Stavrinakis Honored

The Maritime Association of South Carolina honored West Ashley resident and state Rep. Leon Stavrinakis (D) recently as its Legislator of the Year for 2013.
The organization gave Stavrinakis the award for his work on securing bipartisan funding for the Port of Charleston. The port is in the planning stages of a major expansion project that will result in massive, new shipping container boats to utilize the current and future planned facilities.
While behind a few years on a similar effort in Georgia with its Savannah facilities, the Charleston port is expected to quickly eclipse its competitor to the south due to deeper water and wider channels.
Stavrinakis, reflecting on the award, said he was honored, and that it touched on an old memory. His family business in his father’s native Greece revolved around boats — fishing.
Years ago, in 1988 after graduating from the College of Charleston, Stavrinakis visited his ancestral home in Greece. Walking the same streets his father, Manoli, the namesake of his family’s growing Manny’s Greek restaurant empire, Leon couldn’t find anyone who remembered his family.
And then he remembered the Greek tradition of calling others by their career, and not their familial names. So he began referring to his father as Manoli Psara, the latter translates into English as fisherman, and the memories and warmth started coming in waves.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized for my work on behalf of the Port of Charleston by the Maritime Association of South Carolina. Working to ensure future job growth at the port while maintaining our precious quality of life in Charleston is personal to me,” said Stavrinakis.
“As a Charleston native, I know just how important both are to our community, our region, and our state. Our port is directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of South Carolina jobs and I will continue to work as hard as I can to secure Charleston’s position as one of the most successful ports in the country.”