608 SOUTH COLLEGE ROAD WILMINGTON NC 28403 (910) 392-4444 FAX (910) 392-4905

www.stnicholaswilmington.org

Feast of the Annunciation of our most holy lady,

the Theotokos and ever virgin Mary

March 25

March 2016

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church March 2016

Fr. Jon Emanuelson

Parish Priest

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9AM – 2PM

Office Phone: 910-392-4444 Office Fax: 910-392-4905

Fr. Jon’s Mobile Number: 910-685-0080

Office Email: office@stnicholaswilmington.org

Fr. Jon’s Email: FrJon@stnicholaswilmington.org

Church Website: www.stnicholaswilmington.org

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/StNicholasWilmington

2016 PARISH COUNCIL

CHURCH STAFF

Angelique Skandalakis, Parish Office Administrator

PARISH MINISTRY TEAM

Officers Members

Barbara Reynolds, President Evangelos Fragos Debra Rallis

Jack Poulos, Vice President Peter Manolukas Nick Saffo

Tina Bostic, Treasurer Emanuel Miliotis Maria Stasios

Peter Malahias, Assistant Treasurer

Irene Sotiriou Vogiatzis, Secretary

Emanuel Miliotis, Chairman of the Council of Ministries

Religious Education…Richard Reynolds, Ministry

Chair

Communications - Technology Ministries…

Adult Education…Richard Reynolds Alexandros Theodoropoulos , Ministry Group Leader

Youth Catechism…Courtney Malahias, Director Webmaster… Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Bookstore/Library…Mary Ann Wall Publications…Angelique Skandalakis, Stella McTaggart

Oratorical Festival…Courtney Malahias Technology… Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Media/Community Relations…Debra Rallis, Alexandros

Hellenic Culture…Kitsa Wiersteiner, Ministry Chair Theodoropoulos

Hellenic School…Anestis Logothetis, Acting Director

Romiosini Dance Group…Zaharoula Katsikis Parish Family Life…**Volunteer Needed**

Zoyra Dance Group…Lucas Bostic, Katerina Katsikis Parish Family Night…**Volunteer Needed**

Choral…Dr. Michael Rallis Men’s Group…Richard Reynolds

Special Activities… Kitsa Wiersteiner Women’s Group…**Volunteer Needed**

Forever Young…Stella Vallianos

Youth Diakonia…Doug Brown, Ministry Chair LOVE…Angelique Skandalakis, Kay Skandalakis

GOYA…Benjalee Pittman, Alexia Porzio, Doug Brown,

Courtney Malahias Outreach & Evangelism…Diane McGowan, Ministry

Chair

HOPE/JOY… Joyce Patsalos, Sophia Brewer, OCF…Fr. Jon, Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Jaime Saffo, Renée Karonis Psilos, Connie Ronner Hospitality…Ed Mayorga, Kathleen Mayorga

Metropolis Strategic Planning...Koula Katsikis Community Service…Christina Mount

Parish Care…Pat Poulos, Tina Stamatakis,

Liturgical Life… Dr. Michael Rallis, Ministry Chair Kay Skandalakis , Dr. Mary Frankos

Liturgical Music… Dr. Michael Rallis

Acolytes…Doug Brown Philoptochos…Tia Saffo, Chapter President

Neokoros/Sexton…**Volunteer Needed**

Stewardship…Debra Rallis

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

3

From the Desk of Father Jon

I would like to thank all the Parishioners and the Philoptochos for their prayers and cards for Presbytera Bar-

bara during this difficult time for us. She had a double bypass surgery on February 18th. Her doctor said the

surgery went as planned and he is happy with the results. Presbytera Barbara is now in the CV-ICU. She is

expected to be moved to a regular hospital room soon. Glory be to God!

From the Parish Council President

Barbara Reynolds

We held the February General Assembly meeting February 14. I would like to share with you the highlights

of what was presented at the meeting. The full minutes will be posted on a bulletin board in the Hellenic Cen-

ter. Jimmie Stasios was chosen chairman of the meeting. Fr. Jon opened the meeting with a prayer. His

shared that 35 new families have moved into the area. He asked that we all invite people to church and

thanked the parish for all they do.

Presidents Report

I gave a recap of 2015 sharing photos of some of the major events. We had several “firsts” in 2015:

Philoptochos hosted the Agape luncheon raising over $17,000 for Metropolis youth programs

Our first family retreat at Camp Kirkwood

We have a new Women’s Bible study on Wednesday mornings

Other events mentioned:

Golf tournament brought in over $9000

HDF 2015 a wonderful event

Festival 2015 very successful event

We had a beautiful Pascha. Thanks to Philoptochos for the beautiful flowers and Epitafion design

Love and Joy / Hope groups continue to grow

Lovely OXI Day celebration with Despina Saffo sharing her experiences growing up in Greece

Stop Hunger Now raised over $10.000 and had 100 people packaging 37,000 meals

We exceeded our 2015 stewardship goal by almost $20,000 with 186 families participating

I reviewed the plans for improving the Hellenic Center:

New floor

Ceiling: Open up the room by removing dropped ceiling in higher portion of the center and replace with

insulation and sheet rock to make it a peaked ceiling 3 feet higher in the center. Leave beams and air con-

ditioning ducts exposed. Remove dropped ceiling in lower area of the center and replace with sheet rock

or more attractive ceiling tiles.

Make further improvements to the bar area

Cost is in the $60,000 range

Recommendation was to get two more estimates

Council of Ministries (COM)

Maria Stasios presented the status for Manny Miliotis

New leaders in COM: Manny Miliotis, Leader of COM; Doug Brown, Youth Leader; Joyce Patsalos, Jamie

Saffo, Sophia Brewer, Connie Ronner, Renee Karonis for JOY / Hope; Benjalee Pittman, Alexia Porzio,

Courtney Malahias, Doug Brown for GOYA; and Koula Katsikis, Metropolis Strategic Planning

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

4

Status of COM:

Transitioning COM meeting to the week before PC meetings for better communication.

Reaching out to Ministry leads to set time to review SWOT analysis for each: Strengths / Weakness / Op-

portunism / Threats

Discussions around launching new separate ministry: Community Service

Hellenic culture – Dance group: Looking to formalize roles & responsibilities to help with group efficiency

and communication. (in progress)

Festival

Irene Sotiriou presented for Nick Saffo and Lee King

2016 Festival will be May 13, 14, 15

2016 Charity - Good Shepherd Center

Need everyone’s help to make this a successful festival.

Sell and buy ads

Coordinate/prepare lunches for Friday (May 13th)

Meal Preparations

Tent and Table set-up

Cashiers, Food servers, gate attendants, etc.

Invite your family and friends to share in the event!

Parish Data Systems (PDS)

Presented by Rick Reynolds

A tool for creating a friendlier, more inclusive church

Two examples given on how to get to know each other better and improve communications:

1. Create and update photos directories using the tool for free without any outside company and without hav-

ing to schedule a date for the updates

2. Software has a tailored process for communicating within the church

Can choose method of communication: email, text or phone

Can create multiple lists e.g by ministry so that you only get information that you are interested in

Alexandros Theodoropoulos will be installing the hardware for the system.

For more information on the tool or a demo, contact Rick Reynolds rickrey325@me.com

Treasurer Report

Presented by Tina Bostic

2015 Stewardship – Received $19,330 over budgeted amount

2016 Stewardship – Feb 2016 vs. Feb 2015: up by $31,400 and 16 more stewards

Budget: Changes to budget since November , 2015 General Assembly due to actual income and spending

at end of year 2015. Major changes were:

Income: Increased stewardship to $262,168 ($2,837 over 2015 actuals); eliminated income from festi-

val fund; increased Dance Group income to be ½ of their expenses

Expenses: Increased utilities; increase for Fr. Jon, increased dance group expenses based on estimates

of children participating next year

Budget was unanimously approved.

Audit Committee volunteers approved: Irene Voneiff, Sam Wiersteiner , Koula Katsikis

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

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Treasurer’s Update Tina Bostic

2016 Operating Income /Expenses

General Fund Income Expenses Variance

Jan $50,896.98 $21,401.44 $29,495.54

We continue to see positive income to support the various operating expenses for St. Nicholas.

Stewardship

Stewardship Received

Stewardship Goal Variance

Jan $45,594.06 $21,847.36 $23,746.70

The 2016 stewardship goal approved at the General Assembly in Feb. is $262,168.32. The monthly goal is

$21,847.36.

Stewardship 2016: We have received 91 stewardship cards as of Feb. 15th. This represents 45.5% of

our stewards. Thank you for your commitment to St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

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Anagnost, Christopher

Angeledes, Angelo & Evelyn

Batuyios, Nicholas & Colton, Julie

Bostic, Michael & Tina

Brown, Douglas & Argiro

Burke A. Bruce

Calhoun, Cameron & Pam

Carr, Martha & Russell

Constantinou, Stacy

Dandulakis, Gregory & Kimberly

Demas, Ron & Sherry

Diakogiannis, Ifigenia

Diakogiannis, John

Dimopoulos, George

Dimopoulos, Maria

Dimopoulos, Pete & Kathy

Dimopoulos, Vasilios

Dodge, Nicholas & Kristina

Dukas, Nota

Eason Jr., Edgar William

Emanuelson, Fr. Jon &

Presbytera Barbara

Fatsis, Anastasios

Fernandez, Deacon Thomas

& Stacie

Flowers, Larry & Helen

Fragakis, John & Sophia

Fragos, Evangelos

& Olympia

Gill, Timothy & Catherine

Gkikis, Ilias

Grogg, Keith

Haralambous, Irini

Ingraham, James & Diana

Jeffries, Phil & Irene

Katris, Angelo & Anastasia

Kefalas, Thalia

King, Lee & Doris

Koklanaris, Dr. Emanuael & Lambra

Kratsa, Perry & Anita

Lawler, Susan

Lazaridis, Nick & Nena

Lionikis, Emmanuel & Athanasia

Logothetis, Anestis & Constance

Loizides, Michael & Theodora

Maggio, Evelyn

Manolukas, Joan and Peter

Maraveyias, Nick & Jennifer

Markatos, Aristea

Marmaras, Georgia

Marmaras, Mary

Mayorga, Aspasia

Mayorga, Edward & Kathleen

Meyer, Mark & Angelique

Miliotis Manny & Mary Beth

Padgett, Demetra

Papanicolaou, Haralambos & Androniki

Passaris, Christopher & McDonald,

Chrys

Patitsas, Nicholas & Andrea

Patsalos, Demetrios & Anna

Patsalos, Nick & Joyce

Pinkston, Anne Bakalis

Ponos, Rhonda

Poulos, Patricia & Koula

Psilos, Constantine & Karonis

Renee

Rallis, Dr. Michael & Debra

Reynolds, Rick & Barbara

Ronner, Thomas & Connie

Saffo, Marian & Marika

Saffo, Nick & Tia

Saffo, Tony & Jamie

Skandalakis, Kay & Angelique

Sljaka, Sophie

Souflas, Thomas & Linda

Spyropoulos, Maria

Stasios, James & Maria

Theophilos, Renee

Tracy, Ernest & Sophia

Triantafillopoulas, Konstantinos & Deb

Tsingelis, Nickyforos

Vavalette, Mary Ann

Vines, Betsy & Jason

Vogiatzis, Anastasios

Vogiatzis, Ioannis & Barbara

Vogiatzis, Vasilios & Sotiriou, Irene

Wall, Mary Ann

Weatherly, Edwin Leo

Whitley, John and Helen

Wickersham, Donald R.

Wiersteiner, Samuae & Kyriaki

Woods, William & Eleni

Younan, Nanette

Zezefellis, Effie

Stewards as of February 15, 2016

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

7

Philoptochos Enosis Chapter #5027

Tia Saffo

Greetings from the St Nicholas Ladies Philoptochos.

We hope you can all join us for our next General

Meeting on March 6th immediately following the Di-

vine Liturgy. We will be focused on plans for Great

and Holy Pascha. Please make every effort to attend

this very important meeting.

Our March 6th speaker will be Rick Reynolds.

A special thank you to Angela Dentiste for her

presentation on The Good Samaritan at our last Gen-

eral Meeting. Angela spoke of the need to help refu-

gee families coming to our area.

We have enclosed an order form for Easter Flower

Donation Orders. Please submit your form as soon as

possible; these flowers can be purchased in honor of

or in memory of your loved ones. We will purchase

lilies or a substitute flower, depending on what is in

season in May.

On March 13th, we will be passing a special tray to

help support the needs of Hellenic College. Please

donate what you can to help our seminarians.

Also please see the information regarding the Me-

tropolis Annual Spiritual Retreat. This event is $165

per person. Details can be found online at the me-

tropolis website:

http://atlantametropolisphiloptochos.org

Thank you to those who have already submitted their

2016 membership pledge cards. The yellow cards

and the ornaments are still available for those who

have not signed up yet. Please see a board member on

Sunday to get yours!

We thank you all for being a friend to the poor.

Romiosini and Zoyra

We will have our Greek Independence Day celebra-

tion on April 3rd. Our dancers will perform for us

their award winning dances. Please join us as we cel-

ebrate our church holiday as well as our Greek na-

tional holiday.

Forever Young Stella Vallianos

Once again we want to thank Kay Skandalakis for

hosting an early Valentine’s luncheon for our Forever

Young group. As always, everything was delicious

and well planned. Thank you Kay, and God bless

you.

On Tuesday, March 1st, we will meet at 11AM at the

church. No need to bring any food. We will be going

out to eat. We had such a nice turnout at our last two

meetings that I am hoping the momentum will contin-

ue. Jot down the meeting information on your calen-

dar and make plans to come.

Hellenic Culture - Special Activities Kitsa Wiersteiner

On Saturday, January 30th St Nicholas Greek Ortho-

dox Church and the Hellenic Culture Special Activi-

ties Committee sponsored an exhibit showcasing

Greece at the 23rd Annual Intercultural Festival at

UNCW's Burney Center. A celebration highlighting

cultures and countries represented in Wilmington was

open to the public. There was plenty of food, dance,

music performances and exhibits, which showcased

the rich cultural diversity of our community and be-

yond. We would like to thank the following individu-

als for participating to make this years exhibit a suc-

cess: Kitsa and Sam Wiersteiner, Christin Ballou, Ifi-

genia Diakogiannis, Kathy Dimopoulos, Eleni

Kaprantzas, Anastasia Katris, Christina and Vasili

Lazaridis, Joanne Simontas, Alexandros The-

odoropoulos for setting up a wonderful video and the

Zoyra / Romiosini Dancers and their instructors.

On Sunday, January 31st, we celebrated the Three

Hierarchs. Our speaker was Dr. Ron Demas who

gave a very inspiring and informative speech. We

thank Dr. Demas very much. We also want to give

special thanks to Dr. Michael Rallis who directed pa-

rishioners in singing the beautiful Apolytikion of the

Three Hierarchs. Many thanks to Hellenic school par-

ents who decorated the Hellenic Center and to all of

the people who brought food for the coffee hour.

Thank you Lola Loizides for setting up the food and

the drinks for the coffee hour. We also want to thank

Kathy Dimopoulos for preparing the fliers for the

program and for donating the icon of the Three Hier-

archs that were on each table. Special thanks to Ale-

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

8

xandros Theodoropoulos for his power point set up

and many thanks to Alex Manolukas for videotaping

the celebration.

Greek Independence Day celebration will be held

in the Hellenic Center after Divine Liturgy on Sunday,

April 3rd. The guest speaker will be Dr. Michael Ral-

lis. This special festivity will also include poems,

dances, and songs. The Hellenic school will sponsor

the luncheon as a fund raiser for the school. For those

individual who need help reciting their poems, help

will be available on Sunday, March 20th, and Sunday,

March 27th during the coffee hour. Please come join

us in celebration of this special event.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) Fr. Jon & Alexandros Theodoropoulos

OCF Retreat in Raleigh on February 13, 2016

Youth Catechism Courtney Malahias

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my

path.” Psalm 119

Thank you parents for making church a priority on

Sunday’s. It is so important for our children to have

structure and routine. What better routine than to at-

tend liturgy and participate in it’s fullness? Our teach-

ers work hard to prepare lessons and it is appreciated

when they have good attendance. Remember

……………………………………………………

We need U in CH RCH!

Oratorical Festival is coming up FAST! The date is

March 13, 2016!!!! Please encourage your child to

write a speech. It is such a wonderful experience.

We will have a practice on Thursday, February 24th at

7:00 pm in the hall… If you would like to help chil-

dren with their speeches, please come!!!

Thank you for all you do!

Grateful to be in His service

GOYA Benjalee Pittman, Alexia Porzio,

Doug Brown, Courtney Malahias

Please “Save the Dates” for our Winter/Spring activi-

ties

Feb. 21 Meeting for all GOYAns following Divine

Liturgy.

Feb. 28 Family Outreach: GOYAns have been asked

to help serve the food

March 2 Family Night 6:30pm @ St. Nicholas

March 11 Goya Lock-In at the Church

March 13 Oratorical Festival

April 2 Southport Trip.

April 8-10: GOYA Lenten Retreat

For more information & to sign up for the retreat visit:

https://campscui.active.com/orgs/GreekOrthodoxMetr

opolisofAtlanta#/selectSessions/1355901

April 23 Saturday of Lazarus: Making palm crosses

after the Service and a pancake breakfast

May13-15: Greek Festival

May 20 Tentative Camping trip to Masonboro Island

June 5 End of year party with ALL youth at

Halyburton Park from 2-6pm

Communications Ministries Alexandros Theodoropoulos

Online Live Streaming of Services! We are glad to

announce that, following up on the requests of several

of our parishioners, our live streaming ministry now

offers recording of our services too. Our parishioners

are now able at any time to view any of our services

that have taken place within the last seven (7) days by

using the convenient timeline slider that is now availa-

ble at the bottom of the streaming window. We would

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

9

like to thank our Parish Council member Peter Mano-

lukas whose kind donation made this new feature pos-

sible!

Stop Hunger Now! Our church’s 5th Annual SHN

meal-packaging event, which took place on December

5th, 2015, received community wide coverage with an

article published in Star-News on February 15th,

2016! The article can be viewed online at

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20160215/ente

rtainment/160219975. We would like to thank Irene

Vogiatzis and Jimmie Stasios for working with Star-

News for this purpose!

A PERSONAL NOTE …

We received the special Thank You message below

from Angelos Georgopoulos, a fine young Greek man

who visited our church on January 31st, worshipped

with us and also attended our Three Hierarchs celebra-

tion … Certainly, it is great for our parish community

to know that it did a great job and was so successful in

making Angelos feel so welcomed in our church! In

addition to that, Angelos touched the lives of all of us

that had the opportunity to share some time with him

during the days he stayed in Wilmington … As dea-

con Tom Fernandez mentioned, we couldn’t detect

anything but appreciation, sincerity, kindness and

niceness from this young man … Moreover, express-

ing my personal feelings, Angelos did touch my heart

… It wasn’t just that he also thanked me and Eleni, I

actually feel we did the least to help him compared to

the other families mentioned in his message … It was-

n’t just the flattering words he mentioned to me and

the others about how great and well-organized our

website was, that helped him locate and learn so much

about our church … And it wasn’t just the fact that

this young man, who is also an educator, has em-

barked on his personal “Odyssey” with his bicycle to

ride around the world, making the older of us recollect

our own youth years and wonder about things we

could have done too … It was actually all the above

plus, mainly, what he expressed in his own words

“One of my goals during this trip is to attend the Di-

vine Liturgy every Sunday at an Orthodox Church.”,

making his journey both a personal and a spiritual one

… How couldn’t one have been touched by this pow-

erful words … Unlike many of us maybe in similar

situations, this is how Angelos has chosen to receive

spiritual strength to cope with all the difficult mo-

ments and challenges during his journey … And as the

Communications Chair, I couldn’t help feeling a sense

of fulfillness since our website had acted as a real

ministry and a “lighthouse” actually guiding this

young Greek man to the “safe harbor of our church”

…

You can follow Angelos’s journey online on his blog

site at www.awesomeride.cc where he also posts pho-

tos from the various orthodox churches he visits ... As

he was leaving from our house on his way to Myrtle

Beach to continue his trip to the “unknown” after

thanking us and promising to stay in touch, he did his

cross and prayed, as a typical Greek, «Θεέ μου,

βοήθεσέ με!» (My God, please help me!) … And my

… typical Greek words and thought to him were «Σε

ευχαριστούμε Άγγελε … ο Θεός και η Παναγιά μαζί

σου!» (We thank you Angelos … May God and All

Holy Mother Mary be with you!) …….

Please keep Angelos in your thoughts and prayers, for

him to have a great journey and for his safe return

back home in Athens, Greece …….

******************

A SPECIAL THANK YOU MESSAGE FROM AN-

GELOS GEORGOPOULOS, A VISITOR OF OUR

CHURCH …

Dear brothers and sisters,

members of the wonderful parish of St. Nicholas in

Wilmington.

My name is Angelos Georgopoulos and I come from

Patras, Greece. 3 months ago I left Athens with my

bicycle in order to ride around the world. One of my

goals during this trip is to attend the Divine Liturgy

every Sunday at an Orthodox Church. On Sunday,

January 31, God brought me in your lovely congrega-

tion. I came to the church with my bicycle fully load-

ed as I had no place to pass the night. Dear deacon

Thomas and Mrs. Stacey so kindly invited me for

lunch and they finally hosted me for 3 nights. I am

grateful to them. I am also very thankful to Yannis

Kartsimaris that not only he hosted me for 3 more

nights, but he also showed me Wilmington Downtown

and the nearby places and he took me to visit some

Greeks of Wilmington. At this point I would like to

mention that another reason for doing this trip is to

carry out research in elementary schools around the

world for my dissertation project in Education. This

was realized in your beautiful city thanks to Nick &

Nena Lazaridis that made all the contacts necessary. I

would like to wholeheartedly thank them. Finally, I

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

10

would like to thank Alexandros Theodoropoulos and

Eleni Pappamihiel for their deep care and help they

provided to me throughout my stay. I would like to

tell you that these days I had in Wilmington I felt like

being hugged. A huge hug that was very warm and

indeed necessary for me. Thank you all.

EN XPICTW,

Αngelos Georgopoulos

www.awesomeride.cc

Community News

ARCHIMEDES SCHOLARSHIP

FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

Applications are now being accepted for the Next

Generation Initiative’s Archimedes Award Scholar-

ship, offered to outstanding high school seniors of

Hellenic heritage intending to pursue studies in sci-

ence, technology, engineering or math (STEM) related

fields at a university in the United States.

To be considered for a 2016-17 scholarship, please

apply by March 25, 2016. For more information, and

to apply online, please go to:

https://www.hellenext.org/career-resources/next-

generation-scholarships/archimedes-award/

WITH GRATITUDE!

Thank you to everyone that donated olive oil for the

vigil lamps. We greatly appreciate your donation!

Stop Hunger Now

Our Dec 5 meal packaging event was combined in a

container with 285,120 meals and shipped to the Do-

minican Republic, where 42% of the population lives

below the poverty line. Thank you again to everyone

who contributed and helped pack these meals!

Hellenic School/ AHEPA St. Valentine Dance

Our Annual Dance that took place on Saturday, Feb.

13 was successful with over 100 people attending.

There was good music by the "Mikrasiatiki Orches-

tra", tasty food, great fellowship, lots of dancing and

much fun.

The proceeds help the Greek School buy supplies and

books since there is no tuition for the students and also

help AHEPA with its charitable activities.

The Greek School mothers and teachers deserve a lot

of credit for helping in the organization of the Dance,

decorating the Hellenic Center and serving the food.

They were also the ones that handled the sale of tick-

ets at the door during the event. The Raffle had many

interesting food and drink items, gift certificates as

well as an Apple Watch as the grand prize. Many

thanks go to the kitchen crew and all the people who

helped make this Dance successful. Chris's restaurant,

the College Diner and Giorgio's restaurant were gra-

cious in donating the food and their generosity is

greatly appreciated.

Overall it was a fun Dance and the Parishioners and

guests who came had a wonderful time. We plan to

have this annual event again next year and hopefully

the Parishioners will continue to support it.

ATTENTION ALL MILITARY SERVICE PEOPLE

For all of our Veterans and Active Service people who

missed our Pin Presentation on November 8, 2015 we

salute you and your service for our Country. We

would like to honor you with a pin which is available

for your pickup from Mary Ann Wall after Divine Lit-

urgy in the Hall or in the Church Library. If you see

the following Veterans, please let them know or you

can pick up their pin to hand deliver to them.

Athanasios Agapisos,Louis Andrews, Nicholas Ba-

tisis, John Batounis, GYSGT Stavros Chantiles, Ange-

lo Demetrious, Anastasis Fatsis, Nicholas Fernandez,

Larry Flowers, Brandon Ivy, MSgt Angelo Katris,

Mike Loizides, ILT Xenophon Maroudis, MAJ Spero

Pekatos, MSgt Brian Pittman, Jeff Robbins, Michael

Roeske, Robert Rowell, Avgerinos (Dokey) Saffo,

Kevin Whiteman, and Peter Zack, MD.

We truly honor your service!

DIAKONIA RETREAT CENTER FUNDRAISER

All Greek Orthodox Churches in the area are planning

to attend a beautiful fund raiser for our beloved Dia-

konia Retreat Center. The event will take place at the

parish center at St. John the Baptist in Myrtle Beach

on the evening of Sunday, March 6, 2016 and will fea-

ture our very own “Basile!” His Eminence Metropoli-

tan Alexios will be there for an evening of fun and fel-

lowship. Please plan on joining us!

WINE

We have Greek wine for sale! If you would like to

purchase a bottle, please see a Parish Council member.

DONATION REQUESTS

TIME, TALENT, OR TREASURE

We are looking for a handyman (or woman) to volun-

teer to help with minor repairs around the church.

We are accepting donations as we continue to improve

our Hellenic Center. Any donations would be greatly

appreciated. Items needed include new banquet

chairs.

Please donate all weekly coupons from newspapers &

ads to the Hellenic Center. These coupons will be used

to help our parishioners save money on products. For

more information, please see Benjalee Pittman.

We are looking for volunteers to host coffee hour. If

you are interested in hosting coffee hour please con-

tact Angelique Skandalakis. For the weeks when we

do not have a volunteer we will still have coffee and

juice.

Congratulations

For all the people celebrating their birthday, anniver-

sary, and name day in the month of March, may you

have many happy years! Many Happy Years!

Congratulations to Jack and Danielle Poulos on the

birth of their son, Kostandeano (Dean) David Poulos,

who was born on January 22nd. Na Sas Zisi!

Congratulations to Cub Scout of rank Webelos Anni-

vas “Eli” Theodoropoulos, who participated as a guest

scout in the Wreaths Across America ceremony at the

designated Forest Lawn East Cemetery in Charlotte,

NC, on December 12th, 2015! During this ceremony,

festive wreaths are laid on the graves of veterans by

their families with the help of Cub/Boy/Girl Scouts as

well as other organizations, and Eli was also able to

lay the wreath on his grandfather’s, US Navy WWII

veteran Louis Pappamihiel, grave as well. Eli was

proud to be one of the youngest participants in this

ceremony. More information about this wonderful

program can be found at

www.wreathsacrossamerica.org . We would like to

thank Eli for his community service honoring our vet-

erans!

Sympathies and Memorials

On January 31 we held a 10-year memorial for Spyri-

doula Sotiriou, mother of Irene Vogiatzis. May her

memory be eternal!

Great Lent continues for the month of April.

Please join us for these beautiful services to prepare

yourself for the celebration of Great and Holy

Pascha

April 3: Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross: Greek

Independence Day Celebration

April 8-10: GOYA Lenten Retreat

April 23: Saturday of Lazarus: Palm folding and

Pancake Breakfast

April 24: Palm Sunday: Philoptochos - Palm Sunday

luncheon

SAVE THE DATES - APRIL

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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church February 2016

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For a complete and up-to-date version of our Parish Calendar, please visit us online at:

http://www.stnicholaswilmington.org/ParishCalendar.html

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID WILMINGTON, NC PERMIT NO. 634

ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

608 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

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