If there is anything stranger than praying for the dead, it is having a lunch date with them. But the strangeness of this fact does not seem to the deter the Pontiacs, a group of native ethnic Greeks. This small community whose history dates as far back as 1914 have managed to keep their old traditions alive. One of their most notable customs is the 'Picnic with the Dead'.
This event takes place yearly on the Sunday after Easter. On this particular day which is also dubbed St. Thomas Sunday, Greek families in the village of Rizana make their way to the local cemetery to picnic on the graves of the deceased. Many of them bring along folding tables and chairs, table cloths, traditional meals, vodka, flowers, and candles to set in the midst of the marble gravestones. No one is allowed to cry as the day is seen not as one of mourning, but of celebration in honor of the departed. Family members are seen smiling and greeting each other, “Christos anesti” (Christ has risen), while children laugh and play amidst the graves.