UPDATE 2-1-10
Congratulations to our Girls Volleyball team for being the 1st Place District II champions and to our Senior Basketball team for taking 3rd Place!!!
On February 5th, 45 members of our GOYA had a blast at the Valentine’s Day Dance hosted by Holmdel! Our February meeting was on February 7th and all sights were due for Sights & Sounds. Sign ups were being held that day for a possible ski trip in February (let’s hope for more snow!). After the meeting, representatives from the Daughters of Penelope and AHEPA gave a presentation to our GOYA regarding starting a possible chapter of Sons of Pericles and Maids of Athena as a continuation of our GOYA program. All our parents and friends had an opportunity to see our Sights & Sounds performances on Sunday, February 28 at our annual Sights & Sounds Luncheon right after Liturgy Services.
Saturday, March 6th is the big day........2010 Sights & Sounds in Westfield. We will have 33 youth members participating from our church , for a total of about 500 youth members from all of the churches. Go Piscataway!!!! Best of Luck to all of our participants and teachers. Our March GOYA meeting will be on March 7, with sign-ups for Jr. Olympics. Soon after, Easter preparations will begin with our annual palm cross making on March 27 and helping with the decoration of the Epitaphio on Holy Thursday.
The GOYA soccer team will begin practices after Easter, dates to be announced. This year’s Soccer Tournament will be held on May 1 (tentative date). On April 18, all of the GOYA is expected to march proudly down 5th Avenue in commemoration of March 25th, Greek Independence Day.
Happy Easter and Καλό Πάσχα to everyone! Respectfully submitted, Maria Exarchakis, Historian
UPDATE 12-2-09
I hope everyone had a wonderful
Thanksgiving and Christmas season (This article will appear in the January/February edition of the Voice of St George). The
GOYA has been keeping very busy. In the
month of November, we participated in a variety of events. Early in the month our GOYA attended the
Bowling Tournament in Fairview. We also had a successful Gyro sale. In the middle of the month we visited the
Holy Cross Seminary in Boston for three days where we toured the Holy Cross
College, had religious discussion sessions with the a few of the seminarians,
and enjoyed the city of Boston. On the
21st we hosted our 7th annual Greek Night and raised a
total of $16,000 for the Smile Train, a non-profit organization helping
children in third world countries with cleft lips and palates. This is enough money for 66 kids to receive
free surgeries in developing countries!
The entertainment was generously donated by the band Apollonia (apolloniaband.com),
featuring George Manioudakis on the clarinet, DJ Tommy Karas, and the Hellenic
Dancers of NJ (hellenicdancersofnj.org).
Thank you to everyone that donated their time, money, and talent to make
this such a successful event.
In early December we had a
religious retreat with Father Alex. Then
on December 12th, we participated in the “Bridges” Outreach program
where we donated and delivered items to the homeless
(bridgesoutreach.net). In December, we
also visited St. Michael’s Senior Citizen home in Yonkers
New York where the residents enjoyed our
caroling and traditional Greek dancing.
After spending time with the elderly, then the Goyan’s went out to
dinner in Astoria. On December 28th,
we had over 40 of our youth participate in the Christmas Dance held in Union.
Sights and Sounds practices have
begun! Please see any advisor or visit
our web page for practice dates. All
literature will be due at the first meeting of the New Year. Look for our Gyro sale on January 17th
and the Sr Basketball and Volleyball playoffs on January 30th. Holmdel will be hosting a Valentines dance on
February 5th. All Sights are
due on February 7th. The
Apokreatiko Dance is the same day. The
Sights and Sounds show for our community will be on the 28th of
February. For more information, or to
see the full calendar of events, please visit our web page at
www.stgeorgegoya.com.
The youth would like to extend their appreciation to the parishioners
who have generously donated towards project Mexico.
We wish everyone a happy healthy New Year!
UPDATE 10-1-09
The GOYA year has officially begun! The final day to register is
November 1, if interested contact any advisor. The registration forms
can be downloaded off of Stgeorgegoya.com. It's not too late!!
To kickoff the new year, on September 13 an Artoklasia was held for the
GOYA, followed by the swearing in of the new officers, followed by our
first meeting of the year. All practices have begun (Basketball,
Volleyball, and Greek dance). Our GOYA also kicked of a new fundraiser
on September 19th and October 10th by selling food at our church during
Rutgers Football games. Monies raised by this fundraiser will go
towards offsetting the cost of JR Olympics for our Youth Group. All are
welcomed to sign up and help. On September 20th our GOYANs attended
the throwing of the blessing of the waters and the throwing of the
Cross by the Metropolitan in Asbury Park. We are very proud of our
divers: Jr Boys-Joe Sullivan, Sr Boys- Yianni Frangos, Jr
Girls-Katerina Albanese, Sr Girls- Chrissa Sulich. A gyro sale took
place on September 27th as another youth fundraiser.
This season approaching us is filled with very fun and
exciting events. Starting it all off was a charity night on October
2nd, with Ice-breaker activies afterwards. At the meeting on October
4th there were sign ups for the S&S singing group, and bowling
tournament. On the same day many of our GOYAns participated in the
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk. The Mr. & Ms. GOYA pageant was
held on Sunday, October 11th and our GOYA was well represented by our
nominees, Markos Kantilierakis and Louisa Sirimis! In Wycoff a 3 on 3
basketball tournament and a Bible bowl took place in Wyckoff . On the
23rd, the Bible Bowl finals were held followed by the annual Kickoff
dance. Our St George Dance group performed at the annual Church dance
on October 24. Great Job!
November and December will be very busy months for our Youth
group! The Bowling Tournament will be held on November 7th. The
following weekend our Youth will attend a Religious Retreat in Boston
at the Holy Cross seminary. Then on November 21st we will be hosting
our 7th annual Taverna Night. This year all proceeds will benefit the
The Smile Train, a non-profit organization that helps poor children
around the world receive free surgery for cleft lip and palate
(www.smiletrain.org). At Taverna Night there will be special
perfomances by the Hellenic Dancers of NJ (www.hellenicdancersofnj.org)
and the band Apollonia (www.apolloniaband.com). Please visit our web
page, StGeorgeGOYA.com our full calendar and for more information on
upcoming events such as Christmas Caroling, Charity Night, and a
Religious Discussion with Father Alex.
Historian Update 9-21-09
CONGRATULATIONS to our divers, this past Sunday at Asbury Park, diving
for the Cross. The winners
this year were from Holmdel and Asbury Park;
Senior Male - Yianni F.
Senior Female - Chrissa S.
Junior Male - Joseph S.
Junior Female - Katerina A.
The 2008-2009 GOYA year has came to a close. The year was filled with many events, combining charity, sportsmanship, Greek-pride, religion and of course fun. In June our GOYA had an awards luncheon, at which awards were distributed for various events from throughout the year. Our coaches were also recognized for their outstanding work; and scholarships were also awarded. In addition, the new board was elected into office:
President: Nicholas A
Vice President: Demetri F
Corresponding Secretary: Elena K
Recording Secretary: Katina K
Treasurer: Philip M
Historian: Maria E
In late June, about 20 Goyans visited St. Basil’s Academy in Garrison, New York. The trip consisted of helping with the landscaping, cleaning the facilities, and spending time with the children of St. Basil’s. We stayed there for three days and had a fantastic time; we plan on visiting again next year. Following this trip, the GOYA went on its annual trip to Six Flags Great Adventure. The thrill-filled day on roller-coasters with our friends was a great ending to a full year.
We hope everyone had a great Summer! We look forward to seeing everyone at our first meeting of the 2009-2010 year on September 13th. We will be having an Artoklasia, as well as the installation of our new officers. It is the first meeting for our new Goyans; we are excited to welcome them and their parents. On Friday, September 18th, we will have an icebreaker where we will get to introduce ourselves to the new (and old) Goyans. Another very important date is the Holy Cross Celebration on Sunday, September 20th, where 4 of our Goyans will be diving for the Cross at Asbury Park. September is the month when all practices begin. Sr. Boys Basketball and Girls Volleyball as well as dance practice start the week of the 7th; Jr. Boys Basketball starts on the 14th because of Labor Day. Don’t forget to join!
October will also be a very busy month. In addition to all of the practices and games we have, the Mr. and Mrs. Goya Pageant is on the 11th and on the 17th we have the
Bible Bowl Tournament and Dance. Welcome back to everyone; we hope to have a
wonderful year!