BASKETBALL GAMES AT THE ANNUNCIATION CATHEDRAL

Please note the following times and venues when our teams will be playing at the Cathedral this month. You are invited to attend the games and support our teams.

TUESDAY, MAY 3
7:30 PM - Girls HS - St. Nicholas vs. Annunciatiation
8:45 PM - Adult BW - St. Nicholas vs Ascension #1

TUESDAY, MAY 10
7:15 PM - Boys HS - Annunciation vs. St. Gregory
8:30 PM - Adult BW - Holy Trinity #3 vs St. Gregory #1

SUNDAY, MAY 15
2:15 PM - Girls HS - Annunciation vs. Holy Trinity
4:45 PM - Boys HS - Annunciation vs. Holy Trinity
6:00 PM - Adult - Annunciation vs. Holy Trinity #2

BASKETBALL PRACTICE IN MAY

We are pleased to announce that the Basketball gym practice schedule is as follows:

Tuesday Evenings
OYAA Basketball Games (following which our Dance Program resumes practice)

Wednesday Evenings
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Women's Practice/High School Boys Practice
8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.B-1 and B-2 Men's Practice

Thursday Evenings
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Girls High School Practice
8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.Men's A Team practice

Schedules have been distributed and are available at the information counter.

NOT TOO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT SUMMER CAMPS:

ANNUNCIATION CATHEDRAL'S CAMP AT . . .

--CASSINI RANCH
--ST. NICHOLAS RANCH &
--RETREAT CENTER, IONIAN VILLAGE

Young people of our community have three camp options. One is our own family camp, which for the last few years has been held at the Cassini Ranch along the shores of the Russian River, August 5th through August 10th.. John Curd will be our Camp Director this year, in Ari Stratakis' absence. (Ari and his family will be on vacation.) A second is the camp held at the St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center, in Dunlap, California. Finally, a third is the one held at the Ionian Village, on the shores of the Ionian Sea, in Greece.

During 2005 two summer sessions at Ionian Village will be offered. One is for young people in grades 7 through 9. This will take place July 1st through July 19. The second is for young people in grades 10 through 12. This will take place July 25th through August 13th. For more information, visit the web site, www.ionianvillage.org. You may also call the Ionian Village office, at 646 519-6190. While Ionian Village is far, located as it is along the Ionian Sea, in Greece, those who have attended in past years attest that it is a life-altering experience. There is nothing like the Orthodox life sessions there, one hears over and over again. Do give this option your utmost consideration.

SCHOLARSHIPS/GRADUATES

We are pleased to announce that scholarship application forms are available at the pangari or by calling the Cathedral office at 415 864-8000.

The Cathedral itself provides the following Scholarships: the John N. Pappas Scholarship for $1,000, the Christos Tsikitas Scholarship, for $500, and the Dr. Anthony Bagatelos Medical Scholarship. Currently, the Bagatelos Scholarship is for $500; however, the family has indicated it will augment the scholarship, to $1,000.

The Annunciation Cathedral Philoptochos is awarding three scholarships. Two are Philoptochos Scholarships, in the amount of $1,000 each, and one is the Argyres Scholarship, in the amount of $500. With six scholarships being offered in 2005, the community (church and Philoptochos) continues to express support for our young people by assisting in their educational pursuits.

Meanwhile, we congratulate those young people from our community who will be graduating this year. They are: 1) Alexandra Kallas, who will be graduating from Castro Valley High; Alexandra plans to attend Chabot Junior College in the fall. 2) Hiwet Mahari, who will be graduating from Galileo High, San Francisco; Hiwet will be attending San Francisco City College in the fall. 3) Juliana Rotter, who will be graduating from the Convent of the Sacred Heart High; Juliana will be attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. 4) Sidon Soloman, who will be graduating from Galileo High, San Francisco; Sidon will be attending San Francisco City College in the fall. 5) Ryan Ramos, who will be graduating from Terra Nova High in Pacifica; Ryan will be attending Skyline Junior College in the fall. 6) Nick Ramos, who will be graduating from Terra Nova High in Pacifica; Nick will be attending Skyline Junior College in the fall. We wish you well in your educational endeavors.

A WORD FROM OUR YOUTH/PROGRAMS DIRECTOR, MIKE CANELLOS

The month of April was an extremely busy time at the Cathedral. At the beginning of April, Metropolitan Gerasimos celebrated his first Liturgy. As a result, our Oratorical Festival, scheduled for April 3rd, was moved back to March 20th. Katherine Curd took first place in the first division; Stephanie Rotter took second. On April 10th, both participants' performances were exceptional. Special congratulations to Stephanie Rotter, who placed first. She will be going on to the Metropolis-wide festival, which will take place at the St. George Church in Fresno on May 14th.

March 20th also marked the beginning of the 2005 OYAA senior division basketball season. Currently, the Annunciation is sponsoring a boys and a girls high school team, two mens B teams, an A team, and a womens team. In addition to the customary schedule of Sunday games, the Annunciation has been asked to host league games every Tuesday evening. During most Sunday games, we provide a full-service snack bar, sponsored by our GOYA.

On Saturday, March 26th, our Dance Groups celebrated their recent FDF participation with a wrap-up dinner in our Korinthias hall. A special thanks to Athena Stavrakaras, our Executive Director, for her assistance in cooking and clean-up. Our Sunday School and, specifically Denise Yeilding, has put on another successful TGI Pascha on April 29. Our children also participated in a planned palm-tying dinner on April 22nd, following the Candlelight Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified, where some of the children offered the readings. They took part in a lenten dinner prepared, on behalf of the Sunday School, by Effie Vellis. During Holy Week, our children participated as acolytes and as "angels."

As they do every year, our GOYA will be preparing and pinning corsages on our mothers on Mother's Day. In addition, under the oversight of Caroline Pappajohn, the children will be preparing chocolate chip cookies for our moms. Looking ahead, a basketball awards dinner is being planned for some time in June, following the conclusion of the basketball season. On June 3rd, GOYA aged children (13-18) will participate in a "lock-in" at the Cathedral, affording the children the opportunity, through discussions and planned activities, to strengthen their bonds as members of our youth program. On June 5th, we will hold our Sunday School graduation/promotion exercises. A complimentary luncheon will be offered by the Sunday School.

In addition to taking part in youth activities, our young people are also participating in other parish programs. One such program is Community Link, where our children accompany adults on visits to homebound parishioners and shelters.

Plans for the summer months include a day time basketball camp, at the Cathedral, to instruct our younger children in the fundamentals of basketball. Older girls who have been through the program will mentor and oversee the progress of the younger girls.

Plans are underway to begin a cheer leading program as well as to develop a junior choir. A youth committee will come into being to develop additional programs, as well as a youth directory. Meanwhile, we plan to have "open gym" Friday nights during the summer. This will afford young people of all ages the opportunity to come down, shoot baskets, play volleyball, and socialize over pizza and soft drinks. We are endeavoring to do everything possible to make our Annunciation Cathedral everyone's second home.

Return to Main Index

May 2005 Herald
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral