October 3, 2023
Idaho Falls–Stand Up For Idaho, an Idaho Falls-based nonpartisan citizens’ organization that peacefully and actively advocates for the rights and liberties of all Idaho citizens, is hosting a presentation by Greek immigrant George Panagiotou at their next Wednesday meeting, tomorrow, October 4. Mr. Panagiotou will share his perspective on the changes that have taken place in America since he arrived here in 1960.
SUFI’s announcement reads:
In 1960, when he was only 18 years old, George Panagiotou legally immigrated to the United States from Greece. Life in Greece had been hard, with grinding poverty and constant uncertainty. However, George is now in America, and America has indeed been everything promised by those who have gone before – the land of boundless opportunity.
George spent over 35 years in the heart of Hollywood. He is the inventor and designer of world’s first completely heat-free lighting system especially beneficial to the Medical and Motion Picture Industries, and he has seven separate patents for his inventions. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science rewarded George with two Oscar nominations for contributing to the improvement to the “Art of Motion Pictures and Film Production”. One of the rarest Oscars issued by the Academy. In 1982, NASA used his patented lighting fixture invention, the Mini-Cool, on the camera of the space shuttle STS 8. The Mini-Cool is still today the only film light to go to space. The Mini-Cool revolutionized the portable camera and video lighting industry (which was exploding at the time) by producing more light with 150-watt lamp than existing 650-watt fixtures at the time, and at only ¼ the size and weight.
George is now very concerned about the America he immigrated to. It is fast becoming more like the countries from which he fled, and no longer the land of boundless opportunity. George’s quest now is to help save the America he once knew. This is a night you don’t want to miss!
The class will be held at the Snake River Event Center (Shilo Inn), located at 780 Lindsay Blvd. in Idaho Falls. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the presentation begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.
