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The Cathedral Chronicle Calendar of Events Past Issues
The Cathedral Chronicle (April 27, 2003) (Click on the links below to go directly to the story)
Dear Parishioners, Pascha! The feast of glory, the feast of light, the feast of joy! What words can convey the splendor and power of Easter? When our faces are shining with the light of the Resurrection and our hearts are glowing with the radiance of the risen Christ we cannot talk about Easter; we can only sing Easter! We break out in spontaneous rejoicing, embracing one another, singing the Resurrection hymn, and heralding the Paschal greetings: "Christ is risen!" "Truly He is risen!" Only praises, songs and hymns (like the one that follows) can adequately celebrate the mystery of the risen Christ. The day of Resurrection! Let us be glorious in the splendor of the feast! Let us embrace one another. Let us speak also to those who hate us. In the Resurrection, let us forgive all things. And so let us sing: Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling upon death, and to those in the tombs granting life. Please send us your offering envelope for your Easter gift to the Church. We can show our love for the Church by once again offering gladly and sincerely. With the blessings of the Resurrected Lord upon you all, Your Priest, Fr. John Alexandrou Cathedral Dean "As we proceed through our Lenten journey, we prepare ourselves to praise and glorify our God as Lord and Savior. It is a period where the character of the faithful is spiritually uplifted and strengthened; where our lives are rededicated to the principles and ideals of the Gospel; where the faith culminates in deep conviction of life; where apathy and disinterest turn into vigorous activities of faith and good works." The above is a passage from the Lenten Lecture Series presented by our fellow Stewards, Christ Economos and John Lignos. It sounds like a beautiful journey and experience for the individual, however, if we all embark on this journey together, the impact on our individual lives would be geometrically increased by the synergy created amongst us, not to mention the significant benefits which would be derived by our community. In the last six years since I have become more actively involved in our Church, I feel that I personally have embarked on one continuous Lenten journey. It isn't a sacrifice, it's a rewarding experience, which I believe will only get better as it continues. For those who have not already embarked on this journey, I invite you to join us and for those who have, let's keep going towards the ultimate destination and greatest reward, eternal salvation. The greater the number of people who join us on this journey, the greater will be the achievements of our beloved Cathedral of St. John the Theologian. Let's take our inheritance and build on it for our children and grandchildren! I would be remiss in my duty as president if I didn't request your total support of two upcoming major fundraisers for our community, which we all rely on: The Festival and our Annual Car Raffle. The greater the participation in these fundraisers, the easier and more fun they become. Let's all be a part of our success! With faith and love in our Lord Jesus Christ. Andreas Zigouras
Dear Uncommitted Steward, We were reviewing our financial status and we quickly realized that we were facing a crisis, not of our making, but that of Mother Nature. In the first three months of 2003 the bills for utilities were $19,500 and snow removal was $9,500, which are the predictors of a crisis to come. As diligent caretakers of the community's affairs, we turned to our expenses and receipts budget in an attempt to apply closer controls and so minimize the crisis. We reviewed our list of 476 Committed Stewards and, to put it mildly, we were more than a little surprised and disappointed to find that your name was on the list of Stewards who have not as yet committed. Initially, we thought it had to be a mistake and that our records were incorrect but, unfortunately, there were no errors. We cannot believe that after all you have done in the past for the Cathedral, in our struggle to maintain financial health, that you have abandoned us. We have to tell you, it was hard for us to accept that you had not responded to our recent appeals to become a Steward and support our many needs. But, it was absolutely devastating to see how long it has been since we heard from you at all. Dear Parishioner, with you on our side, we know we would be able to overcome our financial burdens. Without you, we are nowhere near as optimistic. Without you, the Cathedral will continue to struggle under the financial burden. In the past, you have made a difference. You have helped us make remarkable progress in completing our expansions and improving on all of our programs. Obviously, we are requesting that everyone recognize the need and commit to the best of their ability. But, above all, make the commitment to join with the community in its efforts to respond to the crisis and continue to make your Cathedral the finest House of Worship. Please remember . . . "Stewardship is not required giving, Stewardship is the opportunity for Christian Giving" Peter Baganakis, Chairman
The year started with laughter in viewing the play, "Play It Again Sam" at the Oradell Playhouse. Next we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Onassis Museum to view a presentation of the "Post Byzantium: The Greek Renaissance". At our general meeting in January we had Detective O'Reilly of the Tenafly Police Department who spoke to us about the various frauds and scams being perpetrated today. February commenced spiritually with an Artoclasia service for the benefit and welfare of all our members, followed by a coffee hour that we co-sponsored with the Philoptochos. As of this writing, we are happy to report that we have 142 members. Our first venture for a fundraising program brought forth our "Pancake and Waffle Brunch" on February 23rd. The brunch was attended by 260 parishioners and was a huge success, thanks to the united effort in the kitchen, Paul Cocotas and his great kitchen crew, and the gracious serving ladies. The seniors still have it! The pending news of war did not stop us from visiting the Museum of Natural History where we ventured into the outer spaces of our planets and galaxy. The adventure part came when we climbed the ice peak of Kilamanjaro! For our March general meeting we extended an invitation to our sister clubs from Wyckoff, Paramus and Fairview to attend in fellowship. We are happy to report that we had an attendance of 120 members, very pleased for the invitation and looking forward to future get togethers and cooperation between the clubs. Our speaker for the day was Dr. Mather Mousa from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, who spoke to us about senior health problems with a question and answer period. When we were advised of the plight of the Sclavos family, about the 10 year old son, Stanley, who is suffering with leukemia, and the mother also with cancer, we joined with the Philoptochos and PTO/Mother's Club to have a benefit dinner to help defray the mounting medical bills they have. The benefit was a great success, again, thanks to the five star kitchen crew and the lovely serving ladies. For anyone wishing to contribute to the Sclavos family, please make your checks payable to the Philoptochos and they will see that the family receives it directly. Our steering committee is currently working on trips to Philadelphia and Chicago before the end of June 2003. We will be closing our year with a picnic and extend and invitation to join Kali Parea. We look forward to a new program for 2003-2004. We especially thank Father John for his continued support and guidance and wish our members and the Cathedral family a healthy and safe summer. Alex Mataras - President
BENEFIT DINNER AND CONCERT: In keeping with the spirit of giving to the sick and those less fortunate, St. John the Theologian's Philoptochos, St. Philothea, hosted a benefit concert on Saturday, April 5, 2003. The concert was in effect a fundraiser for Stanley Sclavos, an 11-year-old Greek boy who has been fighting an uphill battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The PTO/Mothers' Club and Kali Parea joined the Philoptochos to organize this event. Father John and our Parish council President, Andreas Zigouras, approved and gave us their entire support of this major event. The Lambousa-Cyprian Group sponsored a raffle and will be adding a donation $1125.00 to the benefit. On a grander scale, the concert was meant as a musical event to raise both awareness of the family's plight with Stanley's leukemia and money for his ongoing treatment. His mother, Effie also with cancer, has completed 20 radiation sessions and two rounds of chemotherapy. Effie is working with a Speech Therapist and is using a feeding tube in her stomach. She will be able to return to previous activities around August. To accept the well wishes from the incredibly large audience, Stanley's grandmother, Mrs. Nina Sclavos, brought Stanley's sister Nina to the concert. Nina is nine years old and already has endured two bone marrow transplants to help save her brother. Yiayia Nina told us Stanley has been through so much, yet still maintains his determination. She related to everyone the sincere and humble thanks from the family for all that the community of St. John the Theologian has done. And she gracefully asked that we pray that Effie and Stanley triumph over their adversities. The performance of Julie Ziavras and Petros Hadzopoulos was extremely outstanding. Julie held everyone's total attention with acoustic classic Greek Song on guitar, mandolin and piano with music by Hadziadakis, Theodorakis, Xarchakos, Hadzis, Tsitsanis and others. We thank all of the following food establishments for their donations. We ask that we all support these establishments: Costco, Paul Anthony , Coach House Diner, Gatsby's Cresskill, Forum Diner, Park Ridge Diner, The Point Diner, Jerry's Gourmet, Suburban Diner, Red Oak Diner, Englewood Diner, Riverview Diner, Northvale Diner, Coffee Associates, Thessalonikon Pastries, Kontos Foods, Fantis Foods, Associated Market-Leonia We thank the following families and companies for their generous monetary donations. These were the names that were available when this article went to print: S. Matthews, K. Matthews-DeGruccio, N. Matthews, Lafharis & Pogogeff, F. Athanasenas-Christodoulou, C. Tzimas, D. Theodorou-TAAS Construction, J. Preftes, Ascension-Philoptochos, Galitsis/Bovin LLC, Archondia Realty, Celebrity Bagels, St John's JOY, N. Tzimas, M. Halkias, G. Guliadis, D. Papadopoulos, Andreotis Family, S. Antoniades, Milanos Family, C. Pyrros, D. Kaparos, G. Anton, A. Makrinos, M. Martakis, S. Sousou, D. Gerstle, E. Goldman, E. Mellas-Russo, C. Philip, G. Tzoulafis, H. Avloniti J. Ziavras, J. Barous, B. Koles, M. Kallis, E. Sava, Seris Family, K. Mourakakos, A. Ferranti, A. Sofianides, G. Kiriakopoulos, D. Antoniou, M. Vouchides, N. Constantinides, P. Peppas, G. Karkanias, Wm. Katsapis, G. Kallis, A. Kaldis, Y. Petrides, Apostolou Family, B. Rubis, T. Tsolomytis, E. Tsolomytis, A. Hoppas, L. Pappas, V. Kokkosis, C. Pappas, G.Pappas, J. Demoleas, A. Argeriou, C. Canellos, J.Kyriatzis We are happy to say the proceeds from video/DVD sales and the concert have reached approximately $10,000. The total proceeds will be donated directly to the Sclavos Family. Donations can still be made and checks should be made payable to: St. Philothea Philoptochos and will then be directed to the Sclavos Family. Maria Makrinos
The steering committee of the Mr. & Mrs. Club meet regularly the second week of each month on a Tuesday. The committee was approached by many members to arrange a trip to Las Vegas, which we did for March, but because only 10 couples sent money in to confirm their reservations, we had to cancel the trip. We did keep planning the rest of the year: March: Our traditional after the parade dinner was held on March 30th at 'It's Greek to Me Restaurant' in Westwood and we had a Great turnout. A total of 73 adults and 6 children attended and everyone gave us positive comments as they all appeared to have had a wonderful time. If you missed it you'll have to wait till next year! May: The "Tsougrisma" is all set! Keep the date open, May 2nd, 2003. All arrangements have been made and flyers will be sent out about two weeks prior to this affair to remind you. Hope to see you there. We have planned for a live band and Greek Entertainment. June: Elections will be held on June 10th, 2003 so all you guys and gals turn out for this affair. The club needs your input! October: This event, "Autumn Jubilee" is our kick-off event which is our annual membership drive. Your annual dues are only $15 and that entitles you to great food, good music and a chance to meet your friends whom you have not seen all summer. Mark this date and flyers will be sent to you two weeks prior also. December: The annual Dinner Dance of the Mr.& Mrs. Club will be held on December 6th, 2003 at the newly created extravagant establishment "The Venetian" in Garfield, which, as many of you know is an offspring of the "Seasons". More information in the next Chronicle. We are very happy to report that we were able to help the church with the beautification project by donating an additional $5000 towards its completion. As I've said before, membership is the lifeline of any organization. Why not join us and experience the pleasure of meeting new friends and joining in the fun. Try us??.you'll like us!!! Respectfully Submitted
Although this school year flew by us so quickly, it has been a gear of accomplishments for the PTO/MC. We are so proud of our children that have successfully completed another year of Greek School and Sunday School and we are thankful to all the families who support our events and fundraisers. The Apokriatiko Glendi was a HUGE success, with 350 people attending this family affair and 200 of them being children. A big thank you to the chairladies Gina Tsavelis and Georgia Economos, along with many PTO/MC board and non-board members for their help. This evening was dedicated to 5 women?.Mrs. Aphrodite Raftopoulos, Mrs. Tasoula Tsoumbos, Mrs. Irene Tsoukas, Mrs. Yvonne Dallas & Mrs. Georgia Leventis. These teachers devoted many years to our children of the Greek School and this was our way of saying "Thank You" for all they've done. We'd also like to thank Mr. John Tsokanos & Mr. George Lilikas for their hard work in preparing a delicious dinner and to Mr. Nico Nicolaides for entertaining us with good music and of course to our dance group, who performed their best for us. With the hard work of the Children's Library Committee, we are planning to have the library up and ready to use in September for our children of the Greek & Sunday School. The Committee, consisting of Anastasia Economos, Georgia Economos, Gina Dongaris, Gina Tsavelis, Sherry Zigouras, Effie Thomopoulos, Maria Lignos and Maria Kamilaris, along with Father John's guidance, is diligently working on making this an up-to-date resource center for the children to learn more about their religion & heritage through hands on experience. We'd sincerely like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Karadontis and Mr. & Mrs. Cocotas for their generous donation towards the children's library. If anyone would like to make a donation please contact anyone from the committee or call the church office. We thank you in advance. It is always a pleasure to see a fellow Hellene (Greek) succeed in his/her endeavors and this is just what we experienced with the Konstantino Jewelry Trunk Show sponsored by the PTO/MC along with Neiman Marcus. The artist, living in Greece, manufactures jewelry using gold and silver and etches them in a particular way where many pieces resemble ancient Byzantine jewelry. Konstantino's work is seen throughout the states and we wish him many more successes. On May 4th, the PTO/MC will be hosting a Cultural Luncheon for everyone immediately following Liturgy. Our children of the Greek Dance Group will be performing various dances to entertain us and during the luncheon we will be selling cultural & religious children's books to you to help us stock the children's library. Please support this Book Drive. The more books that are available to the children, the more potential there is for them to learn. Again, we thank you in advance. Please, do not forget our ongoing fundraiser, that has proven successful and costs our parishioners nothing. You give us cash and we give you the same amount in Supermarket Certificates. The more you shop, the more the PTO/MC receives from the participating supermarket. It's easy and so helpful!!! Please see us every Sunday during coffee hour or during Greek School hours Tue/Thur 4:15-6:15. The PTO/MC board would like to wish our family of St. John the Theologian a Glorious & Blessed Easter. Maria Lignos & Maria Kamilaris, Co-Presidents It's hard to believe, but in six weeks the school year will be over. Back in September, students, parents and teachers were full of anticipation and eagerness for what we want to accomplish and what the result would be. For everybody involved, this is a labor of love and the transformation is evident in our students' hearts and faces? On January 26th we celebrated the Feast Day of the Three Hierarchs with Greek poems recited by our Greek school in church, and our dance group entertained us at the coffee hour with various dances. The same day we presented awards to six students who had achieved the perfect score, " ", in the Greek language proficiency exam for the year 2002, prepared annually by the Centre of the Greek Language (in Thessaloniki). Our students also successfully passed the Regents Exam in Modern Greek for the year 2002, prepared annually by the Archdiocesan Department of Foreign Language requirements for accredited schools in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Congratulations to those students: Theodora Guliadis, Marios Hatzikyriakou, Nikos Kinnis, Markella Tsoukalas, Michael Katsigeorges, and George Kostakis. To prepare our students for this year's exams, we added the eighth grade. The ten students that attend this class are getting all the preparation they need to take these tests. On May 14, 2003 they will take the proficiency test and on June 20, 2003 they will take the Regents Exam. We wish them good luck ! On March 22nd, we celebrated the Annunciation of the Mother God and Greek Independence Day. The Greek school students from pre-K to 6th grade worked very hard to participate in reciting poems and re-enacting portions of Greek history. Under the direction of Mrs. Dallas, all the grades sang patriotic songs. At the end, the dancing group entertained us with various dances. Congratulations to our teachers and students for an outstanding program. Since I started teaching at the Greek school (13 years ago), the childrens' library has always been a dream and now that dream has become a reality. I would like to express my thanks to the PTO/MC and the committee who was appointed to purchase appropriate books for our students, educational games, video and design activities to enrich their Greek cultural knowledge and language skills. Our calendar:
The most successful Greek schools are those supported by the parents. Take an active interest in your children's work by assisting them with their assignments and expressing interest in their school lessons. Emphasize the importance of learning the Greek language, our culture and heritage. On behalf of myself and all the teachers, we wish everyone in our community a Blessed Easter. Anna Megaris, Greek School Principal Tenafly High School Principal Cited for Post 9/11 Accounts Dr. Theodora Kontogiannis, a Tenafly resident, member of the Cathedral, Chairman of the Greek Education Committee and Principal of Tenafly High School has been honored at the Principals Center for the Garden State for her account and experiences on Sept. 11 as the chief administrator of a high school whose students suffered personal losses. Dr. Kontogiannis' account, entitled "A Day to Remember," will appear in the book, "Leadership in Crisis," already out in print. "A Day to Remember" has also earned an award from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Dr. Kontogiannis, whose doctoral dissertation was entitled "The Evolution of Understanding Grief and Bereavement," recently became a Grief Recovery Specialist, certified by the Grief Recovery Institute Education Foundation. In the near future, she will implement a 12 week Grief Recovery Outreach Program that will provide coping mechanisms to deal with the pain caused by a loss. She also intends to develop community education programs that will encompass educational and experimental sessions to address the concepts of grief and recovery. Sunday School finished a successful 2002 with its Annual Christmas Pageant under the direction of Stella and Jenny Katsigeorges and Stephanie Kyriakopoulos. In March the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival was held. Participating students selected topics from a list prepared by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Religious Education. There was a separate list of subjects for Juniors, grades 7-9, and Seniors, grades 10-12. The winner of the Junior Division was Dean Lignos. The winner of the Senior Division was Theodora Guliadis. These participants represented St. John Cathedral at the N.J. Diocese Festival, where they received Honorable Mention. We thank John and Maria Lignos and Helen Papapetrou for a successful Oratorical Festival. On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent, which commemorates the return of the icons into the churches, all the students carried icons in a procession in the church. On Saturday, April 19th, the Catechism School students attended the Saturday of Lazarus liturgy and received communion. This was followed by a communion breakfast hosted by the PTO/Mother's Club. Parents and students then helped to prepare the Palm Crosses that are handed out on Palm Sunday. We thank all of the teachers and assistants for the excellent job they are doing in teaching our children about our faith. We also thank Father John for his direction and guidance. Ted Koroniades
The GOYA members of St. John the Theologian have been busy with a variety of events since the beginning of the year. January The girls' basketball team won the 2nd place trophy in the Jersey City Tournaments. The boys' Basketball team won the 1st place trophy in the District I Tournaments. Fr. John recognized and presented the teams with their trophies during a Sunday service following the Tournaments. February The following members of our GOYA volunteered several hours at St. Cecilia's Homeless Family Shelter: Gregory Hatzis, George Hatzis, Stacey Kamilaris, Cassandra Katsogiannos, Dina Katsogiannos, Nick Kinnis, Anna Lilikas, Christina Miros, Mark Mourkakos, Constantine Rousouli, Renee Rousouli, Michael Savva, and Christina Tenedios. March On March 22nd the Annual Sights & Sounds Invitational took place in Westfield. Our GOYA members won a number of individual and group trophies and awards. A number of our winners presented their programs at the GOYA Sights & Sounds Luncheon on April 13th. A special thank you to George & Irene Lilikas, Maria Kamilaris, Maria Lignos, and Sophia Kinnis for coordinating the luncheon. Our GOYA winners and participants: Essays: Theodora Guliadis (1st Place), Renee Rousouli (2nd Place), Constantine Rousouli (3rd Place) Poetry: Theodora Guliadis (2nd Place), Christina Guliadis (2nd Place) Short Stories: Christina Guliadis (1st Place), Evan Xenopoulos (3rd Place), Constantine Rousouli (Hon. Mention) Photography: Michael Lignos (Black/White-3rd Place), George Kostakis (Color-Hon. Mention) Posters: Anna Lilikas (1st Place), George Kostakis (3rd Place) Cartoons: Anastasia Baker (Hon. Mention) Functional Woodworking: Sophia Zigouras (Hon. Mention) Junior Monologue: Anna Lilikas (3rd Place) Jr. Singing Solo: Constantine Rousouli (1st Place) Best Actor In Greek Production: Constantine Rousouli Religious Singing Group: (2nd Place) Katerina Katsapis, Anna Lilikas, Stacey Kamilaris, Stacey Mourkakos, Christine Nicolaides, Renee Rousouli, Constantine Rousouli Greek Play: (3rd Place) Christina Guliadis, George Hatzis, Christina Kamilaris, Stacey Kamilaris, Katerina Katsapis, Nick Kinnis, Anthony Kinnis, Spiro Kokkosis, Elpida Kolios, Michael Lignos, Dean Lignos, Anna Lilikas, Linda Patentas, Renee Rousouli, Constantine Rousouli, Sophia Zigouras Choral Speaking: (4th Place) Christina Guliadis, Stacey Kamilaris, Christina Kamilaris, Cassandra Katsogiannos, Dina Katsogiannos, George Kostakis, Anna Lilikas, Christina Miros, Constantine Rousouli, Sophia Zigouras Greek Dancing: Christina Kamilaris, Stacey Kamilaris, Christina Guliadis, Theodora Guliadis, Anthony Kinnis, Nick Kinnis, Anna Lilikas, Christina Miros, Renee Rousouli, Constantine Rousouli, Sophia Zigouras April Religious Lenten Retreat/Confession with Fr. John. Lecture on preparation for Easter and Holy Week with John Lignos and Christ Economos May Indoor Olympics- May 10th; Outdoor Olympics-May 24th-25th-coaches: Anna & Sean Callahan, Michael Sountis June Cathedral Festival The GOYANS will run a Greek Kafenio We would like to thank our Spiritual Advisor, Fr. John, for his unconditional support, and all our GOYANS and their parents who help make this a successful organization. GOYA Advisors
JOY welcomed in the New Year by cutting a Vasilopita and holding elections. The results are: President: Georgia Stavrou Vice-President: Nia Karsos Co-Secretary: Eftihia Kaparos Co-Secretary: Christine Purdy We'd like to congratulate our newly elected Board and look forward to working with them. JOY has always dedicated February to our Godparents, since the Church recognizes the first Sunday of February as Godparents' Sunday. We discussed why our Godparents are so important to us and this year, we made beautiful silk topiaries to give to them and invited them to join us on Godparents' Sunday for the Divine Liturgy to renew our Baptismal vows together. It was very nice and even nicer when we had something special that we made for them. With the Lenten Season upon us and the anticipated resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, JOY has discussed fasting, Holy week and the Resurrection. After our discussion, we all felt very blessed and thankful for all that we have. As a JOY group, we attended Friday evening church service, the 2nd Salutations, and were happy to provide refreshments for everyone in attendance. JOY has donated $150.00 to the Sclavos family to help defray the cost of their medical expenses. Those of us who attended the fundraiser on April 5th were so proud of our donation and happy to meet the Sclavos family, especially Nina. Our Church is always seeking donations for Holy Week and this year, JOY will donate the wreath for the Resurrection Service. JOY, along with the Cub Scouts will be selling Easter egg dye. All proceeds will be shared by both clubs. We thank the Makris family, again, for graciously providing the Easter egg dye to JOY and the Cub Scouts. In closing, we'd like to thank our community for all of the support they've shown us all year and look forward to working with everyone at our festival!! Sherry Zoe Zigouras, Fani Demetrakopoulos, Mary Soras, ADVISORS The younger scouts are 32 strong now, and finished off 2002 with Carols at the Community Christmas Party and Ice Skating during the vacation period. January is the Annual Klondike derby, a competition of skills and speed, conducted off our newly built sled, (thanks to Themi Themistocleous for that). We finally had snow for the event and our Webelos came in 2nd for the speed event! February 1st was our 2nd Annual Blue & Gold Dinner, celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Scouting. Under the coordination of Chuck Cuyulis, the scouts and guests enjoyed a pot luck dinner with lots of desserts, followed by skits and songs from each den, and finally a magic show, which captivated children and adults alike. The next day we held our annual Loukoumades fundraiser. Many thanks to all of the Parishioners for supporting us, and to Irene & George Lilikas for chairing the event. Later in February we had a group of Cub, Boy and Girl Scouts who went to Camelback for Skiing and Tubing, thanks to James Coyle for organizing that event. The busy month of February ended with our Annual Pinewood Derby, 32 Cub scouts and parents shaping a race car out of a block of wood culminated in this one night of racing! Thanks to Chris Kamilaris for chairing this event. March started with an overnight trip in the Cabins of Camp Alpine, where the boys enjoyed many activities and much food. March ended with a small crew marching in the Greek Independence Day Parade down 5th Ave in glorious weather! April included a night of scouts attending a Friday night Lenten Service and a ceremony where our two oldest Cubs, Andrew Kamilaris and Andrew Tsavides, graduated into the Boy Scouts. Later in the month we had a church grounds cleanup. If you join now, you can enjoy our upcoming events, a Camporee at St. Basil Academy, Festival participation, attending a game and camping over at the NJ Jackals stadium, an Outrageous Pets Show, a Fishing Derby, a biking/rafting and camping trip, and best of all, 5 days of overnight cub scout camp! Cub Scouts starts with 1st grade, so if your son is in Kindergarten this year, sign up in May or June for the new scouting year. Grades 1 - 5 are can join Cub Scouts, and older children go into Boy Scouts. Call Peter Hilaris or Chuck Cuyulis if you wish to join. Peter Hilaris Our Girl Scouts continue to grow physically & personally In our program. Our meetings are held the 2nd & 4th Friday of the month and the girls truly look forward to whatever is on the agenda. The New Year began with learning about games children play in other countries. Then we played our own traditional games at a scheduled Gym Night in our Peace Memorial Gymnasium. The girls had a ball running around with each other! In February we participated in a wonderful Ski Trip to Camelback, Pa. With all the snow, it was a great day for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. February was also filled with a beautiful Valentine's project and a wonderful presentation on government by one of our Troop mothers. The girls loved creating their very own election to decide the perfect troop snack. March was filled with music & art. We played instruments, made shoebox guitars and learned about cubism & impressionism. Several masterpieces were created. Lastly, we had a marvelous Mother-Daughter Sock Hop, joining all of the other Tenafly Girl Scout Troops. All the girls & moms dressed in costume. The music was fantastic and we all learned some new dance steps. The year still has much in store. We're looking forward to our end of year festivities which include OutrageHiss Pets at our last meeting and a trip to Great Adventure. We welcome new girls to join our fun for the end of this year or to get set for next year. Girl Scouts starts with kindergarten age girls, and progress up from there, so plan for next year by calling our leaders. Janet Hilaris, Phyllis Turin, Helen Kamilaris & Chrystalla Papas 12/8/02 M/M Salvatore A.Esposito for Concetta with Joanne Constantinides as Koumbara. 1/12/03 M/M Nikolaos Tsokanos for Julianna with Taxiarchis Tsokanos as Koumbaro. 1/18/03 M/M Anthony Chrysikos for Anthony Alexander with Peter & Janet Hilaris as Koumbaroi. 1/25/03 M/M Robert Tracy for Christopher with Michael Koukounas as Koumbaro. 3/2/03 M/M Alex Milionis for Ava Renee with Penny Diamantis as Koumbara. 3/9/03 M/M James Foley for Elena with Mary & Christopher Scheres as Koumbaroi. 3/29/03 M/M Michael Dean Pappachristou for Michael with Stacey & Kevin Costello as Koumbaroi. 3/29/03 M/M Frank Galdi for Olivia with Emily Papadopoulos as Koumbara. 4/6/03 M/M Thomas Surovetz for Michael Erich with Mara Katsos & John Katsos as Koumbaroi. 1/11/03 Vlasios Andronis & Georgia Kallis with Rita Boutis & Brenda Cole as Koumbaroi. 2/2/03 Brian A. Anderson & Joanne Kyriacou with Jason Kyriacou & Andrea Contantine as Koumbaroi. 2/15/03 Konstantinos Lekkas & Mary Bersis with George Bersis & Mariella DeSantis as Koumbaroi. 3/9/03 George Nannas & Spyridoula Nannas with Maria & Vasili Nikolaidis as Koumbaroi. 12/11/02 Constantina Kyres 12/28/02 Constantinos Rozos 1/8/03 Helen A. Georgiou 1/24/03 Andrew Kourambis 2/3/03 George Demoleas 1/27/03 Dimitrios Patsalos 2/1/03 Vasiliki Bazarakes 2/13/03 Stathis Vaitis 2/14/03 Mary Axiotis Palmer 3/15/03 Anita Lantzounis 4/4/03 Irene Malnati Thank you to all who contributed articles to this issue of the Chronicle. Special thanks to the office, Andy, Aphrodite and Christine and of course Father John, who all did lots of research, reviewing and typing. Thank you to Janet and Anna for their assistance also. Please view our ad section and call if You would like to join them in the next Issue, which, by the way, will be September, with a deadline in August for articles. Peter Hilaris
The Cathedral Chronicle (December 22, 2002)
Dearly Beloved in the Lord, "As many have received Him, to them He gave power to become sons of God, to them that believe in His name." A strange and wonderful mystery has taken place. It is the greatest historical event in the life of mankind, one of the holiest mysteries of our most-wise and most gracious God, the mystery of the salvation of all, the event of happiness and peace. This is the Divine mystery which the Apostles, the Church Fathers, Martyrs and the Saints lived and proclaimed, and which the musicians and artists composed into beautiful hymns, through faith and love. From the time of His Birth, twenty centuries ago, Christ remains the Truth and the Way and the Life. He is still the Light and the Salvation and the Peace of the World. No matter how many Christmas trees we decorate with ornaments, if we have not decorated our bodies with ornaments of God's love, then we do not really celebrate the birth of God's Son. Without Christ there is no true life. Those who celebrate Christmas without Him are dead unto Him. My beloved, this Christmas, wrap yourselves up in love, hope, and faith, and give yourselves to Christ. Prepare yourselves by fasting, prayer, confession, and doing good to your neighbor. Come and receive Him in Holy Communion during the Divine Liturgy. Live in His LOVE and in His presence. With a heart filled with the joy of Christmas, I embrace you, V Rev. Protopresbyter John Alexandrou
For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given;
Isaiah 9:6 Christ is Born, Glorify Him! Let Heaven and earth rejoice!
Adapted Christmas Hymn President's Message (Andreas Zigouras, President) Dear Fellow Stewards, I must confess that this past year, as President of the Parish Council, has been one of the most challenging and rewarding of my life. The responsibilities I accepted as President have only helped me to prepare for major challenges and changes in my personal and professional life. The four traits of love, forgiveness, communication and cooperation, when practiced by all, will bring us to higher levels of Theosis, as a group, than ever before, and give us the strength to accomplish our day to day material goals. I feel a stronger sense of family and unity in our Parish, amongst the Dean of our Cathedral, the Stewards and Parishioners. I believe that our commitment to the relationship we have with each other will also help our Cathedral to strengthen itself financially today and for the future. Our four major revenue producing areas for the year 2002 have been extremely successful and will continue to flourish as we do. This year we estimate net revenues of $385,000 from Stewardship, $70,000 from the Festival, $53,000 from the Car Raffle and $60,000 from the Journal for a total of $568,000. We've just completed the installation of a beautiful new carpet throughout our first floor and the staircase leading down to our school. We will hopefully complete the second phase of installing new vinyl tile flooring throughout the school in the next few months. This project was made possible by the contributions of $15,000 from the Philoptochos, $10,000 from the PTO/Mothers' Club and $10,000 from the Mr. & Mrs. Club generated by their fund raising activities. I'd like to thank Mr. John Lignos, Ms. Stacey Sava Antoniades and all others who contributed to the successful undertaking of the photography exhibit, which generated net revenues in excess of $10,000 to our Cathedral. The World Peace Institute was dedicated and blessed by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios at an event that will be remembered by all who attended. Members of the Construction Committee responsible for the Cathedral's expansion were also honored and presented with plaques. Additionally, Mr. Parlamis completed his magnanimous pledge to the Peace Memorial Gymnasium Trust Fund, which will in turn forward approximately $80,000 to St. John the Theologian to complete the $250,000 pledge for the construction of the Peace Memorial Gymnasium, home of the St. John the Theologian World Peace Institute. Our 2003 budget for next year's expenses is lower as a result of reduced expenditures this current year. Primarily, these reductions were due to having only one Priest, the retirement of maintenance man, Nick Papas, and the consolidation of cleaning responsibilities through two new employees responsible solely for the cleanliness of our facility. Hope you have noticed the difference! Additionally, we have budgeted very conservatively on the revenue side, despite a significant increase in the Journal revenues and other fund-raising events. My thanks, to Father John for the added effort as Dean of the Cathedral and to Father Jim Tsigounis for his generous contribution and assistance as an unsalaried Priest. Finally, we're closing out this very productive year with a major challenge facing us in the New Year: Raising $200,000 for the renovation and maintenance of our beautiful Cathedral ! We will be forming a committee tasked with that sole purpose in January and welcome all participants. Congratulations to all the newly elected Parish Council members. We look forward to working with you to achieve our common goals and objectives. A special thanks to the Parish Council members who have left the Board but will still be a major contributing force to the growth of our community. I wish all my fellow Stewards a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with Health, Happiness and Good Fortune. Speaking of New Year's, I hope to see everyone at our fantastic New Year's Eve Celebration. With faith and love in our Lord Jesus Christ. Sincerely,
The St. John the Theologian Library for Hellenic and Orthodox Studies is well underway. Thanks to the generous contribution of Mrs. Lillian Booth the construction is done, the carpentry is complete and the furnishings are in place. We are happy to report that the media center portion of the library is also now complete and filled with state-of-the-art multi-media electronic equipment ready for fellowship and educational purposes. This admirable facet of the library is in need of donations. Please speak with Father John if you are interested in giving. We are now focusing our attention on stocking our library with books, music, videos, etc. Please look for our book fairs held after church in the fellowship hall. Your support for this effort, by sponsoring a book or donating the media center, will help stock our library with the monuments of our religion and history. Our gratitude goes to all who have supported the library. Merry Christmas! Irene Polemis
In this the third year of Christian Stewardship we note that 720 Stewards have acknowledged the need to support His Church, Saint John the Theologian. We have committed a total of $378,393, of which $321,316 has been collected. I am sure that the balance will be forthcoming in view that statements have recently been mailed to all stewards. It is critical to the finances of the church that we completed our commitments, otherwise we will enter the New Year with a shortfall, which must be made up. Remember, that those services which the Community offers to its Parishioners, is a direct function of our collective Christian giving. If we are remiss or ignore our responsibilities, we will all suffer for the unconscionable actions of a few. Throughout the month of November we have prepared for Stewardship 2003. For those who attended Sunday Liturgies, you will have heard the inspiring sermons from Father John and have responded accordingly. The Stewardship Committee offered a congratulatory luncheon on November 24th, at which time approximately 250 stewards attended. We thank the committee for their efforts. There are many ways that one can offer Stewardship. A number of stewards noted the poor condition of the upholstery of the auditorium chairs. Since October, they have been volunteering and are supplying the labor to reupholster all of the chairs. The improved appearance is a welcome site. The Boy Scouts undertook an Eagle Scout Project during the summer. They painted the hallway from the church through to the fellowship hall. The members of the Philoptochos, the PTO/MC and the Mr. & Mrs. Club ran benefits and paid for the new carpeting, which now dresses our community. A number of volunteer stewards are on call and offer their services in preparing and getting Community correspondences out to the parish. These are great examples of stewardship in our community. The 'Goal of Stewardship 2003' has been set at $446,00. I will not burden you with the calculations, but suffice it to say the number represents 80% of the Community's fixed operating expenses of $558,000, in which includes our mortgage payments of $102,000. I will burden you with only two more numbers. The community, whether it opens its doors or not, requires $1529 per day of fixed expenses, or $2134 per day of total operating budget expenses. Let us all recognize our responsibilities and with that need in mind, make our Commitment for the year 2003, each within their ability and true conscious regard for all the blessings He has given us. The Stewardship Committee members thank you for you support throughout the year, and are ready to answer any questions that you may have. We wear the yellow badges:
Father John Alexandrou
"Stewardship is Not Required Giving, Stewardship is Opportunity for Christian Giving." We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Peter Baganakis
October and November for St. Philothea Philoptochos was quite successful. A day trip was scheduled to Roscoe, New York. A bus load enjoyed a very meaningful service and lunch at the monastery of St. Nectarios. A special thank you goes to Katina Halkias for a lovely day. We want to thank everyone for their donations toward the very successful Cakeless Cake Sale fund raiser with Marina Philliou and Katina Halkias as chairladies. The proceeds will go to our National Cancer Fund and to the Greek Children's Medical Fund. It does not stop there. Proceeds from the book signing of 'Greek Traditions', by Marilyn Rouvelas and the special tray passed in church on Sunday, Dec. 8, will go to help two young boys with serious health problems, kidney failure and acute leukemia. During the holidays it is very important to bring some cheer to the families that need our love and our help. The Annual Christmas Party was held again at the Clinton Inn. The committee of Bessie Theodorou, Dina Gaitanaros, Xanthi Athanasenas and Maria Kallis did an outstanding job. The beautiful setting, excellent music and lovely gifts made for a warm and beautiful Holiday atmosphere. Proceeds from this annual event and the Annual Community Christmas Card will benefit UNICEF/AIDS, the St. Innocent Orthodox Orphanage and children with cancer by helping to buy presents for them. Please mark your calendar for January 19th, 2003 for our Annual St. Basil's Vasilopita Luncheon. Reservations can now be made through the committee of Veta Liouliakis at 201-585-1134, Morfia Tsocanos at 201-818-8945, Mary Skafidas at 201-384-3674 and Katina Halkias at 201-768.6740. You may also contact the church office at 201-567-5072. For those of you who ask , "What is Philoptochos?", well, you can see from the above how we work and who we help. Thank You
The lively scurrying of footsteps heard throughout the halls of St. John's tells us that the Sunday School & Greek School are in full swing. All of our children are busy with activities from both Greek & Sunday Schools and the PTO/MC is busy with various fundraisers to support our schools. For example, this year's major fundraiser, The "Tricky Tray", was a huge success. Thank you to all who supported this event with gift donatons and for attending that evening. We are also continuing our very successful Grocery Gift Certificate Program. By you purchasing gift certificates for A & P, Kings, Pathmark, Shoprite and soon Stop and Shop, the PTO/MC receives 5% while you're paying nothing extra for your grocery shopping. The purchase of Gift Certificates is available during Greek School and after Liturgy on Sunday. We thank you all in advance for your support. The Children's Library has always been a dream that the PTO/MC has had and now that dream has become a reality. The Children's Library is built and in place downstairs in the JOY room. A committee has been appointed to purchase appropiate books and videos. Thank you to Mr. Themis Themistocleous for building our beautiful Library. Please keep March 1st open as your next PTO/MC event. We will be celebrating the Apokries with our Annual Apokriatiko Glendi. There will be great food, good company and fun entertainment with the music of Nick Nicolaides and our Greek Dancers performing for us, so we can all start the Lenten Season together. Please plan to join us! On behalf of the entire PTO/MC Board, we would all like to wish our family of St. John the Theologian a Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!! Maria Lignos, Maria Kamilaris
The Mr. & Mrs. Club had a few social events scheduled which were very well attended and should be elaborated on. October: On the 12th of October we had our kick-off event/membership drive. The price of admission was your dues for the year ($15), which entitled you to the night of excellent food, good music and a chance to meet friends that you had not seen all summer. Those who attended had a wonderful time and if you were not there, you missed out! November: A quiet month except for preparing for our Christmas get together in December. We hope you all enjoyed a joyous reunion with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, for we all had a lot to be thankful for. December: December 1st was the night of nights. Close to 200 members and friends attended the elegantly refurbished "Seasons" and a great time was had by all. The "Seasons" management & staff outdid themselves in food and service. We ate and danced and everyone enjoyed the evening to the Nth Degree! The Steering committee is meeting regularly to put together more exciting events for our members and friends. So far, we are working on our annual traditional after parade dinner on March 30th and our "Tsougrisma", scheduled for May 2nd. Keep these dates open. More data to follow. Again we say?"Stay tuned - You'll be glad you did". Membership is the lifeline of any organization. Why not join us and experience the pleasure of meeting new friends and joining in the fun? Try us - you'll like us! Respectfully Submitted,
Congratulations to all who were nominated for the honor of serving on the parish council and were ready to devote their time and energy to the Church and its Parishioners, whether they won this year or not. The following are the eight newly elected members of the parish council, in alphabetical order:
As Greeks, we are known universally as 'having a word for everything'. Friendliness, cooperation, caring, responsive, fellowship, living our Orthodox faith and all of the above spell out "Kali Parea". We started our 2002-2003 season with a very inspiring visit as the Hellenic College and Holy Cross Theological Seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. The next day, we followed in the footsteps of our Revolutionary fathers in the exciting new Boston proper with lunch and shopping at the Quincy Market. The tour included a visit to the Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe houses in Hartford, a tour of the John Adams National Historical Park, tour of the Seven Gables and Salem Witch Museum and finished at the Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth Rock and the Manflower II. One month later we visited the Culinary Institute and the Great White Way for dinner and the play "Oklahoma". Our agenda for the coming months is to attend "Play it Again Sam" at the Bergen County Playhouse in Oradell, NJ. On January 16, 2003, we will visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in addition to the Onassis Cultural Center to see the "Post-Byzantine: The Greek Renaissance". As a community project, we are sponsoring 'Artoklasia' on February 16th for the welfare of our members, followed by coffee hour. Our main fundraising program is scheduled for February 23rd, when we will sponsor a "Pancake Brunch" following church services. We hope that the family of St. John will support us in our endeavor. We are planning in advance for an extended trip some time in the spring and fall for either a domestic or foreign tour. We extend an invitation to all youngsters 55 years of age and plus to join and become a member of the "Kali Parea" family. To our members and the Cathedral family, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Alex Mataras - President
As the summer came to an end GOYA welcomed the 2002-2003 year by attending the "Kick off Dance" in Trenton. The September event was well attended by our Goyans. Our first meeting heralded in many new members and we were glad to see our membership grow. In October Clifton held the fall Basketball & Volleyball Tournaments. Tenafly's girls volleyball team played an excellent game against the undefeated Paramus team and Tenafly won! The boys basketball team won a second place trophy after playing many games against very competitive teams. Ms. Nikki Panaretos and Mr. George Hatzis represented the Cathedral at the Mr. And Ms. Goya Pageant that was held in the Pines Manor in Edison, NJ. We participated in the Fairview Bowling Tournament and Dance that was held in November. Our youth group held a Turkey/Fruit Basket Raffle for Thanksgiving. Congratulations to Ms. Stacey Antoniades who won the 20lb fresh turkey and to Mr. H. Polemis who won the fruit basket. Special thanks to everyone who supported our raffle. On Saturday, November 23rd, we hosted a workshop for yourth workers, teachers, coaches, parents and clergy. Father Bill Gikas, Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult ministries in NJ presented the training seminar. Debbie Kamilaris and Kerry Kontogiannis were recipients of the Northern NJ Scholarship Fund. On December 1st Debbie Kamilaris, Kerry Kontogiannis, Joanne Sountis, Dina Schweetzer, Alexandra Megaris, Anthony Megaris, Costa Katsapis and Rosalyn Angelides received church scholarships. Congratulations to all - we wish you success in college. The JCE Basketball/Volleyball Tournament was played in mid-December and our final game will be played in January. The Goyan Christmas Tree displayed in the Fellowship Lobby was once again a successful fundraiser for the Kebabjian triplets and our Goya. Once again, we thank the community for your generous support. We ended the 2002 year by attending the Christmas Dance in Wycoff. We look forward to many upcoming events. During the week of February 10th the Goyans will be volunteering at the Youth Council for the Homeless. We will be visiting St. Michael's, the Academy of Saint Basil and also decorating the Pediatric wing at Holy Name Hospital. In March we will be participating in Sights and Sounds, marching in the Greek Independence Day Parade and the Chess Tournament. If anyone is interested in joining Goya and you are between the ages of 12 and 18, please join us at our January meeting. We wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Ms. Penny Rousouli, Ms. Pat Hatzis, Ms. Joan Sountis & Ms. Paulette Geanacopoulos JOY has gotten off to a great start ! This year's enrollment is currently at 40 and growing everyday. JOY began the year by selling chocolate and hosting the first Loukoumades sale to fund their year's activities. A special thanks again to Mrs. Maria Meidanis and Mr. George Lilikas for their help in preparing the Loukoumades and a special thank you to all of our parishioners who supported us by purchasing the chocolates and the Loukoumades from our JOY children. Your support is always appreciated ! On Friday evening, December 6th, JOY hosted a Christmas Gala for all of our children and their families. A special invitation was extended to our fellow JOY of St. Athanasios Church in Paramus. A total of 175 people were in attendance. We all enjoyed a delicious dinner and had a great time dancing to Greek/American music provided by DJ Aris Thomas of Five-Star Entertainment. For those children, 7-12 years of age, that have not as yet signed up,you can still do so at our JOY meetings. We still have fantastic activities planned for the balance of the year, such as pottery, candle making, cooking, gym nights and dinner outings. JOY is the perfect place for our children to build on those friendships made in Greek School and Sunday school. In closing, we'd like to wish everyone a Blessed Merry Christmas and Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Sherry Zoe Zigouras Boy Scout Troop 25 of the St. John The Theologian Cathedral are proud to say that everything is going exceptionally well. We are also overjoyed that Dean Nikolopoulos and Nikhil Hammantgad have just earned the rank of "Eagle", the highest rank one could obtain as a Boy Scout. Many of the young Scouts have just earned the highest religious medal in scouting, the Alpha Omega medal, and are participating in other Church activities also. We are now planning to go to a soup kitchen for the holidays to help those that are not as fortunate as us. Many activities & camping trips are being planned for the future, such as Rock Climbing, Skiing, Hiking, water rafting, and the Klondike Derby. If anyone is interested in participating in the Boy Scout Troop 25, then you can come down any Friday night from 7:30 to 9:00 and experience the fun. Have a Happy and Safe New Year, Lee Kojanis, Senior Patrol Leader Boy Scout Troop 25 Our Brownie & Daisy Girl Scouts have been busy this year. Their strong effort & enthusiasm has earned them many patches to adorn their uniform. So far, we have focused on learning about our bodies, conflict resolution & our universe. Fun projects have included doll & marionette making, a Thanksgiving turkey decoration & holiday ornament. Our first trip of the year was in October to St.Basil's Academy for a scouting retreat. It was a great religious experience for all. There were worthwhile classes, fun sing-a-longs & skits and great company. Seems a highlight for the girls was the slumber party they had that Saturday night. We had another wonderful trip I November to the Hayden Planeterium in NYC. We learned all about space, then went next door to the Museum of Natural History where the girls had fun looking at the dinosaur bones. We're currently practicing Christmas Carols to perform at the Church Christmas Party. We hope to put on a good show for all of you. Lastly, the girls are looking forward to our scheduled ice skating & pizza event in December. We enjoy our meeting nights, the 2nd & 4th Friday nights each month. Feel free to join the fun! We wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a Healthy New Year! Janet Hilaris, Phyllis Turrin, Helen Kamilaris The Cub Pack #25 is 31 members strong, with enough energy for 100 adults! They enjoy their meetings every 2nd & 4th Fridays with games, songs, crafts and multiple activities to help with their education and advancement. The young scouts have kept busy with various outings this year, including a September trip to the Intrepid, an October overnight 'camping' trip to the EOCS Religious Retreat at St. Basil's (where we camped out in the halls of the old classrooms due to a severe rainstorm) and a November trip to the Hayden Planeterium. In December we plan to help decorate and entertain for the Parish's Community Christmas Party. Then, the following week we'll be Ice Skating at the Westwood rink. Come the New Year the boys will be busy preparing their sleds and skills for the Klondike Derby Competition, and practicing skits for our Annual Blue & Gold Celebration of scouting. There's many more activities on the schedule, so join now to catch the fun! Peter Hilaris,DPM Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As a parent of a child with autism, I understand the stress and emotional pain of having a loved one with a disability can bring to a family. I remember how devastated my wife and myself were when we were told the diagnosis and prognosis for our son Eric. When this type of tragic reality hits a family there should be somewhere to turn to within the church community. When we were living in Brooklyn I became active and served on the board of directors of the AAOG (Autism Advocacy Outreach Group) which was a parent advocacy group that referred advocacy services to families with loved ones who were autistic. Now, I would like to help the members of St. John's Cathedral who have someone in their family with any disability and would like some type of service, whether it would be legal counseling, child care, obtaining medical devices, or maybe talking with people in a support group. People who have loved ones with a disability should register them with the New Jersey DDD (Division of Developmental Disabilities) to find out what type of services and stipends are available (you don't have to be poor to qualify for one), and so the government knows how many people with disabilities there are in order to determine the level of State funding. If you would like to get in touch with me, everything would be confidential, of course. My number is 201-387-2218 during evening hours 5-9pm or my email address is telecast81@earthlink.net. Sincerely,
Congratulations to the recipients of the Cathedral of St. John Scholarships set up by the Chagaris Family, Gines Family, Nicholson Family, Tsoullis Family The winners or the Scholarships are as follows:
Correction from last issue:
Another season passed, another issue of the Chronicle completed! As usual, many thanks to Father John and the office staff of Andy Georgiou, Aphrodite Raftopoulos and Christine Kostantakis for their invaluable assistance in gathering and typing! Of course, to the contributors of the various articles, thank you for your diligence as always. My request for the future is that if anyone has any newsworthy information for future articles, especially about the youth of our community, please contact me via email at hilarispb@aol.com. Peter Hilaris, DPM The Cathedral Chronicle (September 8, 2002) (Click on the links below to go directly to the story)
President's Message (Andreas Zigouras, President) Dear Fellow Stewards, Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you that the amount of self-fulfillment I have attained as a result of accepting this position has been the biggest benefit. I strongly recommend to all my fellow stewards that you become more active in our Church so that your lives may also be enriched. Our first and foremost commitment will continue to be to promote love (agapi), unity (omonoia), and cooperation (synergasia) amongst Father John, the office staff, the Council, the Church organizations, and our fellow stewards. We, the Parish Council will lead by example! With respect to our second commitment of enhancing the financial security of our Church, I'd like to give you all the following update: Stewardship
Additionally we have scheduled a stewardship committee meeting on Monday, September 9th at 8:00 PM for the purpose of hearing ideas and recommendations on how to improve or raise the participation level in the stewardship program. We welcome your ideas and recommendations. Fundraising Our top fundraising projects are doing extremely well and I'd like to thank all those unselfish persons who have made it possible.
Other major events that are currently taking place are:
This year we have formed an Advisory Committee comprised of Past Presidents and former members of the Parish Council who have served a minimum of 3 full terms. We urge all qualified candidates to contact myself or Dr. George Kiriakopoulos, the committee's first chairman, for information on how to join. With regards to the management and protection of our valued asset, the Church, we have, through the efforts of the Director of Operations, of our church Mr. Mihail Lilikas and the chairman of the building and grounds committee, Mr.Nicholas Katsapis, made a list of the key maintenance projects needed to be funded to protect our church. On top of the list is a new roof, repair of the dome and new gutters. We are in the process of getting competitive bids for these projects and we will keep you posted on the progress of the maintenance projects. We have worked very hard to cut expenses and increase the fundraising so we can attain a surplus in our budget. In order to attain this goal we will need your support in raising money for major capital expenditures, such as the roof repair. I welcome any support for this extraordinary project from one or all of you. Thank you! Other challenges being met are:
The honor of leading our community is a great challenge for me and I invite each and every one of you to join me in sharing the responsibilities and rewards associated with the success of every project we initiate and complete! We will meet and conquer all challenges together with love, unity, and teamwork. Let us communicate effectively, forgive all past transgressions and operate as an extended family, which we are! With faith and love in our Lord Jesus Christ. Sincerely,
Our next Meeting will be held Monday October 7th, at 8:00pm. My thanks to those attending the most recent meeting. What we require from every organization is to represent themselves at the meeting in the person of the president or an appointed alternative. Please mark the date. My thanks in advance. Peter Hilaris, DPM
The 2002 Souvenir Journal Committee has been working hard this summer and we are all very excited and look forward to an extremely successful 2002 Souvenir Journal. This year, we have restructured our Journal in hope that, with all of your help and support, it will be a tremendous success. Letters have been sent to all of the past Journal Subscribers. We thank them once again for their past ads and look forward to their continued support in the 2002 Journal. Additionally, letters have been sent to all of our stewards in hope that they too will support our Journal by placing an ad for their business, family and/or in memory of a departed member of their family. Ad sizes are as follows:
Also, ads will no longer be placed in each section alphabetically; they will be placed in each section in the order in which they were received. The deadline for placing an ad has been extended to September 30th and Journal contracts are available through the Church office or through any of the committee members. The 2002 Souvenir Journal will be available October 19th, 2002, the evening of our Cathedral Ball which will be held this year at The Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, and there after through our church office. As a reminder, the schedule for photos for this year's Souvenir Journal are as follows:
We thank you in advance for your enthusiasm and support and may God bless you and your families as we all continue our work in the Lord. George Gines- Gus Kramis- GeorgeSouflis- Journal-Chairmen
A look back at the accomplishments for the year 2001-2002 September
October
November
December
January
March
April
May
June
A sincere thank you to all who helped throughout the year. Thank You!! As a new ecclesiastic and academic year is about to begin, we hope that everyone had a restful summer. The members of the PTO/MC are looking forward to a new and even more enthusiastic year. We've listed all that was accomplished last year and we are looking for new ideas and suggestions to make the year 2002-2003 an even better year for our children!! Please attend our General Meetings YOUR suggestions. Reminders: The first day of Greek School is Tuesday, September 10th with a Holy Water Blessing at 4:15 pm. If you haven't registered your child, please see Andy Georgiou at the church's office, Mon - Fri. Sunday School begins on Sunday, September 8th, with registration taking place after the liturgy in the fellowship hall. Registration dates are September 8, 15, 22 & 29. Please register early. Greek Dance classes will begin mid September. Please register early. There will be 2 sessions; one on Saturdays and one after liturgy on Sundays. Our Childrens' Library will be underway this September and we hope that it will be ready as the year begins. If anyone wishes to donate new books (Religious or Greek Educational) please see Father John. The Tricky Tray (Chinese Auction) will be held on November 14th, 2002 at 6:15pm in the Gymnasium. Please save the date!!! On behalf of the PTO/MC, we pray that everyone of the Cathedral of St. John's family has a blessed and prosperous year! Sincerely,
In addition to the starting of a Children's Library downstairs, in the classroom area, we are near completion of our new Greek Heritage and Religious studies media and research library. The construction phase is done and the new state of the art media equipment is being installed at the time of this printing. The project is being directed by Mr. John Lignos with the generous contributions of certain key benefactors being most appreciated. The next phase of the Library is now ready to be implemented,
BOOKS!!! The idea is the have the very best of literature representing
our Greek Heritage and Religion. Father John, with the assistance of
Irene Polemis, will be in charge of this phase of the project.
(The difference between this and the children's library downstairs
is that our children will have use of our New Library, under
supervision, upstairs. But, will be using the Childrens' Library
most of the time, so the books being requested for there are
directed more towards our childrens' use.
Welcome Back! We hope that everyone enjoyed their summer. As we start another year of events, we want to remind those who have not paid their 2002 dues, to please do so as soon as possible. We cordially invite everyone to attend the reception following the vespers honoring our St. John the Theologian, on Wednesday, September 25th. Our ladies graciously will provide the refreshments. Our first general meeting will be Thursday, November 7th, at 7:30pm. A report will be given from the National Philoptochos Convention that was held in Los Angeles this past July. Immediately after the meeting everyone is welcome to meet and hear the Greek author Marina Rouvelas of "A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America", second edition. Ms. Rouvelas has agreed to come from Virginia for this lovely evening. Bring your family and friends to meet Ms. Rouvelas. The book is a great holiday gift for anyone on your list and proceeds from the sale will benefit our Cancer Fund. Next on the calendar will be the Christmas party. Mark your calendar for December 10th. This year promises to be even better. Arrangements are being made to obtain the excellent bouzouki player and singer, Chris Papson. We hope to see everyone. Maria Makrinos, President
Welcome back! We hope you all had a happy, healthy fun-filled summer even though we've had a sizzling few months. The Executive Board met during the summer to plan our agenda for the year. They will wait till the first meeting in September for more input from the Steering committee. So far, the following are scheduled: October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
So as they say, "Stay Tuned". You'll be glad you did! Respectfully Submitted,
Boston, Salem, Plymouth & Fall Foliage: Kali Parea sponsored trip for Monday, September 30 - Thursday, October 3 Prelimanary price $550/double $450/single Includes Days Hotel Boston, Luxury air Conditioned Bus, Narrated guided tours of Boston & Salem, Tours of Mark Twain & Harriet Beecher Stowe Houses in Hartford, John Adams National Historical Park, Plymouth Plantation and Mayflower II, House of the Seven Gables & Salem Witch Museum And Visit Hellenic College & Theological Seminary Need reservations immediately Call Helen Ermides at 201-348-8129 or Vangie George at 201-567-5848 Kali Parea has been very active this past season. In May, we had a presentation on Long Term Care Insurance by a representative from New York Life Insurance Co. In June, we had the final meeting for the season, with our traditional luncheon meeting. Both meetings were well attended and enjoyed by everyone. At the annual Church Festival, Kali Parea organized and ran the Greek Boutique Table and Ice Cream sales which contributed to the success of the Festival for our community. We also assisted in selling raffles for the automobile. On July 24, a small group went to the Playhouse in the Park in Menlo Park, NJ to see "Crazy for You". It was a delightful show. From Monday, September 30th to Thursday, October 3, Kali Parea has organized a Fall Foliage trip to Boston and the surrounds. On the trip north we will stop in Hartford, CT to visit the Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe Houses. In Brookline we will visit the Hellenic College and Seminary for a tour, dinner and vespers. In Boston proper, a guided tour has been arranged which will cover the historic sites. We will also visit the Adams Historical Park in Quincy, MA. A guided tour will be provided in Salem, in addition to stops at the House of Seven Gables and the Salem Witch Museum. On our return trip, we will stop at the Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock. Cost is $550 for a double and $450 for a single accommodation and includes a luxury bus, 3 nights stay at the newly renovated Days Hotel in Boston and all admission fees. This is based on a total of 40 people and does not include meals and incidentals. Reservations are presently being taken and are open to all church members. For further information, call me at 201-567-5848. On Tuesday, October 29th, we are going to the Culinary Institute for a tour and lunch. This trip is currently sold out, but we hope to do this again in the future. On Wednesday, November 13th, we have some tickets still available to see the play "Oklahoma" at the Gershwhin Theatre in New York. Bus transportation will be provided from church. We will also have lunch in the theater district prior to the 2:00pm matinee. Our first meeting of the new season will be Wednesday, September 18th at 1:30pm. Elections will be held for the 2002-2003 year. We look forward to seeing our old members and many new ones. Come join us! If you would like any further information on any of our activities, please call me at (201) 567-5848. Bill George, President
The GOYA of St. John the Theologian had an exciting and productive year. We began our year by hosting the Mr. /Miss Goya Pageant. This year's Pageant Representatives will be George Hatzis and Niki Panaretos. The Pageant will be held on October 13th at the Pines Manor. Our boy's Basketball Team and our girl's Volleyball Team came in second place at the District Tournaments. The girls also came in second at the Jersey City State Tournaments along with being presented a most Valuable Player Award. In December we had a very successful fundraiser for the orphaned Kebabjian Triplets of Clifton, and raised $1400. At the Sights and Sounds Literature, Art, and Music Festival we won first place in Choral Speaking, placed in the Greek Play production, along with winning Best Costumes and Best Actress awards. A number of our Goyans won literature, art, and music awards. The Outdoor Olympics was attended by 30 of our Goyans, and came home with a number of medals. The senior girls won two gold medals in relay races. Silver medals were won in individual freestyle swimming and the mixed swimming relay. Bronze medals were won in the mixed relay, mile run, 800M run, and shot put. We would like to welcome every teenager (12yrs. old and in 7th grade to 18 yrs. old and in 12th grade) in our community to become an active member of our youth organization. There are many activities in GOYA which everyone can actively participate in: Greek Dancing, Basketball, Volleyball, Dances, Religious Retreats, Community Service Projects, and Trips. Together with the continued support of our Spiritual Advisor, Fr. John Alexandrou, advisors, coaches, and parents we will make this a very exciting year. Our first meeting will be Friday, September 6th at 7:30pm. Refreshments will be served. The newly elected officers of our GOYA organization are: President-Michael Savva, Vice-President-Katerina Katsapis, Treasurer-Nick Kinnis, Recording Secretary-Renee Rousouli, and Corresponding Secretary-Constantine Rousouli. For more information please contact Penny Rousouli-(201) 894-8770, or send e-mail to DIMEGR@AOL.COM
We write to you with much excitement and enthusiasm for the upcoming Joy year, its 10th year at our community. Joy has become very dear in our hearts and a big part of our lives. We have seen our Joy children grow and blossom into beautiful young adults over the past several years. For those of our Joy members moving on to GOYA, we wish you good luck and continued growth in our Lord and hope that you stop by and visit. Joy allows our children to cultivate and strengthen those friendships made through Sunday School, Greek School and different Church Organizations. JOY meets the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month from 7:30-8:45pm in the JOY room beginning this year on October 4th, the first Friday in October. Registration dates are as follows: Sunday September 8th, 15th, and 22nd. (Immediately following the Divine Liturgy in the Fellowship Hall) There is a $20.00 donation for the first child and $5.00 each additional child. Parent participation is not necessary, however, we are always looking for assistance. We have scheduled many fun and exciting activities for JOY and look forward to seeing everyone soon. May there always be JOY. Sherry(Zoe) Zigouras,
Fani Demetrakopoulos
Mary Soras
JOY Advisers
The boys of Troop #25 started there summer with a very exciting and enjoyable week at Camp NoBeBoSco, where they earned many merit badges between all of their activities. They are ready for their first campout this year on October 12-13 at St. Basil's for the Greek Orthodox Retreat. October 25th we will be holding another Eagle Court of Honor, where the honoree receives the highest award in scouting. Your son, from 6th grade and up, can join the Boy Scouts for a year
of exciting and educational activities! Sign ups will be every Sunday
in September or call the church office for information.
We have had a full year with 2002 including our Annual Pinewood Derby, Loukoumades Sale and our 1st Annual Blue & Gold Dinner in February and March. In April the Cubs had a combination Church grounds cleanup and Bicycling day, followed by a large contingent marching at Greek Independence Day parade. In May the boys braved a wet weekend for the Twin Valley Camporee, and spent the Festival weekend helping at the Scout games, which benefited the church. June began with our Advancement ceremony, followed by a rafting/camping trip, along with the boy scouts, and a minor league baseball game, the NJ Jackals. The year ended with the Cub Scouts going to Camp Lewis for 5 days of fun exciting activities. This was their first experience at summer camp. Come sign up your son, 1st-5th graders, for cub scouts every Sunday
in September. But, do it before our September 14th trip to the Intrepid
in NYC.
Girl Scouts was a big success this year at St. John's. As you may know we restarted our troop, and what fun our Daisy and Brownie girl scouts had. We had many educational experiences which included dental health, nutrition, manners, fire safety and earning a religious award. We also included crafts and community projects. We especially enjoyed planting the fushia impatiens in front of the church entrance. We had outings where we exercised our bodies swimming and ice skating and exercised our voices Christmas Caroling. We concluded our year with a bridging ceremony for the Daisies and awards ceremony for our Brownies. We look forward to another year, meeting on the 2nd & 4th Friday of
each month. Girls, come and join the fun!
Please stop by and visit our Book Store, located across from the Church office. We have a wide variety of books, icons and gift items that you can choose from. We can also order almost any of you special requests or needs. Please feel free to ask any questions and we will be happy to help you. When you need a gift for someone, select one of our beautiful icons, special religious books or one of our many gift items to give to that special someone in your family or to keep in your own home. We can special order any item for your baptismal or wedding needs.
Stop by and browse through our many items. We are always willing to
serve you.
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Back to Top Please inform us of any changes or corrections in the schedule. Thank you to Andy Georgeou and Anna Georgeou for their invaluable assistance in this edition of the Chronicle. The deadline for the next issue of the Chronicle will be
December 6th, so it can be ready for Christmas.
The Cathedral Chronicle (May 5, 2002)
President's Message (Andreas Zigouras, President) Dear Fellow Stewards, I am humbled by the selection of our Parish Council as their President. It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that I accept this honor. I make a commitment to all of you to give of my self unselfishly and do my best to fulfill the responsibilities of my position. Our first and foremost commitment is to promote unity (OMONOIA) love (AGAPI) and cooperation (SYNERGASIA) amongst Father John, the Council, the Church Organization and our Fellow Stewards. We will do so by example! Our second commitment is to build on the efforts and accomplishment of our previous administrations and enhance the financial security of our church by:
We believe that if all of us together, as fellow Stewards, supported the Stewardship Program, our Greek Festival, Car Raffle and Dinner Dance Journal that our Church would have a surplus every year which ultimately could result in an amount sufficient to fund our operational needs solely from the interest, dividends and capital gains generated from the prudent investment of those funds. This would assure the continuance of our Church and Cultural Center for all future generations. Thirdly, this year we have formed an Advisory Committee whose qualifications include; a) serving as a Past President on the Parish Council or b) membership on the Parish Council for a minimum of three terms. Dr. George Kiriakopoulos will serve as the first Chairman of the Committee. However, the Committee will be responsible for selecting their own chairman on an annual basis in the future. The purpose of this Committee is to officially counsel the President and Executive Committee on all major issues. Also, this Committee will afford all devoted Parish Council members a well-earned position, once they retire from the Council, in which they can continue to serve our Church. Their experience and wisdom will prevent us from repeating mistakes, which were made in the past. Our fourth objective is to manage and protect the assets of our community in a disciplined, business like fashion. This will protect our children and future generations from being burdened with bigger financial challenges, which will arise from the necessity to replace these assets prematurely. We have other challenges to meet as well:
These projects are funded solely by private donations for which we are deeply grateful to the respective benefactors. I'm also happy to announce that we are currently taking bids for the installation of a new carpet in our Fellowship Hall and Cultural Center. One of our Church Organizations has already indicated that they will donate $10,000 toward the installation. We welcome additional donations so that we can complete the installation throughout our school without using our Operational Funds. We will meet and conquer all challenges together with love, unity and teamwork. Let us communicate effectively, forgive all past transgressions and operate as an extended Family, which we are! With Faith and Love in our Lord Jesus Christ. Sincerely,
The Family Circle consists of representatives of every
organization meeting together to create better cooperation for
our mutual goals and coordination of the multitude of activities
we offer. Our next meeting will be May 15th, 8:00pm. Please mark
your calender!
At our general meeting of February 27, our parish council president, Andreas Zigouras, addressed us. He informed us of some of the new projects for improving the appearance of the Cathedral. We presented him with our financial report from 2001. The report is always available so that anyone can see how faithfully Philoptochos works and view their many, many yearly commitments. St. Basil's Academy will be the setting for the NJ Diocese Lenten Retreat on Saturday, April 6th, 2002 at 9:300am. Katina Halkias is the contact for reservations. Please mark your calender for Tuesday, May 14, 2002 for our Annual Dinner Fashion Show at the Rockleigh Country Club of Rockleigh, New Jersey. The fashions will be provided by Neiman Marcus and they promise us a very lovely evening. The chairladies for this year's major fundraiser are Vasilia Azzata and Xanthi Athanasenas. For reservations please call Dina Gaitanaros at 201-224-4804, Bessie Theodorou at 201-947-4850 and Katina Halkias at 201-768-6740. Our special raffle tickets will be mailed shortly to all parishioners and we ask that you support us by purchasing them. A portion of the proceeds from our raffles will be designated to help a young local boy with a rare case of leukemia. Please make your reservations early and advance payment would be very helpful. Before you know it our "Taste of Greece" Festival will be here. We will need everyone to bake their specialties again. For those who can not bake, we ask that you mail a donation to us. Philoptochos provides the pastries for the festival and therefore your donations will help in the expenses. Volunteers will be needed to work the booth, so please contact Mary Skafidas at 201-384-3674 and let her know of your availability to work. Maria Makrinos, President
As the years pass, we find that two or three generations have gone by since our relatives immigrated to the United States, and with this in mind our main concern as parents is to keep our roots of our heritage and faith instilled in our children. After all, that is what makes up our children's personalities: who they are. It is this priority that sets the P.T.O./ Mothers' Club goals. These goals are to keep our faith and culture alive within them. And this is how we've taken on this task . . .
Our Greek School, under the supervision of the principal, Anna Megaris, has taken on new endeavors this year. These new adventures were the AKTINA FM Essay Contest that was introduced by the Greek/American news announcer Elena Maroulletti, aired from Astoria. Each month children of the area have the opportunity to vote on a topic and then were asked to write essays, mainly in the greek language, on these different monthly topics. We are proud to announce that in 3 out of the 5 topics St. John's Greek School came in first place. The Winners were Dean Lignos, Lambrina Koliou & Konstantine Demetrakopoulos. Along with those winners, we had several honorable mentions: Anna Lilikas (2 times), Konstantine Demetrakopoulos, Anthony Kinnis, Lambrina Koliou, George Soussou and Dean Lignos. Congratulations!! The P.T.O./Mothers' Club has set its goals and as each year passes we hope that we've touched several children's lives or sparked a flame in each child's heart to continue to be a part of our very rich culture and to love our faith. We wish every one in our community a Blessed Easter! Sincerely,
The Mr. & Mrs. Club would like to emphasize to everyone that it is a Philanthropic, as well as a social organization. In the past, club donations amounting to thousands of dollars were made in support of the various needs of our church. In the future its members will strive to be of even greater assistance. We have recently donated $3500 for new choir robes, which are scheduled to arrive before Easter.
We would like to wish Marie & Alex Argiriou a quick "Perastika". We miss you; hurry back. Although the club originated as a Mr & Mrs couples club, today, our membership of over 200 is composed of both couples and singles. The following are the officers for 2001-02:
We are looking forward in welcoming all members of the
community into our fellowship.
Kali Parea has now grown to 119 paid members. Monthly meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 1:30pm. All are welcome. On January 9th, we visited the Edison Historic Site in West Orange. This location includes the home of Thomas A. Edison and his wife, as well as his laboratory |