ORATORICAL FESTIVAL ON APRIL 14

The Cathedral will hold the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival on Sunday, April 14, following the Divine Liturgy. Details of the festival are found in the "Sunday School News" section of this issue of the Herald.

NEW DANCE GROUP FORMED

In addition to the Cathedral's three dance groups, Arete, Kymata and Philadelfakia, we have added a fourth group, for ages 4 to 8. The new group is called Ta Angelakia (little angels), directed by Leah Stavrakaras and Michael Garibaldi. The group practices at the Cathedral every Tuesday from 6 to 7 pm. We already have 5 youngsters in the group. There is room for at least another 5. We would encourage our parents (and grandparents) to bring their young ones, who will benefit culturally and socially, and even physically, since dance enhances coordination and instils cultural appreciation.

For additional information, you may call or E-mail our directors. Leah can be reached at Leptoula@aol.com; Michael may be reached at Beamer09@Hotmail.com. Both are award-winning dancers from our older groups. We thank them for teaching the younger ones. In the end, that is what this program is all about.

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS

It's a great time for families to bring children to Sunday School as we approach the Great Lent. In March and in April the children will have lenten-related lessons. A great web site for families to access to get more information about lenten activities, recipes, and suggestions for raising Orthodox children is www.theologic.com. Sunday School will hold its annual St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival on Sunday, April 14. New this year is the elementary division for grades 4-6. Children in this division will be asked to speak for no more than 1 1/2 minutes. We expect that we will have about 30 participants in all. We want to encourage your children's participation in this program, as it is a great opportunity for them to learn, write, and speak about their Orthodox faith. In addition, it gets them accustomed to speaking in public. As usual, we will have children participating in the Junior Division (grades 7-9) and in the Senior Division (grades 10-12).

The names of the first and second place winners will be forwarded on April 15 to ensure their participation in the Bay Area District Oratorical Festival, which will take place at Belmont's Church of the Holy Cross Oaks Room on Sunday, April 21 at 1 p.m. Look for the April Herald, which will list the Sunday School activities for the remainder of Lent and Holy Week, such as the Candlelight Presanctified Divine Liturgy on Friday evening, April 26 at 7 pm, the Folding of the Palms on Saturday morning, April 27, following the Divine Liturgy, and T.G.I.PASCHA on Holy Friday, May 3.

LOOK HOMEWARD ANGELS
by Desiderus Arasmus

Seems like it was only yesterday that a group of young girls came to the Annunciation with a dream...to play basketball. I recall that special day as they hesitantly walked down the corridor. When they reached our then new Center, they paused for a brief moment to gaze upon the brass letters which boldly proclaimed the Korinthias Center. As they slowly ventured into the hall, I could hear them whispering, "What is a Korinthias?" From the smile on his face, I can only assume that their coach, Mike Canellos, also overheard them. Upon introducing himself, he sat the young girls down and gave them a brief history of the Annunciation. He explained that the word "Korinthias" was in fact the name of the individual our hall was named for--Bill Korinthias. With child-like innocense they asked, "Is he very rich?" As Mike grinned, he repeated the question, "Is he rich?" "More than anyone could imagine," Mike replied. He went on to explain that God had blessed Bill with very special gifts--patience, kindness, and a love for children. For over 65 years Bill had dedicated his life to the youth programs at the Annunciation, never expecting anything in return. Bill had given something much more valuable than money to the Annunciation: he had given himself! Mike told the young girls that the new center they were now sitting in was the fruits of 65 years of labor by people like Bill Korinthias. He stressed that the Korinthias Center stands as a tribute to the legacy Bill bequeathed to us.

That season, the little group of young girls became Annunciation's first-ever Girls Junior Varsity Team. The "Little Angels," as they were soon to be known, went undefeated, capturing botrh league and tournament championships. The following year, moving up to the high school division, our “Angels, lost their first game, 30 to 27. They went on to win the remainder of their games and avenge their only loss with a convincing win in the tournament championship. The following year, our Angels went undefeated, winning both league and tournament championships. Last season, as juniors, our Angels posted yet another undefeated season, again repeating as league and tournament champions. As they are about to enter their final season as players, our Angels' record stands at 31 wins and only 1 loss. Yet, far more important than winning and losing, our Angels continue to symbolize the fact that, through hard work and dedication, anything can be accomplished, a lesson they learned from Bill so very long ago.

In respect and gratitude to William Korinthias, and to all of you who have supported these young ladies (for they are no longer little girls), as well as our basketball program in general, our angels will be wearing wrist bands of blue and gold with the initials "W.K." during their games. We urge our entire parish to come and say thank you and so long to Natalie and Candace, to Sara and Mariella, to Leah, Stephanie, and Mary. Look homeward, Angels, you will always be in our hearts!

In other basketball news, our High School and Adult Season is about to begin, specifically, the weekend of March 17. Anyone wishing to participate in these teams must notify Mike Canellos by March 10. Mike will be contacting the various teams to sign up and schedule practice and then meet with them and Father Stephen before the season starts, to discuss a number of issues relating to basketball, such as uniforms, their obligations to the Cathedral through Stewardship, and their involvement in a number of activities sponsored by and for the youth of the Cathedral, such as the Western Barbeque.

GETTING GOING ON GOYA

As Father Stephen stated on a number of occasions, two of our top priorities, which require our immediate attention, are 1. building our church and 2. gathering our youth. "Gathering our youth" means developing more programs for them, involving them more in the life of the Church, getting them to know Christ our Savior, nurturing their spiritual formation and, at the same time, getting them to appreciate the heritage which is uniquely ours. We have been rather successful at developing basketball programs (we now have 12 teams), and dance groups (we have 4 of them). We have been successful also in developing a Young Adults program, a JOY program for those twelve years of age and under and even a summer camp program. However, we lack a viable, strong GOYA. Toward this end, several adult leaders and GOYA leaders, came together on Wednesday, February 27 and will be working together to chart a course for GOYA so that it will emerge as a strong organization once again. You will be hearing a lot more about GOYA as our 13 to 18 year olds regroup.

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