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4 THE SHEPHERD • MAY 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO As we enter the last part of the school year, many families are finalizing summer plans. We hope that you have included St. Spyridon Vacation Church School in your summer plans! Whether participating or volunteer- ing, we still have space for you and your chil- dren and teens. Vacation Church School (VCS): Half-day camp designed to teach kids about their Or- thodox faith through fun and engaging ac- tivities that include games, crafts, music, sto- ries, and service. This year’s theme is Behold the Light! The Feasts of the Life and Ministry of Christ. DATES: June 26th–June 30th, Mon–Fri TIME: 9am–12pm daily, snack included. Be- fore care and after care available per request. AGES: Grade next year TK–5th grade: Re- treat Participants; 6th–12th grade: Youth Leaders COST: $35 early bird discount before June 1st ($40 after June 1st), $20 for additional children. Youth Leaders are FREE, Children of Volunteers are FREE. Registration is OPEN now! https://forms. gle/jkHcxyq4jYDgcGQx7 or email youth- ministries@stspyridon.org Be sure to follow us on Facebook (St. Spyr- idon GOC San Diego) and Instagram: @ youthstspyridon Contact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director for information or to volunteer: youthministries@stspyridon.org or mobile: 619-940-5167. Be sure to check us out at the Youth Ministries website: https:// sites.google.com/stspyridon.org/stspyridon- youthministries GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) Thank you for supporting our GOYA Youth Group through the Annual Palm Sunday GOYA Luncheon. We would like to recognize all of the time and energy that Bill Navrides put into making the Luncheon such a re- sounding success! During Holy Week, GOYA participated in a Holy Monday Retreat with Father Andrew. It offered an opportunity for our middle and high schoolers to get to know each other and Fr. Andrew a little better! HOPE &JOY (Holy Orthodox Primary Education &Junior Orthodox Youth): Baking with Philoptochos! This month our youth group baked koulourakia! They started with the traditional braided shapes and quickly moved to other creative shapes – like volcanos! Sunday School Sunday School Coin Drive exceeded our Orthodox Christian Missions Center Coin Drive Goal! In addition to the coins that the students collected, a generous donor from out of town donated $400! In all, we raised over $700 for the OCMC! The last day of Sunday School is May 21st. We will be on break until the beginning of September. Keep an eye out for a few Summer Sunday School events! Check out the photos from our Saturday of Lazarus Palm Cross Folding and Holy Fri- day Youth Retreat! Our Youth Leaders and Volunteers created an amazing experience for the children learning about the Guiding Light of Pascha! Dance &Choral Greek Dance is back! Classes resume on Sun- days after church (12:30 for the 5 to 8-year- old dancers, and 1:00 for 9 to 18-year-olds) and now Cretan dance classes on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am. Our current focus is on preparing for the upcoming St. Spyridon Greek Festival where you will see both our groups perform on Saturday and Sunday. Is there a young person (6-18) in your life you think would like to join us? Please encour- age them to stop by on Sunday and see what we’re about. Or, come see us dance at the festival. Do you think you have what it takes to teach dance? We need dedicated teachers who can commit on a weekly basis starting in September. We plan to attend FDF next year and want to put our best foot forward (pun intended!) Please see Timmy Paraskev- opoulos for details: stspyridondance@gmail. com or 714-931-2431 On Sunday May 21st the Youth Choir will be singing Divine Liturgy! Don’t miss this spe- cial event. Want to join the Youth or Adult Choir? Contact Kathy Meck at sprondiva@ aol.com Pascha Picnic Fundraiser Christos Anesti! What a glorious Pascha Picnic St. Spyridon had this year as 300 of our loved ones gathered at Admiral Baker Park to attend The Agape Service and break bread after the Lenten Fast. The Greek Dance and Choral School offered a lamb lunch and served 180 hungry parishioners. Everyone raved about the meal of lamb, roasted pota- toes, grilled veggies, salad, bread and feta. It was a big undertaking and the first one of its kind for our group. First we wish to thank our Dance Director Tony Petroulias, who came up with idea, and shopped for all the food. Next, our Vice President Nikita Pa- padakis, who cooked, prepped and cleaned nonstop for two days. Our Treasurer Chrisy Lambros, and her husband Sam, and Elaine Burrell who helped with prepping and serv- ing. Our Secretary Sia Brown, and Parish Council Liaison Rhad Brown, and their kids Emma, Tea, and Lucas who helped with transporting and serving food and cleaned for several hours afterwards. We also had many helpers outside of our program: An- dreas Capetanakis, who helped prep and cook, and Pashali Koutzmbis and his son Kosta . They owned Zorba’s restaurant for 35 years and graciously let us borrow some vital equipment to transport the food. Final thanks goes to Continental E&J who gen- erously donated the feta and olive oil and supplied us with the lamb. We met so many wonderful people during the course of this event; it was truly a blessing to help our min- istry and serve others! Alithos Anesti! YOUTH MINISTRIES