Some Farewells Are Not Forever

Okay, well, here I am again—still your President, entering my third term. Surprised? So am I! For those of you that missed our General Assembly in February, here’s what happened: since St. Sophia had appealed our National Ministries assigned allocation, the Archdiocese refused to ratify our 2008 elections. Back in January, that meant that the then current (2007) board and officers stayed in place until the Bishop decided what to do with us.

Following our General Assembly, during which we voted (almost unanimously) to pay the bill, our elections were ratified immediately. By then, we were well into our new year and the parish council decided (through a formal vote) to just keep rolling.

When a new cabinet gets put in place, it takes quite a while to settle down. There’s a learning curve to the job, and as one who has experienced it first as the Treasurer (2004), then as the Vice President (2005) and then, again, as the President, (2006, 2007) I will tell you, it’s steep. For the good of the community, and with the encouragement of our spiritual leader, Father Pat, we decided to just keep our seats. The only new officer is Bessie Malamas, who has graciously stepped up as the Financial Secretary, replacing Helen Sokaris, who did an incredible job, but needed some relief (Helen has her hands full with all she does – including the editorship of The Testament, which, in itself, is a full time job). Thank you, Helen, for the great job you did – and thanks to Bessie, who has taken on a huge, time consuming task on behalf of the community. Other officers who have stayed are Chris Googas, Vice President; Harry Ermides, Treasurer, and Marie Patelos, Recording Secretary. With the Festival upon us, I’d like to thank all of them for stepping up to the plate for nine more months to avoid any disruption of our services to our community.

What’s Ahead in 2008

By the time you get this edition of The Testament, (or have the time to read it) the major parish council event of the year will be complete. This, of course, is the Festival. Let us never take for granted the services of our party master, George Sokaris. The constant pushing he does to make it work for us borders on inhuman. Starting as soon as the last festival finishes, George adds new flourishes to our event every year. Since becoming President, I have attended festivals in other cities while traveling just to compare. There is no festival that I have been to that even comes close to the creativity and professionalism of our event. Everyone deserves a lot of credit for all the up front and behind the scenes activities that culminate in the festival, but George deserves our greatest thanks for pulling it together – year after year. His spirit drives all of us to do our best and work together for the church. Thanks, George!

This year the Parish Council will also be spearheading a “Shed Raising” for increased storage; the now annual Souvlaki Fest – bringing us back together after a long summer; the annual family Thanksgiving Dance Reunion; and Volunteer Sunday – a day to honor and celebrate volunteerism within our own ranks.

We also want to finish raising the last of the money to pay off the renovation project – our Faithful to the Future Capital Campaign will hopefully finish by year’s end. We have approximately $150,000 left to raise. Look to future Testament articles for more about this.

Finishing Touches

In 2007, our parish council attempted some new types of events that did not go off very successfully. This was a little discouraging, but nonetheless did not take away from all of the successes we did have in 2007. The work we do behind the scenes, although not visible to the naked eye, allows us to keep dreaming about the next projects we should take on as a community: a new classroom wing; the idea of a community daycare center as a constant stream of revenue for the church; and Father Pat’s dream of a small chapel – these are all the things we continue to talk about and work toward. I hope you will join in the conversation and share your ideas. To quote Senator Clinton—“it takes a village”. Have a great month!