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Show N Friday, May 24, 1985 Sun Advocate. Price, Utah 5 Footlong sandwiches await hungry customers at George's Market. For Greek immigrant America means freedom By came to the United States. I DALE EDWARDS Staff writer thats what counts in America. And the opportunities to better yourself. Opportunities to prosper and the opportunity to get an education. What more could a Freedom lived under German occupation during World War II in Greece when I was 11 years old. I know what it is, not to be free. In 1941, when the Germans went through Greece, they destroyed most of the crops. Most of the Greeks fled and didnt work on their farms. So in the winter of 194142 there was a severe depression in Greece. People were selling diamonds to buy food. People from the cities went to the small towns. Thousands died w from starvation. I have : experienced , real hunger and the fear of death from hunger. Those memories always stayed with me and i and are willing to go in- dependently into business. I see the independent businessman is finding it harder to survive and the big corporations are taking over. I find that bad. I hope someday the coutry can give a little more buying power to the small businessman. If they dont, well find 95 percent of the people working for the other five percent, he said. I want the people to control this country, not a minority of w 'a X 4. H 'v the people, Poulos said. But with all the problems, Poulos said he still thinks this country is a land of freedom and opportunity. Freedom is in my blood, he said quietly. Thats why I now. George had a brother living in Colorado and in 1951, George came from Greece to this he country to stay. In 1951-5worked for his uncle, but he 2, decided he wanted an education. So he went to Chicago to work and go to school. He also spent two years in the army, lived iftfean Diego, Calif, for six or seven years and finally settled in Price because his uncle had moved here. George wanted to go into business, so his uncle gave him his first opportunity and he doesnt regret his decision. Doing business here the last 23 years has given me the opportunity to learn the language and to better imhe said. I prove myself, have learned to love people and thats not an easy thing. But with patience, you can do anything. person ask for? That simple philosophy pretty much sums up why a Greek man left his native country in 1951 and came to the United States to live with a brother in Colorado. That philosophy also sums up the way George C. Poulos has run his life and his business in Price for the past 23 years. You have the freedom, the opportunity and the schools so what else could a person ask for? Poulos asked as he put together yet another sandwich for a hungry customer. The free enterprise system is still the best in the world, but it is getting harder and harder through the generations for those who start from scratch have experienced civil war and thats even worse. In 1946 the Greeks were fighting each other. The communists took all but Athens and if it were not for the English army, Greece would be communist right thats why, when I got the opportunity to go into business, I hung on. Not because it was easy to nm the business, but I believe in challenge and progress, Poulos said. Challenge and progress thats my definition of life, for myself, the community, the It he continued. country, was hard to keep in business because of a lack of capital, I didnt know the culture, I didnt have experience in business and I had no friends here. But having the attitude that if I could survive through the hard years in Greece, I could survive through the hard years here; we hung on, he said. George Poulos was bom July 10, 1930. He went through high school during the war and worked in the summers to pay for his diploma. Those years of war have left an indelible mark on his philosophy. I have experienced war and I am against it, he said. I puts together a custom sandwich while comments about the days work. George Helen Poulos George also paid tribute to his wife, Helen, for helping him over the rough spots over the many years. If it wasnt for my wife correcting me on many occasions, I would never have been able to make it, he said proudly. It took many hours and lots of work to go through what I did. So George and Helen have been in business in Price for 23 years. And to talk to them, you have no doubt that 23 years from now, theyll probably still be there. . Photos by Ed McKee ver George Poulos uses an assembly line technique to prepare sandwiches. t |