On Thursday morning February 4th, the most prominent members of the Greek American community gathered in Coronado Island outside of San Diego for the Annual Leadership 100 Conference. During this 3-day retreat, the attendees mingle and attend a series of seminars by fellow Greek-American brothers. The morning began with a speech by Dr. Nick Yphantides, an expert on weight loss. He gave the welcoming speech in the place of George Stephanopoulos who could not make it. Doctor Yphantides gave a very inspirational speech about how he defeated obesity and cancer. Yphantides told conference participants, “On April 1, 2001, I loaded my RV van and began a pilgrimage that covered 38,000 miles across the length and width of the great United States! My pilgrimage, which included a few airplane trips, took me to all 50 states in 50 weeks, all 30 Major League Baseball parks while attending 110 Major League Baseball games, including the 2001 All-Star Game, League Championship Series, and the amazing 2001 World Series between the Diamondbacks and the Yankees. I accomplished all that while becoming less than half the man I once was, losing a total of 270 pounds.” The doctor’s speech was a big success and resulted in a standing ovation.
Following breakfast and the opening speeches, Archibishop Demetrios held a study bible group. Later that afternoon, the renowned Greek-American author, George Pelecanos was presented with the
