ORTHODOX OBSERVER
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AHEPA Joins Leadership 100 u page 1 act of faith coincides with everything that AHEPA does in conjunction with the work of the church. This is not a check and this is not business, said Archbishop Demetrios. This is an expression of theology and faith. Upon learning of AHEPA s decision to join Leadership 100, Chairman Arthur Anton, in a letter to AHEPA s president, said, With this act, our Church and Community have reached a true milestone. The joining of the oldest and leading Hellenic Organization in America to the most prominent organization dedicated to the support of our Orthodox Church and the advancement of Hellenism is a remarkable achievement. We believe there will be many creative and productive ways in which we can work together toward our mutual goals, expressing a unity of purpose while benefiting from a diversity of experience. Our best wishes for every success in the commencement of your presidency. We look forward to meeting with you in the coming months and exploring areas of cooperation.
Supreme President s Final Remarks
Economy, in his final address as supreme president, recounted and shared with the audience the moving experiences felt during a goodwill mission to visit the enclaved people of the occupied area of northern Cyprus last May. When we looked into their eyes we could not see any sense of Elefteria, said Economy. It is a word that is alien to these people. They can t feel it, they can t taste it, and they can t touch it. Now that is a crime for any human being, but perhaps for a Hellene, it is more than a crime. It s an abomination. His Eminence commented on the unselfish gesture of the supreme president to devote his final remarks to the cause of Cyprus.
A Welcome from Athens for 2002 Convention
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic Grigoris Niotis and Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos commended the leadership of Supreme President Economy and the revitalization of the organization. They offered gratitude to AHEPA for providing humanitarian, philanthropic and financial aid to Greece in times of need over its 80 years of service. More importantly, both dignitaries officially welcomed the AHEPA family with open arms to next year s 80th Supreme Convention in Athens, July 21-28. The audience viewed videos on the growth and development of Athens and the preparations of the 2004 Olympic Games. A promotional video for next year s convention was also unveiled.
Presentations
Mr. Economy presented Mr. P.A. Margaronis and the Margaronis Family with the 2001 Archbishop Iakovos Humanitarian Award for their years of dedication to the ideals of philanthropy and education exemplified by their $1 million donation to the AHEPA National Educational Foundation for the establishment of the P.A. Margaronis Scholarship Fund. Nick Stratas, president, AHEPA National Housing Corporation, announced the beneficiaries of $400,000 distributed annually by the profits of the AHEPA Management Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation that manages the over 50 AHEPA HUD-202 projects across the United States. The full banquet program offered Archbishop Demetrios as the keynote speaker. The AHEPA family also received remarks from Daughters of Penelope Grand President Betty Benjou, Sons of Pericles Supreme President John Halkias, Maids of Athena Grand President Karen Polyzos,
Chairman Betzelos, Metropolitan Athenagoras, Ambassador of Greece to the United States Alexander Philon, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus Erato KozakouMarcoullis, and Demetra Egan, manager of Greeks abroad, 2004 ATHOC. Supreme Counselor William B. Marianes served as master of ceremonies.
New Supreme President
Delegates elected Andrew T. Banis of Walnut Creek, Calif., as Supreme President for 2001-2002. Banis was officially installed with the rest of the new Supreme Lodge and Board of Directors. Mr. Banis, a 47-year member of AHEPA, ran unopposed and admitted he has a tough act to follow, referring to Past Supreme President Johnny N. Economy. Mr. Banis, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, held numerous offices during his AHEPA career at the chapter, district and national levels, including supreme vice president, supreme secretary, and two terms as supreme governor. He is a member of Oakland Chapter 171, one of the strongest chapters in the AHEPA family. In the community, Mr. Banis served as parish council member of Ascension Cathedral for 14 years and as parish council president in 1986. He was married to the late Daughters of Penelope Grand President Thalia Banis.
Supreme Lodge & Board of Directors Elections
The balance of the Supreme Lodge blends veteran leadership with energetic newcomers. They are: Canadian President, Xenophon Scoufaras, Supreme Vice President Dr. James F. Dimitriou, Supreme Secretary Nicholas Alexander, Supreme Treasurer Chris Peppas, Supreme Counselor Nicholas Karacostas, and Supreme Athletic Director Dr. Monthe N. Kofos. The eight supreme governors are: Nicholas Ballas, Connie Calliontzis, Domino Giallourakis, James Gounaris, Stan Lefes, Sam Markopoulos, Basil Mossaidis, and Tom Owens. Past Supreme President Johnny N. Economy, Ike Gulas, and Steven Tripodes were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors. Mr. Gulas was reelected to a second term. The board will have elections for its executive committee in September. Also, Craig Clawson was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Auditors.
AHEPA Family Elections
The remaining AHEPA family organizations also held elections. Joanne Booras was elected grand president of the Daughters of Penelope, Nick Livaditis was elected supreme president of the Sons of Pericles, and Katherine Papadimitriou was elected grand president of the Maids of Athena. The 79th annual Supreme Convention officially concluded with the installation of all National Lodges of the AHEPA family. We are already looking forward to the excitement of returning to Athens for the 80th Supreme Convention, added Mr. Banis. However we realize we have a lot of work ahead of us before we can get there. ÁHEPA is the largest Greek-American association in the world with chapters in the United States, Canada, Greece, and Cyprus and sister chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was established in 1922 by visionary Greek Americans to protect Hellenes from prejudice originating from the KKK, and in its history,joined with the NAACP and B nai B rith to fight discrimination. The mission of the AHEPA family is to promote the ideals of Hellenism, education, philanthropy, civic responsibility and family and individual excellence. The AHEPA family consists of four organizations: AHEPA, Daughters of Penelope, Sons of Pericles and Maids of Athena.
JULY-AUGUST 2001
SCHOLARSHIPS Fellowship of Orthodox Churches in Connecticut Offers Scholarships BRIDGEPORT, Conn. In 1973, the Rev. Demetrios Recachinas and Mr. George Hallas proposed the Fellowship of Orthodox Churches in Connecticut, known as FORCC. These faithful Orthodox Christians worked diligently to assemble Orthodoxy of various ethnic heritages throughout the state of Connecticut and successfully accomplished this relationship into one. Each member parish is under the jurisdiction of the Standing Conference of Orthodoxy Bishops in America (SCOBA). Today, 21 Orthodox parishes in Connecticut are in unity and prospectively many more parishes interested in joining. Their monthly meetings entail plans for the elderly as well as the youth including future activities that will enhance the progress of Orthodoxy in America. One outstanding program on their calendar is the FORCC Scholarship. Nowadays with the youth facing high economy requirements, FORCC took into consideration to alleviate some of the burden by offering to all parish members of the FORCC four Scholarships of five hundred dollars ($500) each to high school graduates planning to enter
college for the first time. Scholastic achievement, church involvement and financial aid are important factors in selecting scholarship recipients. At a meeting held by William Balamaci, chairman; Eva Vaniotis, FORCC scholarship chairman; Father Demetrios Recachinas, Nina Kosowsky and Greg Stamos, a selection of four outstanding students was made from various Connecticut Orthodox churches. These four students will be honored at the FORCC s eighth annual benefit dinner on Sunday, Sept. 30. Honored guest speaker will be Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, ecumenical officer of the Archdiocese, general secretary of SCOBA. This year the dinner will be held in September at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Bridgeport with Fr. Demetrios Recachinas, protopresbyter, as the coordinator. Recipients are as follows: Tassos Recachinas, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox, Bridgeport; Heather Cipu and Cara Faith Bernard, both from St. Dimitri Romanian Orthodox Church; Bridgeport; Heather Esares, St. Barbara Greek Orthodox, Orange.
Cyprus Children’s Fund Awards $18,000 in Scholarships NEW YORK Peter J. Pappas, national chairman and president of the Cyprus Children s Fund and Alexandra Lappas, chairwoman of the Makarios Scholarship/Theodore & Wally Lappas Awards and the scholarship committee members met recently to declare the following students as the 2001 Scholarship Awards winners for $18,000. The major award of the Cyprus Children s Fund is the Makarios Scholarship/Theodore & Wally Lappas Award which was created in 1983 by the great benefactors of the Cypriot children, the late Theodore & Wally Lappas. A combined total of $495,000 is invested with Prudential Securities.
Makarios Scholarship Theodore & Wally Lappas Awards
Alexandra Lappas, chairwoman of the Makarios Scholarship/ Theodore & Wally Lappas Awards announced that the following eight students are recipients of a $1,500 award each: Klelia Antoniou, of New Jersey City University (undergraduate degree in spe-
cial education and foreign languages; Kyriacos Charalambous of Essex County College, Newark, NJ (undergraduate degree in teaching); Christina Chrysostomou of Old Dominion University (graduate degree in business administration); Renos Hadjianastasiou (New York Institute of Technology master of science in electrical and computer engineering); George Papasavva (City College of the City University of New York undergraduate degree in computer science); Charalambos Lestas (San Diego State University undergraduate studies in civil engineering); Andreas Kavazis (University of Florida graduate studies in animal science, equine nutrition and exercise physiology); Savvas Zannettos (Rutgers State University undergraduate studies in finance and economics)
Makarios Scholarship Thomas & Elaine Kyrus Endowment
The Thomas and Elaine Kyrus Endowment Award in the amount of $1,000 is awarded to Natalie M. Zannettou of the Rhode Island School of Design pursuing a degree in architecture.
3 Seminarians Receive Svourakis Memorial Scholarships CHICAGO The Michael A. Svourakis Memorial Scholarship Fund of Annunciation Cathedral has provided 12 seminarians financial assistance. With the blessing of Father Nicholas Nikokavouras and the cooperation of the Council President Demetri Makris, this year s scholarship committee that consisted of Bob Peponis Esther Vilas and George Capulos, reviewed the applications and made their decisions based on academic achievement and need. Several students have received
scholarships more than once. This year s recipients, Peter Goritsan, John Vlahos and Michael Prevas, joined previous recipients Scott Zacharis Hoffinies, Ioannis Nasis, Tim Alikakos, Nicholas Georgou, Andy Georganas, George Pappas, Peter Spiros, Perry Hamalis and Louis Vilas. Mr. Svourakis, an Archon, died in 1987 but his love for the church and his desire to help worthy seminarians continues from a fund established in him memory by his family
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