{"id":21594,"date":"2026-09-14T23:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T23:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/14\/alpha-omega-council-to-honor-all-past-presidents-at-50th-anniversary-leadership-luncheon-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T23:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T23:36:26","slug":"alpha-omega-council-to-honor-all-past-presidents-at-50th-anniversary-leadership-luncheon-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/14\/alpha-omega-council-to-honor-all-past-presidents-at-50th-anniversary-leadership-luncheon-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpha Omega Council to honor all past presidents at 50th anniversary Leadership Luncheon \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"T\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alpha Omega Council will end its 50th Anniversary Weekend on Sunday, 4 October, with a Leadership Luncheon for its founders and every past president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Divine Liturgy, offered by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, comes first. The luncheon follows at 12 p.m. at the Taxiarchae Parish Cultural Center, Taxiarchae\/Archangels Greek Orthodox Church, Watertown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The programme will tell the stories of the men who have led the Council since 1976, starting with founding president Judge Monte G. Basbas (1976\u20131978).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basbas, a Manchester, New Hampshire native, graduated from Dartmouth College and Boston University School of Law. In World War II he flew 62 combat missions as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot, logged more than 300 combat hours, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for a 1945 reconnaissance flight over Formosa. He later served in the Air Force Reserve as a Judge Advocate General and retired as a captain in 1959.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Newton, Massachusetts he was assistant city clerk and city clerk for 19 years, then mayor for three terms, then a district court judge until 1990. He sat on college, gubernatorial and civic boards. His record of public service is the same ground the Council still claims: leadership, opportunity, community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Past presidents<\/strong> (\u2671 deceased)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2024\u20132026 Harry J. Vlachos<br \/>2022\u20132024 A. Paul Tsitsopoulos<br \/>2020\u20132022 Costa Sideridis<br \/>2018\u20132020 Nicholas H. Ypsilantis<br \/>2016\u20132018 Peter J. Lemonias<br \/>2014\u20132016 John C. Anton<br \/>2012\u20132014 Athanasios C. Liakos<br \/>2010\u20132012 Nicholas F. Kourtis, Esq.<br \/>2008\u20132010 Timothy Marken<br \/>2006\u20132008 John T. Baglaneas<br \/>2004\u20132006 William Kapos<br \/>2003\u20132004 Panos Demeter<br \/>2002\u20132003 John Panagako<br \/>2001\u20132002 Gregory M. Filias<br \/>2000\u20132001 Dr. George Colt<br \/>1999\u20132000 Luke G. Tsokanis<br \/>1998\u20131999 John Gianakouras<br \/>1997\u20131998 Ernest Sofis \u2671<br \/>1996\u20131997 Michael Carakatsane<br \/>1995\u20131996 George Decas \u2671<br \/>1994\u20131995 Peter Kostopoulos<br \/>1993\u20131994 James P. Lemonias \u2671<br \/>1992\u20131993 Charles Nahatis<br \/>1991\u20131992 John Halachis \u2671<br \/>1990\u20131991 Peter G. Pantazelos \u2671<br \/>1989\u20131990 Archie D. Typadis<br \/>1988\u20131989 George Delegianis \u2671<br \/>1987\u20131988 Dr. Nicholas Marinakis \u2671<br \/>1986\u20131987 William W. Markos \u2671<br \/>1985\u20131986 Nicholas G. Lazares<br \/>1984\u20131985 Christos Tsaganis \u2671<br \/>1983\u20131984 Nicholas Polley \u2671<br \/>1982\u20131983 Nicholas Xanthaky \u2671<br \/>1980\u20131982 Arthur G. Koumantzelis \u2671<br \/>1980 Spiros Charles Samaras \u2671<br \/>1979\u20131980 George D. Behrakis<br \/>1978\u20131979 Dr. Menelaos Aliapoulios \u2671<br \/>1976\u20131978 Judge Monte G. Basbas \u2671<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is an honor to preside over this special occasion as we celebrate 50 years of Alpha Omega Council and recognize the extraordinary individuals who have helped shape our organization,\u201d said Costa Speliakos, president-elect. \u201cI am especially looking forward to celebrating with all of our past presidents and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Karalis, luncheon co-chair, said the anniversary is a chance to thank the men who gave time and leadership. Co-chair Manny Frangiadakis called it a gathering of generations: friendships, work done, and a shared stake in Hellenism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The weekend (2\u20134 October 2026)<\/strong><br \/>Friday, 2 October: Annual Honors Gala. 2026 honorees include Boston University (Philhellene Award), Nancy Agris Savage (Founders\u2019 Award) and Telemachus \u201cT.A.\u201d Demoulas (Emerging Leader Award).<br \/>Saturday, 3 October: concert by Konstantinos Argiros.<br \/>Sunday, 4 October: liturgy and Leadership Luncheon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Articles of Organization were filed on 13 May 1976 by ten incorporators: Peter Agris, Menelaos Aliapoulios, Monte Basbas, Louis Dadasis, George Delegianis, Nicholas Metaxas, Paul Scangas, Nicholas Vinios, Nicholas Xanthaky and George Karageanis. Early members George Danis and George Behrakis helped set the course; both remain active mentors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Council has given millions to charity and education in New England. Signature events include the Peter Agris Memorial Journalism &amp; Communications Awards, the Marathon Education Essay Event, the Boston Marathon wreath ceremony, Greek Heritage Night with the Boston Red Sox, the Golf Classic and the Honors Gala.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reserve luncheon seats at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/AlphaOmegaCouncil.org\/aoc-leadership-luncheon\">AlphaOmegaCouncil.org\/aoc-leadership-luncheon<\/a>. More on the anniversary: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/AlphaOmegaCouncil.org\">AlphaOmegaCouncil.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"category_container author-information\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<section id=\"authorpage\" class=\"authorpage\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/867db98f13d9f84cc3011d4b81f08d9309f4bb5375c9622abf4939b569233046?s=164&amp;r=g\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/867db98f13d9f84cc3011d4b81f08d9309f4bb5375c9622abf4939b569233046?s=328&amp;r=g 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-164 photo lazyload\" height=\"164\" width=\"164\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-content\">\n<h5>GCT staff<\/h5>\n<p>GCT staff is a Greek City Times news byline for collaborative desk reporting on Greek, diaspora, and international news.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/09\/15\/alpha-omega-council-50th-anniversary-leadership-luncheon\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Alpha Omega Council will end its 50th Anniversary Weekend on Sunday, 4 October, with a Leadership Luncheon for its founders and every past president. Divine Liturgy, offered by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, comes first. The luncheon follows at 12 p.m. at the Taxiarchae Parish Cultural Center, Taxiarchae\/Archangels Greek Orthodox Church, Watertown. The &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Alpha Omega Council to honor all past presidents at 50th anniversary Leadership Luncheon \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/14\/alpha-omega-council-to-honor-all-past-presidents-at-50th-anniversary-leadership-luncheon-greek-city-times\/#more-21594\" aria-label=\"Read more about Alpha Omega Council to honor all past presidents at 50th anniversary Leadership Luncheon \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026GALA_full.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}