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5 THE SHEPHERD • JULY 2020 • SAINT SPYRIDO N GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO AT THE CORONADO FERRY LANDING 619.435.1225 WWW.SPIROSCAFE.COM Best Greek food in the region Draft beer varieties Imported & domestic wine Spacious indoor/outdoor seating Panoramic views of S.D. Bay Catering Available BEST GREEK FOOD SINCE 2002 PANARCADIANS Both the District and National Pan Arcadian Conventions have been cancelled due to the pandemic. Tegea 101 is mon- itoring the situation and will notify our community when meetings can be resumed and under what conditions. We extend our best wishes to the community and hope that everyone remains safe and healthy during this di cult period. Adrienne Robas Bell Vice President Tegea 101 619.435.1225 WWW.SPIROSCAFE.COM Coming Soon in La Jolla! My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, For those who may not know, our very own Vicky Ragousis is going to retire from the parish o ce position she has served in for the past thirty two years. I have known and worked with Vicky for the last fourteen of those years and I know she has served this community with honor, dedication, patience and love. is community has been very fortunate to have had a woman of Vicky’s char- acter and devotion serving in the church o ce for so many years. Week in and week out Vicky meticulously took care to “balance the books” with such attention to detail. I noticed her many a time fretting and fuss over “the books” week in and week out as she reconciled them “to the penny.” Vicky would catch me at times noticing her frustration and then would come an hour or two later to proclaim “Fr. Andrew, I found that twelve cents” or whatever the amount was that had eluded her. Vicky just wouldn’t let up until the job was done and done correctly (to the penny). She always felt personally responsible toward the nancial health of the par- ish and always made sure every penny was accounted for – a true steward of the Church. On a more personal note and in case you didn’t know, Vicky was very protective of her par- ish priest; in this case me. If she didn’t know who was on the oth- er end of the phone she would thoroughly vet the call before connecting it to my o ce phone. ere are a lot of “interesting” characters and very “odd” situ- ations that can arise in a church o ce and Vicky did her best to make sure I was safe at all times. I remember back when I rst ar- rived at Saint Spyridon, for the rst couple of months I could overhear Vicky talking on the phone and saying something like – “of course our new priest speaks Greek, just not like a na- tive speaker. But, leave him alone and give him a chance. He’s a good man and a good priest.” She set the tone and allowed me the time needed for me to grow into my ministry here on Park Blvd. For this and much, much more – on behalf of our community and myself – thank you Vicky for a job well done! You (and Nicholas) have worked hard and diligently all of your lives and now it is time for the two of you to enjoy the fruits of your labor surrounded by friends and family – just the way it should be. We hope and pray that you and Nicholas, together with your children, will thoroughly enjoy this new and exciting chapter in your life. As you begin the next chapter of your lives together, we/I wish you all the best, full of God’s blessings. You will be missed and you will be hard to replace but with God’s blessing and with your help and guidance we welcome Tina Kallas. You all know Tina in the o ce for she has been with us for a long time as well. Tina will be moving into the position Vicky had served in for all of these years – welcome Tina. We hope and pray and are con dent that you and the parish will enjoy the same outcome that it has had with Vicky in the church o ce all of these years. May our Great God continue to guide and bless you and your beautiful fam- ilies always, + Fr. Andrew