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Jimmy Sinis, owner of the Catfish Restaurant and, more
recently, the Chick-n-More Restaurant located facing
each other on Highway 79 in McKenzie, has come a long
way in his 46 years, in more ways than one.
Jimmy hails originally from the country of Greece, whose
capital, Athens, is the Mother of Democracy. In ancient
times, Athens, along with Sparta and Corinth among
others, was one of the most powerful of the Greek
"city-states".
As Jimmy explains it, the cities governed themselves as
independent states, even having wars between the
city-states, "But usually they were together fighting
someone else," he says.
In contrast with the relative newness of the United
States, Greece has been in existence through about 5000
years. Ancient Greek culture is known for having been
the basis of Western civilization. Greece is the
location of the Parthenon - an exact replica of which
stands in Nashville - and is the country that produced
great thinkers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Greek architecture has also been a major influence in
the West as can be seen in their various types of
columns and in the harmony and symmetry of their
buildings. The Greeks gave the world great sculpture,
art and literature, as well as the Olympics.
"The Greeks are proud of their country," Jimmy says,
understandably.
Years of adversity in the country meant that, growing up
in Greece, Jimmy's family lived much like the rural
farming families in the United States in the early
1920's, with no electricity or refrigeration.
"Every household had goats, pigs, chickens and so
forth," he says. The families grew crops common to
America like tomatoes and cucumbers with olive trees and
grapes being another source of food and wine. The fields
were worked with mules; there were no cars or tractors.
"The man from the gin would come pick up wheat and bring
back flour, keeping so much percentage for his part,"
Jimmy explains. From the fruit of the grapevines,
families made their own wine.
For Easter, families ate lamb while during the winter
months a pig was slaughtered to provide meat for the
family, the cold weather allowing the meat to be safely
hung, much as was done on farms in the United States
many years ago. The weather is much the same as it is in
West Tennessee, says Jimmy, though like many people here
he remembers more snow when he was young, plus the
mountains in Greece mean more snow in the higher
altitudes. "There may be more snow but weather about the
same," he says.
Children came together to play soccer and there were
plenty of children to play with in the villages of
500-600 people each. Elementary school was close at
hand, but when Jimmy, called Demetrios in his home
country, was of age to attend high school, he road a
horse eight miles away to the nearest school.
After high school, Jimmy learned the craft of ship
building, a trade that was interrupted when he reached
the age that all male citizens in Greece are required to
serve their country in military service.
For two and one half years, he worked in the army,
inspecting bridges and roads, working his way up to
sergeant.
Before returning to his former job, Jimmy decided to
travel to the United States where his brother, Tom, had
settled in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Tom was the owner of
the Olympic Restaurant in Dyersburg at the time.
"Then came the idea to stay here," says Jimmy, smiling.
He met his wife, Phyllis Baker of Bolivar, at his
brother's restaurant in Dyersburg where he remained for
two years before moving to Brownsville where he set up
his own successful restaurant business as owner of the
Olympia Steakhouse. He and Phyllis lived there some 12
to 13 years before selling the restaurant, during which
time they had two daughters Patricia, who is now in her
first year at Bethel College where she is studying
psychology, and Vickie, a sophomore at McKenzie High
School.
Jimmy traveled across the United States to Arizona where
he quickly learned he preferred to be in West Tennessee.
"They were robbing me three times a day!" he exclaimed.
Coming back home, he says, "When I came across the
bridge in Memphis I was wanting to get out and kiss the
ground. That's when I know I became a West Tennessean
and didn't know it. I like McKenzie, I hope to move
never from here - I was thinking today how lucky we are
- I always enjoy to live in these little towns."
Jimmy's accent means that he will always be recognized
as a relative newcomer to the melting pot of America, a
fact that has become true in his home country as well.
"You always look at yourself as a foreigner here, I
don't care how long you stay," he says, "and then you
start to love another country and still love the old
country, always there is a desire to go back where you
came from."
With a brother and sister still in Greece, Jimmy and his
family travel to Greece for visits from time to time,
where he is recognized as "foreign" not by his accent
but by the changes in the way he thinks about certain
things.
After all, he says, "It is like I lived in two different
worlds, people here to experience what I have would have
to live in the 1900's and now all of a sudden we're in
the computer age. I have seen so much in my life."
"You change," he says in explaining how one becomes an
American. "Your way of thinking changes in a lot of
things; in the beginning you come here and think
(American ideas) are wrong, then after a lot of years
you realize they are right, on some things."
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As an example he cited the way American cities and
town have changed from the downtown setting where stores
are congregated around a town square, to various
shopping districts outside the center. In Greece, he
indicated the populace is resistant to the idea,
resulting in a situation where cars are parked "one on
top of the other, on sidewalks," Jimmy says with a touch
of exasperation at their refusal to seek other solutions
to changing times.
Having once become Americanized, it is difficult to go
back to stay. "All my friends who have tried to go back,
it didn't work," he says, "The way of living is
different and they're coming back always."
Even his own attempt to stay for a month on one visit
turned out "too long," he says. Even so, the Greek way
of life is changing, and has come a long way very
quickly from the way of life of Greek citizens when he
was a child.
Still, the Greek way of life has also changed
tremendously in the many years since Jimmy first came to
America. In 1981, Greece joined the European Economic
Community which was created to eliminate trade barriers
between member countries.
Improvements have also been made in roads and bridges as
efforts have been made to increase the standard of
living in the country.
"The economy is growing, (they have) good trades, and a
very stable government," Jimmy says.
With its beautiful mountains, oceans and rich historical
sites, modern Greece is "ideal for tourism."
"Now if you go to Greece you not see any difference than
America, things have changed drastically," Jimmy says,
then laughs as he recalls the reaction of his children,
"So now my kids go and they say 'Dad, where's the mules
and the goats you're talking about? We didn't see any;
we think you're telling us a story!"
Jimmy's lament mirrors that of many Americans as he
considers the effect the changes have made on families:
"The way families used to be, there was more morality,
more closeness. They didn't have a lot of cars or a lot
of money but they were close; the same thing has
happened in America also."
The Sinis family attends worship services in one of
Memphis' Greek Orthodox churches. That the United States
is home to so many different Christian denominations was
a surprise to Jimmy upon entering the country.
"I didn't know (there were) so many different
denominations," he says, "In Greece it is 99.9% one
dogma, Orthodox Christian. I came here and found many
different denominations."
The orthodox churches are derived from the original
Eastern Church which is recognized as one of the two
"great branches of the Christian Church." The branches
came about naturally because of Greek-speaking church in
east and the Latin-speaking church in the west.
A unique feature of Greek Orthodoxy is the many
monasteries where Monks live away from civilization in
mountains. Anyone can visit the monasteries, and even
live there if they choose, according to Jimmy.
"They are very peaceful places and you can stay if you
want to," Jimmy related. "They feed you, they keep and
you go to church with them." England's Prince Charles
has been one visitor to the tranquil retreats.
Mount Athos is a self-governed part of the Greece
similar to Rome in Italy. Some 20 monasteries occupy the
mountain. The monasteries are repositories of many
artifacts and monuments of historical significance and
are also sites where current artists practice religions
arts and crafts in a spiritual setting.
That the Greek Orthodox church exists as one of the many
choices of Christian worship in Tennessee is as American
as it gets, with Freedom of Religion one of the basic
precepts upon which the United States was founded, with
history warning of religious persecution when only one
religion is allowed by law in some countries.
Jimmy could have remained in the United States legally
as a "permanent resident" but there were inherent
disadvantages to that role, most importantly to Jimmy
being the inability to vote.
He decided last year to apply to become an American
citizen. In order to attain his goal, he was required to
pass a test regarding the branches of government in the
United States along with many other types of questions,
had to be able to read and write, and could not have a
criminal record.
He was sworn in along with around 400 other new citizens
in a ceremony that took place in Memphis in May, 2001.
It was the culmination of his love for what had truly
become his country.
"I never felt like I was an outsider here," he says
earnestly, "Ever since I was first here I was welcomed
and loved by Americans."
His goal for the future is to "make (the Catfish
Restaurant) a better restaurant for McKenzie; remodel
and make a whole lot better place for the town," he
says. He and Phyllis have owned the restaurant for about
six years.
As for the Chick-n-more Restaurant, after getting a
successful start on the new business he and Phyllis have
decided to pass it on to others to complete the job they
started, having their handles full with a booming
business at the Catfish Restaurant.
Starting the Chick-n-More enterprise was just too
tempting not to start.
"I was sitting here all these years looking at this nice
building and I thought, 'It's good for something.' A
friend in Missouri gave me the recipe; I didn't come up
with that, it was given to me. He's been there for years
and sells a whole lot more chicken than Kentucky Fried
Chicken. We've started a good business here."
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