The mission of The Pontian Phoenix Society of Cleveland is to:
1. Preserve, teach, and promote the history of Pontian Hellenism to future generations.
2. Coordinate activities and events which support the preservation of the culture, language, and dance ethnocentric to Pontian Hellenism locally, regionally, and nationally.
3. Partner with the Pan-Pontian Federation Association in its endeavors to maintain national identity for those of Pontian Greek Descent and those in the diaspora. 

History of The Pontian Association of Cleveland, Ohio

Pontian Greek settlements occurred in Ohio in mainly two major cities; Canton and Cleveland. In 1972, at a Greek Orthodox Carnival party, two gentlemen from Pontian decent, Mr. Panagiotis Vasiliadis and Mr. Anestis Vasiliadis (No relation), decided to put together a Pontian Association. They had a vision to create a group dedicated to maintaining the histroy, culture, language, and customs unique to Pontus and the areas around Asia Minor. They wanted a social outlet for their families, but one in which these immigrants and refugees of Pontian descent could come together and talk about their lives, their history, and most importantly, to continue their love for Pontus that has lived through the ancestors for hundreds of years.

The first meeting took place at The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.  The first eleven members were present, and among them were Panagiotis Vasiliadis, Anestis Vasiliadis, Ioannis Xanthopoulos, Lefteris Karakostas, Dimitrios Tsaftaridis, Christos Abatsas, and Nikos Piperithis.  Panagiotis Vasiliadis was elected as the first President.  Later in 1973, they had a family party at the Ikarian Hall, and Anestis Vasiliadis became the second President of the Association.

In 1974, a large group of PontianGreeks from Philadelphia, PA came to support the Cleveland group at their first Pontian Heritage Dance at the Ford Union Assembly Hall.  

In 1975, President Dimitrios Tsaftaridis held another dance at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Rocky River, Ohio.  Many members helped with donations including Kostantinos Hionithis and George and Stavros Meimaridis.  Soon after, many families joined the Association that had ties tracing back to Smyrna, Urdu, Trapezounda, Samsunda, Kerasounda, and Constantinople.  

In 1976, Christos Ababtsas was elected President, and in the following years, many more had joined the group. 

In 1980, John Ermidis was elected President and served until 2000. 

In 2000, Emmanual Ermidis became President and served in that position for 18 years.  Along with his wife Marina, and family members, John, Christina, and Victor.  They helped to revive the group and were able to gain new younger members to help contribute to the Association’s success.

As the next generation of families in the Cleveland area began to raise their children, it was identified that a cultural folk dance group was missing. Once a vibrant ministry, this area had diminished due to that aging population and those families moving from the area. In 2008, Evangelia Tsirambidis reached out to Cleveland’s sister Pontian Greek Chapter in Canton, Ohio and partnered with their young children to revive the dance group under the teaching abilities of Panayiota Jordanides and Voula Pierce. Together with Marina Ermidis, Evangelia formed the dance troupe that continues today. This combined group performed and practiced together for close to two years. In 2009, the Cleveland Association’s Pontian Dance Group was created together with Marina Ermidis and Evangelia Tsirambidis. Marina Ermidis assumed oversight of the dance group and taught the children of the group the many dances of Pontus. The youth became connected with the larger Pan Pontian Federation and the Youth Federation connecting youth with similar ethnic background to come together several times annually to share in their common history. At these events, the youth learn language, dance, customs, and traditions native to the Pontian regions. The Cleveland Association continued to flourish and grow and has been able to raise enough money to purchase traditional Pontian costumes for the children to wear during their performances.  Late in 2018, Marina and Anna Tsirambidis (cousins), students of Marina, became the new dance instructors.  In that same year, 2018, Tim Tsirambidis became President of the Association.

In the past several years, many new families became involved in the chapter and gave new life to the group, modernizing many aspects of the administrative structure.  In 2018, Niko Semertsidis built and designed the current website, and helped implement new technologies to reach more members. In addition, in 2019, Olga Lavdas spearheaded the annual scholarship raffle helping to raise monies to benefit the dancers in further education.

Presidents of the Association

Pangiotis Vasiliadis- 1972-1973
Anesti Vasilaidis- 1973-1975
Dimitrios Tsaftaridis- 1975-1976
Hristos Abatsas- 1976-19?
John Ermidis- 1980-2000
Emannuel Ermidis- 2000-2018

Tim Tsirambidis- 2018- present

The composition of the Board of Directors.

Emmanuel Ermidis- President
Olga Lavdas  – Vice-President
Sophia Kafantaris  – Secretary
Niko Asmis – Treasurer

Board Members
George Alex
Stefo Alex
Christina Ermidis
John Ermidis
Kosta Ermidis
Marina Ermidis
Niko Semertsidis
Evangelia Tsirambidis

Dance Instructor: Marina Ermidis

Scholarship Recipients
2017
Haralambos Tsirambidis
2018
Panayota Souris
2019
Marina Tsirambidis
Anna Tsirambidis
2020
None
2021
Kosta Ermidis
2021
Aris Dashiell
2022
None
2023
George Ermidis
Kosta Kafantaris
2024
Dionysi Tsirambidis
2025
Leonidas Lavdas

Events calendar and Program of activities Available on Website 

Approximately 100 total members (adults and children)