Winter Camp
Camp in the Winter?
Winter Camp is a weekend retreat for those in grades 7 – 12, held over Presidents Day weekend in February. We average about 150 campers at Winter Camp each year! Campers arrive on Friday night and leave on Monday, as most schools are closed on Monday for the holiday. Borrowing some of your favorite activities from the summer, Winter Camp includes: Christian Ed with multiple speakers, Afternoon Program, Evening program, and much more! Winter Camp also provides a chance to meet other campers from different regions and different sessions from the summer! For Winter Camp, our campers will stay in our recently constructed heated log cabins. All meals, services, and activities are held at the Camp.
2026 Guest Speakers
Fr. Seraphim Solof
Fr. Seraphim Solof is the Assistant Pastor of St. George Orthodox Cathedral in
Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has served since 1990. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1984, elevated to archdeacon in 2008, and ordained to the priesthood in 2017. Alongside his ministry, he spent 40 years in academia and corporate America, working at MIT, Apple, Sun Microsystems, and Bank of America, before retiring in 2024. Fr. Seraphim holds an undergraduate degree from MIT and a Master of Divinity from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and is currently studying the Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He serves as Spiritual Advisor for Teen SOYO in New England, and was a session priest at the Village in 2025. He and his wife,
Marta, have a daughter, a son, and two grandsons — future campers, he hopes!
Fr. Alex Mackoul
Father Alex grew up attending the Antiochian Village and served on staff for four summers, where he met his wife Amanda. After graduating college, he worked for the Department of Defense as a research psychologist for two years.
He enrolled in St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2013 and has served at the Antiochian Orthodox Churches in Memphis, TN, Myrtle Beach, SC, and now Charleston, Wv.
He served as the director of Camp St. Thekla for seven years and now teaches New Testament for the St. Athanasius Academy. Fr. Alex also loves to teach and play pickleball in his free time!
Julie Abboud
Aside from being called mom, her favorite name to be called is “Aunt Julie” to all campers and staff. Aunt Julie was a camper since 1979 and has served as many roles at AV like CIT, counselor, Head Lifeguard and most recently a volunteer nurse in the Health Center.
Aunt Julie has also served as Midwest Teen SOYO President, NAC SOYO President, NAC Fellowship of St John treasurer, and Archdiocese Oratorical Coordinator for more than 25 years. She has been a nurse for 30+ years. She holds a Master’s degree in Education with a concentration in School Health along with my BSN-Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
She is married and mom to 2 AV campers/Alum and is always seen with her dog (baby) Rajah – one of our camp pups.
Transportation
