Our First Home on Constitution Avenue: An Overview 1940’s to 1996
Ss. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 4 Constitution Avenue, Annapolis, MD
Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church was our first church which would not have been built without the generous donation in 1949 from businessman Steve Foundas who donated $50,000 and the land on 4 Constitution Avenue in Annapolis, Maryland. In today’s dollars that $50,000 would be equal to $570,000. It was Steve Foundas’ good friend and business partner, Alex Petrides who suggested that Foundas donate the land and money in memory of his brother Constantine who died as a young man from tuberculosis. Thus, our church was named Saints Constantine and Helen.
The first Greek-American immigrant families worked hard to raise the remainder of the money needed to build the first Greek Church in Annapolis. However, within a decade, the community realized it was growing and needed to expand or build a new church. Everyone was involved in this effort in some small or large way. Parents and their children were committed to a lifetime of fundraising for the church.
As youngsters in the Junior and Senior Greek Orthodox Youth Organizations (GOYA), the youth of the community, now seniors in their 60 to 80s, joined their parents in efforts to raise money for the church. One fundraising event was the GOYA caroling. At the beginning of the New Year and in celebration of Saint Basil’s Day, the teens followed the ancient tradition of going from home to home, all located in the city proper, singing the carols called kalanda. Parents drove them to the homes waiting in their cars while the teens approached each house sing the kalanda carol. As they crowded into the home doorways, they brought greetings and blessings to the families. The families invited them in, offering them food and drink while dropping a money donation for the church into an empty cigar box the teens used as their cash box.
Whether it was the annual Greek Festival started in the basement of the first church, selling raffle tickets to win a Cadillac, bake sales, bingo, Christmas tree sales, or dances held at the National Guard Armory, each are a part of this story of church fundraising. The Greek festivals became an annual event and continue to this day. These Greek festivals were held mainly in Annapolis but we did have a few in Glen Burnie, thanks to George Hadjis, who insisted we had to appeal to all the Greeks in Anne Arundel County.
