Representative Demetrius Atsalis

The state rep with the Greek roots

By Doreen Leggett
Photo by Barry A. Donahue

Somewhere along the way, the family name changed spelling, from "Atsales" as it showed on the register of Ellis Island to "Atsalis" as it appears on the ballot today.

Demetrius Atsalis is talking about how his family could have owned convenience stores as well known as Tedeschi, Christy's or even Cumberland:

"You'd have a Charlie's at every corner," he says.

Atsalis, sitting on his front porch in Hyannis, is smiling, and you can tell this is a family story that has been told time and time again, growing more beloved in the telling.

His grandfather on his dad's side (Atsalis has Greek heritage on both sides) was named Constantinos, "Charlie." After being kicked out as the youngest son from his village in Greece, he made his way to Lynn, Massachusetts.

The successful restaurateur and grocery storeowner was hit hard by the Depression and moved with his wife, Katherine (also Greek born), in 1934 to a place that had a strong Greek contingent -- Hyannis.

There he started another grocery store, Charlie's Variety, of course, leasing it from someone from Katherine's home village, then moving it when he bought his own property.

And somewhere along the way, Atsalis says, the family name changed spelling, from "Atsales" as it showed on the register of Ellis Island to "Atsalis."

One reason the story flows so well is because if Atsalis forgets a detail, he not only has his mother and father nearby, but four of his five brothers and assorted other relatives to fill in holes.

Atsalis ticks off where his brothers live -- one a half mile down the road, one a quarter of a mile, another an eighth. "The farthest one is out in Marstons Mills, that's like driving to the country," he grins.

"The Greeks, the Mediterraneans, are really family orientated," he says. "I've always stayed grounded."

Even now, when they eat at their parents' house, they take the same childhood seats. "If the kids are sitting in them they are booted out," he says of the next generation.

Having a solid family certainly helps politically. Atsalis, now a state representative, counts on them in campaigns, when they act as ambassadors.

One of his cousins was also responsible for introducing him to his Swedish wife, Monika, who returned to the States after they met, even though her parents said she'd forget him. Demetrius enjoys telling that story too, perhaps as a balance for the oft-repeated story of how his parents met.

His grandfather on his mom's side, Silas, came to the US after World War I, went into the restaurant supply business, and he and his wife, Aphrodite, bought a summer house in Yarmouth.

That's how his mom Marina, who now runs Marjon Print and Frame Shop, met his father, John. She was in the store with her two sisters, and John was working. The sisters went to the instant bake cake aisle, while Marina wanted to bake from scratch.

But it wasn't her kitchen skills that won him over. "She was the best looking of the bunch," Atsalis says.

Charlie Atsalis, who decided not to build up a chain of markets, was a staunch Democrat. "He'd say he'd vote for a piece of wood before a Republican," Atsalis says.

His mom's dad, however, said, "He'd vote for a monkey before a Democrat."

"But I'm sure he would have voted for me," Democrat Atsalis says.

He is family, after all. And so while Demetrius is a Cape Cod native, born 42 years ago, given that family closeness you could almost say that he arrived here from Greece, via Lynn, in 1934.