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news
ORTHODOX OBSERVER
DIOCESE
JULY-AUGUST 2001
Annunciation Senior Club Celebrates 25 Years Boston Cathedral to Honor Rev. Constantine Xanthakis BOSTON Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England will host a testimonial for Rev. Constantine Xanthakis upon his retirement as dean. The banquet will take place Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cathedral s community center. Fr. Xanthakis has been dean of the Boston Cathedral since 1992. In this short time, Fr. Constantine has administered hundreds of sacraments to parishioners and played a role in various Cathedral restoration projects. Prior to his devoted service at the Cathedral, Fr. Constantine served at St.
Anargyroi in Rochester, Minn. (19621964), St. Spyridon in New York City (1964-1971), Annunciation in Cranston, R.I. (1971-1976), and Holy Cross in Brooklyn, N.Y. (1976-1992). Upon retirement as dean, Fr. Constantine plans to continue serving the Church on a part-time basis in whatever capacity he is asked. For more information on the testimonial, please call the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England at (617) 731-6633 or write to the mailing address of 162 Goddard Ave. Brookline, Mass. 02445.
Archangel Michael Youth Choir The Archangel Michael Youth Choir, under the direction of Georgia Kaufman, sang magnificent Byzantine hymns at the Sunday School 2001 Moving-Up Program
held at the Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church in Roslyn Heights, New York. Fr. Dennis Strouzas, ProtopresbyterFr. Jim Kordaris, Presbyter.
GOLDEN AGE Club members on a recent visit to New Orleans
BALTIMORE The Golden Age Club, an organization for members of the Annunciation Cathedral who are 55 years of age and over, recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding with nearly 200 persons in attendance. Fr. Constantine Monios and Alex Zades initiated the idea of creating a club specifically for this age group. Alex served as chairman of the event and acted as the Liaison for the parish council with the GAC. Edward F. Jackovitz was President of the Annunciation community at that time. A delicious spaghetti luncheon was served and a film on the life of Patriarch Athenagoras was shown. A brief meeting followed and six persons were named to a Steering Committee. They were Mrs. Fevro (George) Petite, Mrs. Dorothy (Vaselios) Demetrakis, Mrs. Tassea (Luke) Carman, Mr. Theo Canaras, Mr. Constantine Paxenos and Mr. Nikitas Konstant. Travel is the group s most popular activity. Trips range from one-day visits to Washington, DC, New York City, Lancaster, PA, Wilmington, DE and Atlantic City, NJ to multi-day stays in Wheeling, WVA, Branson, MO, Nashville, TN, the
Catskills, NY, Myrtle Beach, NC, St. Augustine and Orlando, FL, Las Vegas, NV, and as far north as Montreal and Quebec, Canada and as far south as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cruises have also been offered. Other activities include a Christmas luncheon, participation in the Epiphany services in Ocean City, MD, attendance to dinner theaters and other theatrical productions. The Golden Agers also contribute to the life of the Annunciation community. They participate in the annual Athenian Agora Greek Festival. Members dye hundreds of eggs red on Holy Thursday for distribution following the Resurrection service. A number volunteer at the Theodore J. George Library, the largest such facility of any Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. An annual coffee hour for the benefit of the St. Photios Shrine in Florida has raised thousands of dollars. The Cathedral Choir is honored, following the presentation of their Christmas Program, with a lavish reception. In recent years professional members of the community have spoken to the GAC on legal, financial, pharmaceutical, health, and lifestyle topics as they pertain to this age group.
Illinois Parish Salutes Youth Groups PALOS HILLS, Ill. Sts. Constantine and Helen Church recently celebrated a youth appreciation night attended by more than 150 persons. Groups honored included the GOYA, GOAL (Greek Orthodox Athletic League), grade school boys, the high school girls and boys basketball teams, cheerleaders,
Greek folk dance troupe, altar boy council, and the Junior Olympics participants in grades 6-12. The title of Honorary Goyan was bestowed upon Helen Spiros and Christos Mars, both strongly involved in the parish s GOYA program and other youth activities.
Camp Agape Northwest Celebrates Another Year SEATTLE The combined efforts of the churches of St. Demetrios (Seattle), Assumption (Seattle), and St. Nicholas (Tacoma) have enabled children with cancer to enjoy a wonderful camping experience in the fifth year of Camp Agape Northwest, held July 22-28. With daily themes such as Wild West, African Safari, Latin America, and Greek Day, the children were treated to a wide variety of activities geared to their abilities and sensitive to their limitations. Camp directors Jeff and Debra Greer, assisted by 22 counselors and staffers, carefully planned each day so
that the children could make the most of their time at camp. With cooperation from the counselors and a dedicated medical staff, the camp was able to accommodate two children who had had strokes as a result of chemotherapy and one young lady who had lost her leg to the disease. The three chairwomen this year were Peggy Tramountanas (St. Demetrios), Heleni Koeman (Assumption), and Sally Hallis (St. Nicholas). Clergy advisors were Frs. John Angelis, John Hondros, John Kuehnle, and Joseph Velez. Philoptochos Diocese President Loula Anaston joined the campers this year to enjoy a few days of fun.
(L to R) Front row:Stacy Anagnostopoulos, Angelika Iordanou, Caterina Anastasio, Alexandra Foucalas, Christa Sotiriou, Katie Patestas. Second row: Ariadne Tzoumas, Angela Kaloudis, Connie Katsoulis, Maryann Vlachos, Calliope Iakovou, Andrea Cunningham, Stephanie Rontiris, Anastasia Alimaras. Third row: Areti Sotiriou, Areti Vlachos, Michele Gabriel, Alexandra Oleske, Antonia Zaferiou. Back row: Organist-Eleni Rodopoulos Kaufman, Jordan Iordanou, Christina Lipinski & Choir Director-Georgia Kaufman.
HC-HC Scholar Leads Southampton Church Retreat SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. The Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, author of numerous books and articles on the Church and spirituality, was guest retreat master at the recent second annual Sophocles N. and Louisa S. Zoullas Memorial Retreat at the Church of the Hamptons, Kimisis Tis Theotokou. The Sophocles N. and Louisa S. Zoullas Memorial Lectures were established in memory of parishioner Nicholas Zoullas parents.
Fr. Alex Karloutsos, pastor, said the retreat served as an opportunity for members of the parish and the South Fork community to reflect on their faith, their lives, and their relationships. For those of us in the Orthodox faith, the Great Lent is a time of healing and healing implies a return to God, our primary relationship, who makes us whole; it is great because it prepares us for the great joy of the Resurrection of Christ which offers us release from sin and death, said Fr. Karloutsos.
San Antonio Parishioner Needs Stem Cell Donation SAN ANTONIO, Texas A member of the parish at St. Sophia Church urgently needs a stem cell transplant for the treatment of leukemia. So far no matching donor has been found and the church community is joining the family in an urgent request for all eligible persons (ages 18 to 60) to donate and register as possible donors with the NMDP. The donation procedure for peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) is a simple one done at your local blood bank. After a brief health questionnaire, you sign a
form consenting to have your tissue type listed on the Registry and provide a blood sample to determine your tissue type. The physical risks are no more than those caused by the blood donor procedure. Once listed on the national registry your tissue type will be compared to the tissue types of thousands of patients in need of a life saving PBSC transplantation. For more information call the PBSC Donor Services 1-800-526-7809 or the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church Office (210) 735-5050.