a Greek presence in 1958.

However, the Feros continued to have a kiosk presence in East Ballina through Jack Feros, who took over a light refreshment outlet there in 1948. Being unlicensed to serve meals it was dubbed a 'kiosk', and could be Mick's folklore cafe referred to above. But Jack sold the place to Dick Aston in Oct50 and returned to Lismore, where his wife Vasiliki (nee Samios) died in 1951, prompting his retirement to Byron Bay. 

Ballina – 1930s and Beyond

Further Greek competition came in the form of a hardware business when Andrew Peter Samios turned up in late 1934 to begin a new career in a shop in the Wigmore Building. Nineteen year old Andy, his two brothers, Nick and George, and his father Peter, had landed from Aloizianika on Kythera in early 1923 and gone direct to Narrabri to work for Archie Gavrily. Unfortunately Peter died a couple of months later, putting his sons on a fast track to independence. Upon Archie’s move to Lismore the brothers split up; George moving off to Perth while Andy and Nick decided to put Bellata on the map. In addition to the prestige of a Greek noshery they also gave Bellata a new carrier business, and carted the local football team, of which Andy was a fiery member, as well as wool and wheat for the local farmers. The folklore goes that Andy took great umbrage over any breaches of on-field etiquette, assisting the referee, whenever one was game enough to volunteer his services, to maintain discipline. Sometime in 1931 they passed the business to Theodore & Co and Nick moved onto Garah, north of Moree, to acquire a cafe, again trading as Samios Bros, while Andy returned to Narrabri to go into business with Minas Vasilios Aroney (Magonezos.)

The Aroney & Samios partnership was a Depression-style business in which they moved around the region buying up bankrupt shops and on-selling the stock at auction. Andy had gotten to know the region well during his carrier career and knew which businesses in which towns were shaky. But by the mid 1930s their business was drying up with the economy stabilizing so they had a final swansong at Ballina, after which they dissolved their partnership and Aroney returned to Narrabri to join his brothers.

The Northern Star of 16Jan1935 carried a half page advert by the firm of Aroney & Samios: ‘The successors of the assigned estate of F. D. Felton’s, Storekeepers, Ballina, announce a huge closing down sale... daily until everything is sold... biggest ever known in the district….' They had £4000 worth of stuff to flog, including every conceivable item down to the proverbial kitchen sink. For some reason Andy then figured Ballina was going places, choosing to stay and restock the vacant shop as a general store, but with an emphasis on hardware. Following the divorce from Aroney in mid 1935 he registered the company A. Samios Ltd with a capital of £3000.

Arriving about 6mths after Andy were the Poulos Bros, George and Peter Anastasios Georgopoulos of Christoforianika on Kythera. Eighteen year old George landed in 1922 and wandered all over the place until basing himself at Grafton and Bellingen. Peter (aka Archie), 14yrs old when he landed in 1928 spent a year or so at Urunga until settling at Denman, where he worked for fellow villager, Harry James Flaskas, studying the finer points of gourmet cooking for 7yrs before he received a call from George to see whether he was ready to test the palates of Ballina’s fastidious foodies. They duly took over the Burns cafe at 133 River Street, making it over into the Monterey and remaining for the rest of their lives.

By 1950 Ballina was showing signs of growth once more, soon becoming the fastest growing town in the region and, with the growth in motorcar usage, becoming the region’s major holiday resort town. By 1950 there were five cafes (including the theatre milk bar), two fish n’ chip shops and five fruiterers catering to the crowds.

George and Peter sold out to the Italian De Re family in 1966 to enjoy sifting sand through their toes in retirement. Unfortunately, Peter died the following year, at the young age of 52, leaving wife Frosso, son Archie (who now lectures in theology at Moore Theological College), and daughters Helen and Dorothy in a spot of bother. He had married Efrosceni (Frosso) Crethar, born 1928 Karavas, the daughter of Angelo and Theodora Mentis (nee Crethar) but raised by Menus and Mary Crethar (nee Vangi) in Athens. Her father had spent a few years working for his brother-in-law, Angelo Victor Crethar, in Lismore during the 1930s. Frosso had landed with her cousin ‘young Harry’ Crethar in 1948 and married Peter in Lismore the following year. One of the Monterey’s later employees was her brother, Nick Mentis, who travelled back and forth to Kythera a number of times over the years. George died in 1982 leaving wife Botta (nee Lourandos of Lourandianika on Kythera) and children Jim, Archie and Helen. Helen married Sam Fardouly and operated a café in Lismore until moving to Sydney. 

Another Poulos family, the lucky Tzortzopoulos of Karavas on Kythera, had The Kiosk on the waterfront at East Ballina for about 9ys. Jim Poulos arrived from Kythera via a sojourn in Piraeus in the early 1950s and worked for a few years at Kyogle before acquiring The Kiosk in 1958, the same year his wife, Garifalia, nee Coroneos, and family turned up. Garifalia was the sister of the copious Coroneos living around the region - Mrs Katina Stan Gleeson of Kyogle, Mrs Anna Peter Crethar of Lismore, and Jim, Peter and Leo of all over the place.

Through the 1950s to the 70s The Kiosk was a popular spot for squillions of holidaymakers, both day-trippers and tent city residents, and living on site gave the Poulos a lifestyle envied by all. They lived in a caravan next door to the café for a while until the old dressing sheds were converted into a flat. The Poulos were also general caretakers and responsible for the dressing sheds where, for 2d, you could have a hot shower and change in private. They passed the lease to the Caldwells in 1966 and moved into town, establishing a fish shop next door to ‘The New Milk Bar’, near the theatre on the other side of the street to the Monterey. The proprietors of The New, George and Mary Black (Mavromatis), weren’t overjoyed. After working 7 days a week without one break for 15yrs, Jim and family retired in 1973 and moved to Canberra where their daughter Sofia had established herself.

The Kiosk, in the hands of the Caldwell family, expanded with a sit-down restaurant on the river side of the building, called the Luana Room, which became the most popular eatery in Ballina due to its unsurpassed views over the river and township. A piece of Ballina history was lost in 2001 when the Kiosk suffered severe storm damage and the Council took the opportunity to turn it into a vacant lot. The valuable site remains in limbo as Ballina, like all coastal towns growing like the clappers, becomes urbanised and kills off the old Australian beach culture (although tent city is not going down without a fight, with caravan parks becoming the new battle ground for cheap accommodation as house prices soar beyond the reach of many.)

Falia’s brother, Jim John Coroneos, arrived in town in 1954/55 and acquired Johnny’s Milkbar, next door to the Plaza Theatre at 65 River Street, making it over into The New Milk Bar, although it continued to be colloquially known as ‘Johnnys’ for many years. Jim had been in partnership with Peter Conomos in Kyogle from 1922 until selling up in 1932 and returning to Karavas where he married the American-born Maria Mentis. Twenty-two years later something prompted him to come back to Australia with his whole family and buy the business in Ballina. Unfortunately, he died three years afterwards, in early 1957, whereupon Maria and children Marianthi (Mary) and Con returned to Karavas, leaving John and Georgina with the café until they sold to George and Mary Black in 1965 and joined them on the island, where John opened a bakery in Karavas. [Maria Mentis, born 1912 Buffalo, USA, the daughter of Con and Georgia (nee Georgopoulos/Tzortzopoulos), returned to Karavas with her family in 1929. Her brother Nick, born 1916 Baltimore, came to Australia in 1939 and acquired his uncle Theo Georgopoulos’s Paragon Café in Tenterfield.]

Jim’s brothers, Peter and Leo John Coroneos, were also Ballina identities. Peter had arrived in Kyogle in the early 1920s, having been sponsored out by Jim, but later moved to Pittsworth, where the Panaretos, another Kytherian-American family, ran the local cafe for about 30yrs. He worked in various places but always maintained a base in Lismore, where he was a property owner in Ballina Street for many years, at least from the early 1940s. In Lismore he worked variously for Angelo Crethar and Peter Crethary before moving permanently to Ballina in the early 1950s to go into business with his younger brother Leo, at the same time acquiring a block of flats at the eastern end of River Street.

Leo, sponsored by brother-in-law Peter Nick Crethary of Lismore in 1926, had managed one of the three cafes owned by Conomos & Gleeson in Kyogle from about 1930 to 1940 before enlisting from Pittsworth. After the war he returned to work in Pittsworth for a while prior to settling in Ballina in the late 1940s and establishing a tobacconist shop. When Peter arrived they branched out into various enterprises, including a pinball parlour at one stage. Leo, always a dapper, well-groomed bloke, was also an SP bookie as well as having a license to operate at the Ballina racecourse. He married Helen Kalligeros/Kallinikos in the 1950s and continued to terrorise Ballina until the late 1960s when he sold out to Phillip Feros of Lismore and moved to Sydney. Peter, who had been living with them all this time, then seems to have moved into one of the units in his block of flats, where he died in 2002, aged 94.

Phillip Feros, the son of Peter George earlier of Ballina, expanded Leo’s Games Parlour into a milk bar, renaming the place The Dolphin Café, but selling up in 1971 to return to Lismore and take over the family business.

The Coroneos can take the curtain call on the final Greek performance in Ballina. George Black and his wife Mary, the daughter of Peter Nick Crethary and Anna Coroneos, passed The New Milk Bar to their nephews, Alex and Peter Coronakes, the sons of Mary’s sister, Matina, in 1970 and returned to Lismore. Matina took command in 1972, finally breaking the Coroneos connection upon moving to Grafton in 1977 to acquire the Parkville Hotel, where she opened the hotel’s famous ‘Tina’s Gourmet Restaurant’ and ran it for 12yrs before retiring to Lismore. Over the whole period of the Coroneos stewardship ‘Johnnys’ was renowned for its hamburger, modelled on the famous ‘Crethar’ of Lismore.

Coroneo families remain immortalised on Kythera through Koronianika, now a quarter of the village of Potamos, which was established through settlers from the Venetian trading centre of Koroni. They were amongst the earliest groups to repopulate Kythera after the Byzantime Empire regained control of the island in 961AD.

Temporary Ballina sojourners from the early 1950s were John and Maria Kouvelis who took over the Exchange Hotel in River Street (and possibly the picture theatre.) Maria was the daughter of Nick Theo Feros of Armidale, while Jack was the grandson of Jack Kouvellis, the owner of a very extensive chain of picture theatres throughout NSW, the Armidale one believed to have been in Jack Jnr’s management hands at the time of his marriage. They seem to have left Ballina by 1960. Nowadays Spiro Varela of the prominent Murbah family operates Ballina Cinema.

Alstonville

 Top