Santa Barbara AHEPA Chapter 243

ORDER OF AHEPA
SANTA BARBRA CHAPTER #243
Established October 17, 1929
‘Promoting the Harmony of Greek Culture, Service, and Community”
“Keeping the Spirit Alive”
http://ahepa20.org/~chapter243/
“Let’s Do Something Great in 2008”

These last two quarters of the Ahepa year have been interesting and activity filled for this energetic and forward thinking chapter. In November we held our annual Ahepa Glendi which was a success on many levels. We appreciate the support of our District Lodge and Brother Ahepans who traveled great distances to attend and contributed to a fun-filled and successful endeavor.
December was a month of activity. On December 4th –The name day commemorating the Saint of our parish-Saint Barbara, DOP District Governor and St. Barbara Parish Council member Georgia Gastouniotis chaired a weekend event celebrating the Saint Barbara Parish 60th anniversary and the 21st anniversary of our parish at our present location. With the presence of Metropolitan Gerasimos and local dignitaries the St Barbara museum was dedicated which preserves and exhibits historical memorabilia of our parish community.
Prominently displayed are some of our Ahepa Chapter #243 historical items and reminders that Brother Ahepans from Ventura #220 were important contributors to establishment of this parish.
The Christmas spirit was evident at our annual gathering with our DOP Delos Chapter #103. With the beginning of the New Year we attended the District Lodge visitation hosted by the Ventura Chapter #220. Here we learned that our District Lt. Governor John Triantafyllos, M.D. is going to Iowa in a career move. We will miss him.
Our March 25th celebration was special. PDG Costantino Frangos was instrumental in bringing members of the Los Angeles Greek International Film Festival as the speakers of the day. They provided an interesting program of facts and film clips. We also assisted in the raising of funds for the Orthodox Missions and the special project headed by Brother Alex Haimanis to construct an Orthodox Church-Saint Barbara-in Africa.
Our events in May include a special bus trip to the G. Paul Getty Villa to view Greek antiquities and a special program for Ahepa Sunday.
Plans are already under way for the first and second quarters of the new Ahepa year which will soon be upon us. One special project which we hope will blossom into a District or National fund raising project is to raise awareness and funds to help find cures for Rett Syndrome a very debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder syndrome which primarily affects females.
The thirty-four members of this energetic chapter wish you a joyful summer and remind you that “Rewards come as a result of your service.”

On behalf of our Chapter President James Arger,
James Brown, Chapter Secretary.