The 2024 ACRY Bowling Tournament hosted by ACRY Chapter 9 Woodstock, GA took place from May 24-27, 2024. The weekend was filled with friends, fellowship, beautiful weather, and amazing memories.

Friday night’s hospitality room kicked off the weekend at St. Elizabeth’s Church Hall. Throughout the night ACRY members and guests who traveled by car and plane stopped in and among the many familiar faces, there were also some new attendees in the crowd, eager to take part in their first ACRY weekend. This allowed for the perfect opportunity to enjoy the company of one another and kick off the start of an amazing weekend filled with friends, fellowship, great food, and good memories.

Saturday morning started bright and early at Cherokee Bowling Lanes. Members of the ACRY, young and old, were brimming with excitement as they prepared to locate their lanes and engage in a bit of friendly bowling competition. With a new twist to bowling this year, the host shook things up by creating randomly drawn teams which allowed everyone to bowl with some new people and have a great time. With each roll of the ball and every strike or spare (or even gutter ball) achieved, the bond between members grew stronger.

After the morning bowling finished, everyone had time to explore downtown Woodstock and the amazing storefronts, restaurants, and atmosphere it had to offer. Some then headed back to the alley to compete in another round of bowling after lunch and others enjoyed some free time to shop, hike or relax at the pool on a beautiful afternoon in Woodstock.

Saturday night’s buffet included a mouthwatering dinner featuring a spread of Brazilian steak, Mexican street corn, pierogi, halupki, Greek salad, and much more. Under the tent ont St. Elizabeth’s Church grounds attendees were able to let loose and have some fun with many different activities including a soft serve ice cream machine, fire pit, bounce house, outdoor games, and a live band. A short presentation by Alexa Petrick, Joe Samilenko & Alexandra Benc gave everyone a short overview of the ACRY event survey that went out a few months ago.

Sunday morning Divine Liturgy was celebrated at Saint Elizabeth Church, and the Plain Chant responses were sung and led wonderfully by Danielle Bartko and other members of the parish and ACRY. It was so lovely to see the church overflowing with parishioners enthusiastically awaiting a beautiful service. A highlight of the morning was the reception into the Orthodox Faith of Daniel & Leslie Gregory, new parishioners of Saint Elizabeth through the Holy Mystery of Baptism. It was a joyous experience to be a part of this Holy Mystery.

Following Liturgy, Metropolitan Gregory blessed the food, and all enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by parishioners of Saint Elizabeth. All were grateful to the talented cooks who helped prepare all the delightful food for the weekend.

A banquet on Sunday concluded the weekend. All enjoyed the incredibly delicious Southern barbecue meal. The evening ceremonies included bowling awards based on the scores taken from Saturday. Winners were gifted a bowling coin to remember the weekend.

The all events winners for juniors included Daniel Dzubak and Ellie Mason. For the senior bowling, the all-events winner for women’s handicap was Danielle Bartko and our all-events winner for actual score was Debbie Samilenko. For men, the all-events winner for handicap was Jonathan Dzubak, and for men’s actual score was Tim Dzubak. Once again, congratulations to all the winners along with everyone else who enjoyed playing.

During the speaking program, Father Matthew Dutko, the host paster, offered his thanks to all who travelled to Georgia to join them in worship and fellowship. Other speakers included Senior ACRY President Alexa Petrick, and Immediate Past President of the Jr. ACRY, Nadia Kushner, on behalf of Jr. ACRY President Grace Gdovin. The keynote address was offered by His Eminence, Metropolitan Gregory. The evening concluded with the singing of the ACRY March by all in attendance and dancing.

The leadership of the National ACRY offers its sincere thanks to the faithful of the Woodstock Parish for all their efforts in hosting such an amazing, fun-filled weekend.

By Jordan Zdinak, ACRY Publicity Director