Greek Orthodox Church of St. George (Piscataway, New Jersey)
The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George of Piscataway, New Jersey is the largest Greek congregation in New Jersey.[4] In 2016 the congregation celebrated its 100th Anniversary as well as the 43rd anniversary of its Greek Festival.[5] It's 48th Annual Greek festival takes place May 20–23, 2021. The presiding Priest is The Very Reverend Archimandrites Nektarios Cottros since January of 2018. Their President of the Church is Mr. John Lyssikatos. The Church is blessed to have great supportive staff throughout the years.
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| Founder | Gregory Konstantakos |
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| Location |
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Area served | Central New Jersey |
| President: John Lyssikatos
Priest: Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Cottros 1st Vice President of Administration: Elpidoforos Arhontoulis 2nd Vice President of Operations: Constantine Apostolakis Secretary: Maria Kaouris-Christodoulatos Treasurer: Michael Sirimis, CPA | |
| Affiliations | GOARCH, GOYA |
| Website | https://gocnj.org/ |
| St. George Greek Orthodox Church Chatechism Program | |
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| Address | |
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1101 River Road Piscataway, NJ | |
| Information | |
| Type | Catechism Program Pre-k-12 |
| Established | 1916 |
| Principal | Paul Stevens[1] |
| Vice principals | Lemonia Malhias Maggie Stravianidis James Solomos |
| Faculty | 20.0 FTEs[2] |
| Grades | Pre-K-10-12 |
| Enrollment | 225 (estimate as of 2020–21)[2] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 5.0:1[2] |
| Campus | 3 acres (12,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Purple and White[3] |
| Athletics | 3 sports |
| Athletics conference | NJ GOYA group 2 |
| Team name | Chargers[3] |
| St. George Greek Orthodox Church Greek School | |
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| Address | |
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1101 River Road Piscataway, NJ | |
| Information | |
| Type | Greek School Pre-k-12 |
| Established | 1916 |
| Principal | Toula Karamarkos[1] |
| Teachers | Sofia Amaxopoulos Katerina Kourti Chrisoula Plias |
| Faculty | 4.0 FTEs[2] |
| Grades | Pre-K-7 |
| Enrollment | 225 (estimate as of 2020–21)[2] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 11.0:1[2] |
| Campus | 3 acres (12,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Purple and White[3] |
| Athletics | 3 sports |
| Athletics conference | NJ GOYA group 2 |
| Team name | Chargers[3] |
Notable Members of the St. George Community
- Very Reverend Archimandrites Nektarios Cottros- Priest since January 2018
- Reverend Father Anthony Pappas 1959-2003
- John Lyssikatos- Church President 2021-Present
- George Atahanasopoulos- Former Church President 2018–2021
- Panos Georgopoulos- Greek School Superintendent
- Toula Karamarkos- Greek School Principal
- Detective Paul Stevens- Sunday School Principal
- Jim Solomos- Best St. George Parishioner
- John Blazakis- Volunteer Alter Assistant
- Kosta- Janitor Early 2000's-2020
- George Hadjiloucas- Beloved GOYA Advisor
St. George Hall Of Fame
The people below are very memorable people that attended St. George who we will never forget
Kosta The Janitor
Kosta was a beloved member of the church community but sadly was fired by the church who has yet to give an answer as to why the best Janitor in New Jersey was fired
- Favorite catchphrase "Ayy" "Eh eh, apagorevetai!"
Youth of St. George
The Youth of St. George are very fun and comedic but are more importantly spiritually knowledgeable in their classes. The most notable Youth of the St. George community has made a lasting impact on the church and will be the leaders of the church in the future. Their knowledge and hard work will elevate them highly in life. The Non-Partisan Commission of St. George has put together a list of the Hall of fame for the Youth of St. George.
Youth of St. George Hall of Fame
- Andrea Bizos- Class of 2023
- Dimitri Hirschman-Class of 2023
- Evangelo Kambitsis-Class of 2023
- Andrea Hadjiloucas-Class of 2023
- Stratos-Class of 2025
- Giannis Xidias-Class of 2023
- Leonidas Petrakis-Class of 2025
- Chris Vlahos-Class of 2023
- Giannis Xidias-Class of 2025
- Anthony "Little Hirschman" Lorino-Class of 2027
St. George Basketball
St. George Basketball has been a tradition for decades. Players have donned the Purple and White (formerly Purple and Yellow until 2017) for decades. This era of St. George Basketball, considered the Chris Vlahos era (2018-2023), will be the best era of Basketball the team has seen ever. Led by Chris Vlahos, assisted by Demetri Zambas, Dimitri Hirschman, Demetri Kalogridis, and Jason Petinatos, this starting 5 will make a lasting impact for the future. The St. George basketball motto is "Strength in Numbers", and for good reason. The GOYA team has at least 14 players in 2020-2021, and the Junior Team will have at least 20 for the next season.
Senior Team
John Lyssikatos: Head Coach
Joe Hirschman: Assistant Coach
Demetri Zambas: PG
Demetri Kalogridis: G/F
Chris Vlahos: G/F
Dimitri "Hirschman" "Thunder" Hirschman: G
Evangelos Kambitsis: F
Andreas Hadjiloucas: F
Andreas Bizos: G
Jason Petinatos: C
Giannis Petrakis: F
Iacovos Georgiou: C
Julius Boridimos: G
Junior Team
Nick Kambitsis: Head Coach
Demo Hantsoulis: Assistant Coach
Evangelo E Kambitsis: G
Marko Hantsoulis: F/C
Stamatis Hantsoulis: G/F
Kostas Hantsoulis: G/F
George Kostis: G
Emmanuel Kostis: G
Evan Siskopoulos: F
Alexandros Kambitsis: G
Giannis Xidias: F/C
Stratos: F
Leonidas Petrakis: G/F
Edward Schneider: CF
Nikolaos Schneider: G/F
Anthony Lorino: G/F
Iosif Palavros: F/C
List of Modern St. George Coaches
Senior Coaches
Nick Hionis 2014-2015
Manoli Fiotakis (Assistant Coach) 2014-2015
John Lyssikatos: 2015-2016
Lambros Boridimos: 2016-2018
John Lyssikatos: 2018–present
Joe Hirschman (Assistant Coach) 2019–present
Junior Coaches
Antoni Fiotakis: 201?-2014
Manoli Fiotakis: 2014-2018
Nick Hionis (Assistant Coach) 2014-2015
Giannis Apostolakis (Assistant Coach) 2016-2018
Nick Kambitsis: 2018–present
Joe Hirschman (Assistant Coach) 2018-2019
Demo Hantsoulis (Assistant Coach) 2018–present
References
- District information for Piscataway Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
- Encyclopedia of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3325-2. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
The largest of the Greek Orthodox congregations was Saint George of Piscataway. ...
- "Greek festival season is underway: Get your gyro on in Paramus, Piscataway this weekend". New York Times. May 12, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
John Lyssikatos has been chairman of the festival at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Piscataway for 13 years, and he says preparations for the May festival start in September. The boneless leg of lamb -- they go through 50 over the course of a weekend -- will be cooked fresh, of course, but baking the Greek sweets for this week's festival has been underway for a couple of months.