WATERTOWN — People always seem to seek uplifting and inspiring stories in the holiday season. Consequently, the story of Heghine Movsesyan is quite appropriate and rewarding. Overcoming a variety of challenges in life, Heghine has created a free afterschool school program for children in her native city of Vanadzor, the capital of Lori Province of Armenia, and recently was in the United States on a two-week trip to gather more information for her work.

Movsesyan discovered while young that she had a talent for languages. Her mother paid for private lessons by selling the family’s heirlooms. In 2006, she graduated the No. 8 Anoosh Mathevosian School in Vanadzor, which itself is a manifestation of the good deeds of the school’s namesake philanthropist in the United States, and entered Vanadzor H. Toumanyan State Pedagogical University. She graduated with honors, focusing on the English language and literature and then earned a master’s degree in pedagogy in the fields of foreign language and literature in 2012.

Movsesyan now can speak many languages, including Armenian, Russian, English, German and French, and can read some Latin, Arabic, Italian and Urdu. She said, “The more languages we know, the more capable we are in a changing world. I would like to speak to each person in his own language.”

She applied for a job in the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, and after taking the necessary examination and taking part in interviews, became one of only five people chosen out of 240 applicants. Her language skills in particular were a great asset. She began work in August 2014 at the Emergency Preparedness Services in Vanadzor. This is the equivalent of 911 in the United States. She responds to emergency calls, does translation and interpretation, and registers disasters.

Movsesyan knew that in Vanadzor, the public schools were not as good as they were in the Soviet period. Tutoring was necessary so that students could advance and get higher education. The same teachers from the public schools would charge money for afterschool lessons, but the poor could not afford this. She felt bad and wanted to create a free tutoring program.

She said, “First of all, I wanted to teach English, because it is an international language. In Armenian, you need to take an exam in English if you want to enter nearly any university. We wanted to start with English, but it turned into a school.” She invited several dozen students to her home, an apartment on the seventh floor of a Soviet-era building, and implemented the program Reach Out and Touch the Stars. The students began receiving top marks of 10 out of 10 in English in school, while in Russian and Armenian they only were getting 7s and 6s. Peace Corps Volunteers helped teach in her program.

Movsesyan related that the parents were shocked and began asking for other subjects to be taught, and therefore Armenian classes were added. Peace Corps volunteer Steven Greenberg, in Vanadzor doing youth and community development, met her when she was starting the school in 2014. He suggested that she should also teach critical thinking and executive function skills, as he noticed this lacking in the Armenian educational system. He said, “I had become aware that even though I was dealing with many, many smart people, when a problem would arise, they did not have a rubric to deal with them.” He and other Peace Corps volunteers brought Movsesyan appropriate English-language source materials.

Teaching these skills was as simple as giving students money for paying for something, like a taxi, and asking them how much change they should bring back. Usually children were not given such challenges in Armenia. Movsesyan applied this approach to everything, forming teams and people in charge of various parts of the class.

Greenberg said that they raised around $1,000, the amount necessary annually to provide the costs of transportation of the students to and from the program, pencils and paper, snacks and other incidental expenses. Anecdotal evidence of the school’s success spread, so that both the topics taught and the numbers of students increased.

Even Movsesyan’s boss at work, a colonel in emergency services, requested that his children come to her school and two rooms were offered for free in the 911 center of Vanadzor for the school. Today there are 100 students, and these are no longer just students from poor families, as the elite of the city also send their children. There are four paid teachers and the rest are volunteers.

The school’s official name is the Heghine Sheikha School. Sheikha is the feminine form of sheikh, and, Heghine said, refers to the ancient notion that the prince must do philanthropic work of his own will. If you do not share, what you have otherwise will be taken away from you.

Movsesyan tutors and manages the school for free, while the 911 center, recognizing her pedagogical and organizational abilities, has reduced some of her responsibilities like answering emergency calls, and instead asked her to focus more on educational projects for the children of Armenia. She works one 24-hour shift and then rests for three days. She has some opportunity even during the 24 hours to work on the school since the school is in her work building now. Movsesyan goes to other schools in the area to give training talks on emergency situations.

Her own school has classes from 1 to 7 p.m., four days a week, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. However, the children can call to ask questions on the days off, and Movsesyan said, “They treat teachers like their parents.”

Movsesyan teaches English, both written and oral, and grammar, as well as crisis management, at her school. Other teachers give lessons on Armenian language and literature, arts, human rights, first aid, and issues of civil defense and safety in emergency situations. Movsesyan said that the emphasis on emergency situations was necessary because unfortunately they were frequent in Armenia.

She said, “We have classes even for 7-year-old children on earthquakes. Parents ask why do you make such a difficult curriculum, but I say that if an earthquake happens, it will not say that you are a 7-year-old child, go away.” There was an earthquake in May 2018 scoring six on the Richter Scale. Heghine said, “The 7-year-old child not only protected herself but knew what to do and gave advice to her grandparents.”

Movsesyan spoke about the goals of her school, declaring: “We know that high-quality education is nothing but a perquisite to development. Our goal is to promote education in Armenia for leadership development and life skills, cultivating creative thinking in our students. We try to do the best for them because children are diamonds and we should keep them in a safe place. Education is a weapon in the cycle of life and nowadays, life is challenging.”  Most importantly, she said, “We want our students to be the ideal that they want to be.”

Heghine said that the school has two children with disabilities at present and they are treated no differently than the other students. She said, “We believe in the power of every single child or person with disability or handicap, so our school doors are open to everyone.”

The curriculum is always being expanded, but chess maintains an important place in it. Some of her students took part in the Armenian National Olympics, and one, Vahe Hovhannisyan, took first place. Movsesyan said that he is one of the top students who wants to continue his education abroad and come back to make his own contribution in Vanadzor.

Movsesyan seems to have the qualities of a good diplomat as well as a good teacher and organizer. She keeps in touch with the leaders of Vanadzor city and Lori Province without being involved in political issues. She received a medal of recognition from the previous president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, but everyone understands that this was not due to politics but a function of the office of the presidency.

When Greenberg’s cousin, Gerald Appelstein, learned of the school, he donated a transformational sum of money. A new planning and support team called Armenica was created, with Movsesyan, Greenberg, Appelstein and the latter’s partner, Estela Margarita Arco-Blaustein. Armenica stands for Armenia plus America, to continue to provide high-quality education in Vanadzor. The school at present is registered as a non-governmental organization (NGO), Heghine Sheikha Children’s Advocacy NGO, with Movsesyan as president and her sister Jane as executive director.

Greenberg and Appelstein coordinated Heghine’s two-week November visit to Boston and New Jersey/New York, which is her first trip to the United States. Greenberg had not seen her since he left Armenia two years ago.

Heghine said, “I came to the US to be trained, to learn more about the US educational system and to expand new horizons for our children.” She visited educational specialists at the Waldorf School in Lexington and the Meridian Academy in Jamaica Plain, which have child-centered approaches toward education. She spoke with the person who runs the Middlesex College World Language program, to see what they do with students. After visiting Harvard University, Heghine decided to have as a goal that one of her alumni will eventually attend it.

The visit also included emergency services work, so she became the first specialist from Armenia to go to the “Turret,” the operations division of the Boston police containing its 911 communications center. She went to the Brookline Incident Command Center, where the police showed her how their emergency system works. Heghine later compared it with the system back home, stating that “in Armenia, we do have some computers but not as much as it here, because of lack of finances. We sometimes still have to use paper and pen.”

Aside from providing Heghine firsthand information on American educational and emergency service techniques, and culture, the US trip had one more happy result: Gerald Appelstein announced that he would fund the school’s expenses for two more years to allow it time to become self-sustaining. For updates on the school, see https://www.facebook.com/Heghine-Sheikha-Childrens-Advocacy-Ngo-263212510492839/

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LOS ANGELES — It’s half past twelve on a Saturday afternoon in Sherman Oaks. Extended families are ready to feast on homemade mante and manaish, kebab and kufteh reminiscent of the flavorful meals of Beirut as they catch up with loved ones. The restaurant is abuzz with activity, the phone is ringing off the hook and warm greetings are extended to the Armenian regulars while recommendations are made for newbies as eggs are cracked and chicken is grilled on the hissing stove.

The man behind this lively scene, savory food and center of hospitality is Vatche Meguerdichian, the international singer who made a name for himself covering songs from across the globe with his trademark smooth voice and the longing emotion he injected into each lyric, delivering a glimpse of the sweet yesteryear for his loyal audience.

For those aching for the sound and the taste of the Mediterranean, Alcazar is the place to be as a never-ending revolving door of customers satisfy the taste buds of all ethnicities, attesting to its success. Vatche says both singers and restaurateurs have elements of engaging with an audience and entertaining — one through the ear and the other through tastebuds. Hitting that notion home is a sign that hangs above the kitchen that declares: Without music, life would B ♭(be flat) as a crystal chained cross dangles over the passionate words of the owner.

A prominent singer, particularly during the height of his success in the 1980s and 1990s, Vatche provided the soundtrack to the lives of so many Diasporans — displaced for a second round after the Armenian Genocide from those very communities they sought refuge in — Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, to name just a few.

As the Armenian communities in the Middle East faced upheaval and instability, they made their way to Los Angeles, California, the weather perhaps similar to the Mediterranean climate. But the influx of immigrants, like those before them, were reminiscent and in search of their culture — and Vatche was able to fill that void. He brought that regaled life, the Paris of the Middle East, back to the displaced, giving them a flavor of home, from thousands of miles away.

His array of songs, ranging from French to Italian to Arabic, had roots particularly in the Golden Age of Lebanon where the cosmopolitan city attracted stars and tourists from around the world — Brigitte Bardot in one corner, Omar Sharif in the other. The city was offering the finest food, music and beaches on the surface while a war rumbled in the capital’s underbelly among the factions, sects and outside influences. It was during this multicultural apex in Beirut’s history that Vatche first emerged as a popular voice, paving the way for his future as a beloved pop icon.

As a youngster growing up in this culturally rich time, Vatche attended the Lebanon Evangelical School for Boys, where he was fixated on rock and roll, listening to Deep Purple, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and the Beatles, as well as the international crooners Charles Aznavour and Enrico Macias. He tuned into Armenian singers as well, appreciating the influences of Ardashes Avedian, Gyorky Minassian and Adiss Harmandian.

Gravitating naturally towards music, Vatche picked up a guitar and started teaching himself chords as he strummed on the strings. Pursuing his musical inclinations, he soon formed a band called The Dreams and their songs served as the backdrop for the trendy and fashionable nightlife of Beirut — from Le Paon Rouge at the Phoenicia Hotel to the Beachcomber at the Coral Beach Hotel. Vatche was immersed in an inspiring musical milieu.

“Bands from Italy would play at these venues and I would sometimes be invited to perform alongside them,” said Vatche. “I learned a lot from them but when they left during the civil war, I took over.”

While his father initially felt that a music career was too risky a venture to pursue, he gave his blessing once Vatche proved himself academically and passed his baccalaureate, receiving high grades and earning acceptance to the prestigious American University of Beirut, where he graduated with a degree in business administration.

Leaving Beirut

But soon, the situation in war-torn Beirut became too precarious, and following stints in Cyprus and Iran, Vatche arrived with his family in Los Angeles in 1981. He put his AUB degree to good use, working in accounting, but heeded the words of those close to him who encouraged him to return to singing.

“I started performing at a small restaurant in Pasadena called the Gypsy,” related Vatche. The owner was his friend from Lebanon and urged him to sing in the venue during the weekends. “After my start there, the gigs started coming in because the audience liked the variety of songs I sang.”

They liked it so much so that fans began to ask for his albums, which encouraged Vatche to enter the studio. Pursuing professional vocal training and refining his knowledge of eight languages, he recorded his first album in Los Angeles in 1983 to much fanfare. The volume was comprised of international songs once recorded by prominent French, Italian, Persian, American and Arabic singers, as well as newly penned English and Armenian songs for his audience that immediately “embraced” him in the Los Angeles community.

“People went to record shops in Hollywood and the owners would call me up and say the albums are selling and they wanted more,” said Vatche. As he continued to record hit albums in succession, he turned towards larger venues, the pinnacle of which was headlining a show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1986 to an audience in the thousands, where he was accompanied by an 11-piece band and 15 dancers. He followed this achievement with another colossal performance at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City. Vatche continued to expand, building a studio in his home in order to record and produce in an independent space, arrange his own music and play all of the instruments himself, creating as authentic a musical album as possible.

The covers of his compositions, originally sung by greats including Joe Dassin to Adamo to Peppino Gagliardi to Demis Roussos, evoke nostalgia that may at first have captured audiences, but as they continued listening, they discovered the distinct voice and persona behind these updated covers.

“Musicians and music critics recognized I was doing covers but adding colors of my own,” said Vatche. “People would say they looked forward to seeing how I would arrange the songs with my own creativity.”

Perhaps what drew listeners to Vatche’s records went beyond the lyrics and the instrumentation; they symbolized a deeper meaning of survival for the scattered Armenians, unifying their multilingual and layered existence through his music.

As Vatche’s popularity continued to grow, so did his memorable performances. He recalls one in particular when he was invited to sing in Beirut alongside Barry White in the 1980s, noting that it was an “honor” to share the stage with the legendary Grammy Award-winner at an Armenian wedding that lasted until sunrise.

Alcazar Is Born

Completing his goals with music, Vatche was ready to unveil another passion of his and in 2000 opened up the Middle Eastern restaurant Alcazar in Encino, California. For years his friends urged him to establish his own culinary space because they knew he loved to entertain, was “selective” about cuisine, and would provide the best experience to his customers.

“I felt it was time to have something else in my life,” said Vatche. “I always looked ahead and I was aware singing could not last a lifetime.” He performed at fewer events and began to learn about the restaurant industry, teaching himself about the business.

“I knew the taste but I worked on how to prepare the dishes,” said Vatche. The timing was fortuitous, as the style of music transformed in the early 2000s and he took a step back to focus on his restaurant with his undivided attention.

“The whole landscape of music changed around that time,” said Vatche, who saw a red flag when technology and computer applications began taking over music production. “The market for my style of Estrada international music started fading.” Instead of selling out and playing a style he did not feel came from within, he decided the time was ripe to concentrate on food.

“Music is my first love and passion and I was blessed to make a living out of it,” said Vatche, who opened his current location in Sherman Oaks five years ago. “I feel very good that I excelled in two things in my life, both music and cuisine, and it gives me so much satisfaction that I never feel like I am working.”

Although he has his hands full expanding his restaurant, Vatche has his finger on the pulse of music and is encouraged by the next generation of Armenian musicians, who are fusing traditional and modern elements into their compositions.

“The last 10 years or so rabiz music became mainstream, a style I didn’t like listening to or singing,” said Vatche. “But right now I’m seeing new talent from Armenia who are reviving folk music with that Estradaian touch we had in the 1950s and 1960s, while utilizing technology to come up with something respectable.”

Vatche has always encouraged and welcomed collaborations with other artists, understanding the importance of humility and partnership not only for the good of the community but for the enhancement of music. A prime example of this partnership is when two Armenian music idols came together, Adiss and Vatche, to record their album of duets, “From the Heart,” in 1993.

“Adiss became an icon as an Armenian singer and he wanted to show that he could sing in other languages too,” said Vatche. At the peak of their respective successes, they merged the best of both worlds — Vatche as a pioneer in the international music scene and Adiss’s stronghold in the Armenian language. They bonded and trusted each other’s musical inclinations in the recording studio as Adiss gave “carte blanche” to Vatche to arrange and record the music, delighting listeners with their duets, including Karoun Karoun and Hayastan.

In honor of the album’s release, the duo organized a Christmas dance, a sold-out concert pushing themselves to finish the much-anticipated album within a month while working up to 20 hour days.

“The album was very successful and people kept asking us when we would record volume 2,” said Vatche. “We enjoyed working together and that is an album I will always feel very proud of.”

More guests enter Alcazar while greeting the singer-restaurateur as “Chef Vatche,” including a business owner from next door who comments on how delicious and fresh the manaish is and mentions to the knowing guests that Vatche is a musician and to find his songs on YouTube.

While Vatche’s music came to light through live performances and recorded albums, it is through this digital age that he is rediscovered, over and over again, as his voice transcends the decades, genres, ethnicities and generations.

“I think my music is timeless because the songs I sing are timeless,” said Vatche. “My goal has always been to reintroduce these songs in a different shell.”

His audience eagerly awaits his return to the studio to see what Vatche, whose nostalgic voice and gusto remains intact, will come up with next. In the meantime, they will settle for a handmade Mediterranean meal from the legend himself.

To learn more about the restaurant, visit http://www.al-cazar.com. To see and hear some of Vatche’s songs, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH34p4MgUuw&list=PL3mNbH958lISjN3hREZ4GE75mLma

The post Vatche Delights Taste Buds and Ear Drums appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

BELMONT, Mass. — On Thursday, December 13, almost exactly 30 years after the devastation of the earthquake in northern Armenia, some of the people who first responded to that disaster gathered at the First Armenian Church to share an overview of what motivated them as well as the logistics of sending aid to their brothers and sisters so far away.

The program was cosponsored by the First Armenian Church and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research.

One focus of the evening, the brainchild of retired Boston Globe Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Stephen Kurkjian, was not only the disaster and the response, but the changes that resulted from the collision of the need of the people in Armenia and the immediate response from people around the world, Armenian and non, and how they not only changed relations between Armenia and the diaspora forever, but possibly put the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet Union.

He wrote a lengthy piece about the many firsts that happened as a result of the earthquake aid heading from the US. (See https://mirrorspectator.com/2018/09/13/the-untold-story-the-earthqVuake-that-shook-armenia-the-relief-effort-that-changed-the-world/)

The program featured a trio of women who had taken part in organizing the first wave of aid. They were Dr. Carolann Najarian, who had founded Armenian Health Alliance, Elaine Kasparian who cofounded the Armenian Children’s Milk Fund under the aegis of the Armenian Missionary Association of America, and Michele Simourian, who also  headed up the relief projects for the Armenian Missionary Association of America. (Her husband’s involvement at her urging was explored in the second part of the program.)

Remembering Harrowing Times

An ABC “World News Tonight” report from December 8 opened the program, with the late anchor Peter Jennings narrating the scenes of utter devastation in northern Armenia.

Next, a video was shown of a brief interview between Kurkjian and Hayk Demoyan, the former head of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Museum-Institute in Yerevan.

Demoyan and his family lived in Gyumri and he recalled how his mother warned him and his brother, both of whom were in the same grade, to be careful on December 7 as she had had a bad dream. They walked the 15 minutes to school and took part in the woodworking class when the quake hit.

“There was a roaring from the earth, like a demon or a huge animal,” he recalled, saying that the room’s glass cabinets shattered and the metal tools clanged against each other, adding to the otherworldly cacophony. He, his brother and the rest of the class made it out with difficulty, he recalled, as the floor was shaking both vertically and horizontally, making progress difficult.

“There were three shakes,” he said. Once they left the building, they looked back to see it had all collapsed.

Even more difficult, he said, was seeing someone on the eighth floor of a nearby apartment building shout for help. As he and other students were looking around to see if someone could help, they looked back at where the building was, but “suddenly the building was gone and you could see blue sky.”

His family was lucky to have all three children and parents survive, but Demoyan added, “you saw death everywhere. It was the first time I saw death up close.”

He got especially emotional when he recalled the death of his young cousins. Their bodies were identified by their shoes and their little fingers were still stained by ink from the day’s lessons.

Aside from the overwhelming sadness of their brethren, he said the citizens of the city and Armenia in general were mourning the loss of the crew of the Yugoslav plane that crashed on its way to deliver aid.

Phone Banks and Disbelief

Kurkjian stressed that the program did not attempt to present all the figures involved with the effort, but “just to catch the conversation that went on by hundreds of people” responding to the tragedy.

Najarian, Kasparian and Michele Simourian each recalled their reactions to hearing about the quake and their desires to help.

Najarian was already involved with Armenia as she had been supporting efforts in Karabakh for independence and helping people there who had been brutalized by the Azeri government in Baku and Sumgait.

In fact, the morning of December 7 she and her husband, George Najarian, had placed a full-page ad in the New York Times promoting Karabakh’s independence from Azeri rule. Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev was in New York and the ad was supposed to get his attention. The morning of December 7, then-Speaker George Keverian of the Massachusetts House also had planned to have a press conference to draw attention to the Azeri pogroms.

But, as Najarian recalled, “everything changed.”

The press conference instead turned to one about the most intense earthquake to have hit any Soviet republic.

“The need was huge, beyond anything we could have comprehended,” she said.

Boston was home to the first wave of help directed at Armenia. The telephone company brought banks of phones to the Najarians’ home and then to rented offices, for fundraising.

Kasparian, of the Milk Fund, spoke about the help of local medical staff and also the sincere response of many who wanted to help children, many orphaned now, receive nutrition.

“I want to thank all of you. It took a whole community to bring out what we could accomplish,” Kasparian said, adding praise for the Najarians’ leadership.

Michele Simourian spoke about the efforts she coordinated for the Armenian Missionary Association of America. She recalled that the organization’s leader, the late Rev. Movses Janbazian, put out a call to the faithful and asked them to help, after visiting the devastation and seeing for himself the extent of the need. Simourian coordinated with Elizabeth Agbabian on the West Coast, to help children and orphans.

The Armenian groups were supported by an advertising campaign led by Ed Eskandarian of the storied Arnold Communications (later Arnold Worldwide Partners), which “started to blitz for funds.”

According to a story in the Washington Post, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, $26 million was raised in the US from organizations and individual, Armenian and non-Armenian. The Armenian community in the US raised a total of $40 million.

Armenia happened to be in a closed empire behind the Iron Curtain. However, a confluence of powerful friends of the Armenian community in the state, including George Keverian and Sen. Edward Kennedy, were able to break down a lot of barriers. Strange bedfellows in the delivery of aid to Armenia included the notorious arms dealer Sarkis Soghanalian, who lent his plane to Najarian for the delivery of 90,000 pounds of supplies.

Football Friends in High Places

The panel left, and Kurkjian invited John Simourian to sit and tell his story about how he managed to deliver one of the first batches of medical aid to Armenia, with the help of friends Vernon R. Loucks Jr., CEO of Baxter International medical supplies company and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whom he joked was the only Democrat he had ever voted for, ever since they were teammates playing football (badly) on the Harvard team.

With great charm and self-effacement, Simourian recalled how his wife, Michele, urged him to contact his “good friend,” Loucks, to see if he could donate medical supplies. He quipped that he had not seen Loucks since their college days, when Simourian played for Harvard and Loucks for the rival Yale team for four years. They had formed a close friendship and had remained in touch, though they had not succeeded at seeing each other in person.

“I hadn’t seen him since 1957,” he recalled. He had left messages over the years and received and sent letters, but they had never connected, even on the phone.

Once he called Loucks in December 1988, everything changed. “I called him that morning. To my surprise, he picks up the phone,” Simourian recalled.

He was going to ask the Baxter executive to help send medical aid to Armenia and to his surprise, he learned that his old friend had just suggested doing that very thing during a meeting with the company’s executives.

With breathtaking speed, Loucks delivered his report and lined up his donations, letting Simourian know that he would need to find three planes for the delivery of the dialysis machines and 60 visas for the American specialists who would administer the treatments. Loucks said that according to his reports, after an earthquake, dialysis machines are vital.

Visas and planes heading to a Soviet republic were no easy feat, yet another Simourian friend, Kennedy, played a vital role. “Ted and I played football at Harvard,” he said. “We kind of hit it off.”

“I have never voted for a Democrat in my life, with one exception: Ted,” he quipped, drawing chuckles. “I called him and said we need three planes and 60 visas. He asked where do you want the planes?’”

The planes carried $2 million worth of equipment, many in use even today. The 60 Baxter staffers stayed for nine months.

Simourian and his friend Loucks kept in touch after that. When Simourian thanked Loucks for his help, the latter responded, “This was the most important thing I have ever done in my life.”

Kennedy also helped make possible the landing of Soviet military transport planes at Andrews Air Force Base for loading supplies headed to Armenia.

“Ted said, ‘I don’t want to see this [news of the assistance he provided] anywhere.’ I kept it a secret until he died,” John Simourian said.

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HOLLYWOOD — The wide scope and visionary initiative of the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California was highlighted during its Inaugural Gala on Sunday, December 9, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, as more than 1,000 supporters, community leaders and public officials gathered on the heels of the museum’s Groundbreaking Campaign launch.

The objective of the evening was to raise awareness and funds to bolster the ambitious one-of-a-kind project that will be a world-class cultural and educational center. The mission of the structure will be to foster understanding of the diversity in America by conveying the Armenian-American experience. The museum will feature a permanent Armenian exhibition, traveling multicultural exhibitions, performing arts theater, a learning center, archives, a café and a gift shop, in order to be accessible to the general public that appreciates history and cultural ethnicities.

Serving as Master of Ceremonies, Fox 11 Morning News Anchor and Reporter Araksya Karapetyan expressed support for the “landmark” project in her remarks and stressed the importance of carrying on a legacy.

“Armenian-American leaders had a vision of how to pass on our heritage and that’s how the idea was born,” she said. “The museum will bring people together and celebrate the rich tapestry that makes up what this rich country is about.”

Born and raised in Armenia, Karapetyan spoke of her journey to Southern California and her rise in the media industry, while always preserving her Armenian heritage, ultimately seeking to do the same for the generations to come.

“My roots are firmly planted in my homeland as is my heart,” said Karapetyan. “My connection is strong all these years later.”

She spoke of the significance of upholding the Armenian people and culture and that it is everyone’s “responsibility to carry on our story.”

Karapetyan acknowledged the hard work and effort it takes to pass on a legacy but stressed the “duty” to instill the Armenian culture and that the museum will be a “physical reminder” of that.

“Despite being all over the world we must never forget who we are and where we come from,” said Karapetyan, remarking that the museum’s doors will be open to anyone who loves history. “Everyone will have a place to embrace their roots and heart and that’s what this Museum will be all about.”

Following a touching video presentation, “Nation of Builders,” that featured the symbolic structures around the Armenian Diaspora that have served as key gathering places for Armenians, Museum Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian delivered his message.

Thanking the event organizers, volunteer committee and expressing appreciation to the leadership of the Board of Trustees, Karapetian underscored the deeper meaning of the museum.

“The Armenian American Museum is more than a museum,” said Karapetian. “It’s a museum about everyone who came to California and made it what it is today.”

He spoke of the museum as a learning facility where people can learn about the Armenian history and where they can learn to “prevent recurring injustices.”

Karapetian stated that the aim of the museum is to enrich the community and inspire people to promote mutual understanding of one another’s cultures. Above all, the Museum will bring together the youth, who will safeguard the Armenian people.

“Let’s build our museum in the name of our young people,” concluded Karapetian.

Senate President pro tem Toni G. Atkins said it was honor to be present at the Gala and expressed her thanks to the members of the Armenian-American community for their unified efforts in “today’s divisive world.”

She applauded the efforts of the Glendale City Council for their “incredible contributions in turning the Armenian American Museum a reality.”

“You are planting a seed kernel of understanding,” said Atkins. “We all have stories to share and we are all a part of a bigger family and I thank you for what you have taught me about Armenians.”

Award presentations were made to California State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, California State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, California State Senator Anthony J. Portantino, California State Senate President pro Tempore Emeritus Kevin de Leon and the Glendale City Council, including Mayor Zareh Sinanyan and Councilmembers Ara Najarian, Paula Devine, Vartan Gharpetian, and Vrej Agajanian. The Glendale City Council was instrumental in dedicating land in Glendale for the historic project, marking Glendale Central Park as the future home of the museum.

“We are proud to support the Armenian American Museum and it is a great honor for the City of Glendale to be the future home of the world class cultural and educational center,” said Mayor Sinanyan, who spoke on behalf of the Glendale City Council.

Since the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee Western USA adopted the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California as its official landmark project in 2014, a total of a $4 million commitment was made from the State of California. In a surprise announcement, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger delivered a $1 million check for the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center.

Reflecting on his honor, Senator Anthony Portantino referred to the Museum as a “wonderful project” and noted that California has the largest Armenian population outside Armenia, a fact that should be “celebrated and appreciated.”

“The story of the Armenian-Americans should be told,” said Portantino. “I share this honor with the community that welcomed me and it’s my job to help in any way I can.”

He expressed his thanks to the ongoing support of the Armenian-Americans and their partnership.

“You don’t do this work to get honored,” said Portantino. “You do it because it’s the right thing to do.”

As a member of the early planning stages of the Armenian American Museum, Nazarian secured the initial $1 million within the California State Budget “to help build a beautiful museum in the heart of Glendale.”

“The museum will be a cultural campus that empowers individuals to embrace diversity,” said Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. “I am grateful to have been an honoree at the Inaugural Gala and look forward to seeing the museum come to life and offer a meaningful space for conversation.”

Entertainment was provided by singer Alene Aroustamian with musical partner Vahan Bznuni. The Flag Ceremony was conducted by the AGBU and Homenetmen Scouts and the National Anthems were sung by the Glendale High School Choir under the direction of Grace Sheldon-Williams. The Opening Prayer was led by the museum’s Board of Trustees Co-Chairs, including Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Primate of the Western Prelacy, Bishop Mikael Mouradian, of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy in the United States and Canada, and Reverend Berdj Djambazian, of the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America.

For more information about the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center, please visit https://www.armenianamericanmuseum.org/

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By David Boyajian

Approximately one hundred Turks, a half dozen Armenian Americans, and a dozen members of the Armenian Youth Federation’s (AYF) Greater Boston Chapter attended the opening of a Turkish-language book collection at Cary Memorial Public Library in Lexington, Mass. on the evening of December 10, 2018.

Ceylan Özen Erişen, Turkey’s Consul General in Boston, was the main speaker.

A Lexington police officer, an apparently Federal “special agent”, and presumably Turkish security guards attended in plainclothes.

The AYF distributed flyers outside about the Armenian Genocide of 1915–23. The flyer, which juxtaposed a “1915” Turkish fez and moustache with a “1939” Hitler hairstyle and moustache, stated, “By Condemning the Previous, We Could have Prevented the Following.”

Over 100 books in the Turkish language were “donated” by a local “Turkish Library Group” to the library’s growing “World Language Collections.” Other languages include Bengali, French, Hindi, Italian, Korean, and Tamil. There is no Armenian section.

Interestingly, the library’s “Collections” policy states that it “will not accept donations of titles in [foreign] languages” but may make “exceptions.”

Books, stated Consul Erişen, were for “our souls, intellects, and hearts.” Turks and the library, she said, would organize events as well as Turkish story hours for children.

Erişen wants the Turks to be a “positive, contributing part of the society that they are living in … we will make the world a better place.” She didn’t indicate whether “we” includes the repressive, aggressive, jihadist-supporting, genocide-denying Turkish government and its bombastic, perpetually enraged leader, President Erdogan.

Earlier that day, documentary filmmaker and Lexington resident Roger Hagopian visited Library Director Koren Stembridge. He expressed dismay that the Turkish Consul’s widely advertised presence marked the event as blatantly political. Hagopian also wondered if some of the donated books might fraudulently diminish the factuality of the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish Books

After cutting the Turkish collection’s ribbon, Erişen reportedly remarked, “Protect me from the negative energy.” When Armenians press legitimate demands, you see, they supposedly give off ‘bad vibes.’

Among the books were the non-fiction Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and novels by Edgar Allan Poe, Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, and Turkish authors Orhan Pamuk and Elif Safak, both sympathetic to Armenians.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk appears on several books by Orhan Çekiç about the battles and politics of Turkey’s genocidal, misnamed War of Independence (1919–23).

Bilinmeyen Lozan (Unknown Lausanne [Treaty]) by Taha Akyol deals with the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) between Turkey and its World War I European opponents. The treaty betrayed Armenians by casting aside the Treaty of Sevres (1920) which had aimed to restore ‘eastern Turkey’ to Armenia.

Since there was no question and answer period, I approached Consul Erişen after the event. The “special agent” stood 10 feet away.

Turkey is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists. I asked Erişen to compare her government’s suppression of freedom of the press and speech with American libraries’ support for these freedoms. She just stared at me.

A man, presumably Turkish, immediately thrust himself between us and attempted to bully me. Walking away, I recalled the violent attacks Turkish President Erdogan’s hoodlum entourages have made upon journalists and protesters in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The AYF did manage to hand Erişen a letter that included demands for Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and return occupied Armenian lands. The Turkish consulate in Boston had for years refused to accept the letter during AYF demonstrations.

Director Stembridge

Two Armenian Americans and I spoke to Library Director Stembridge immediately after the event.

We explained that Erişen represents an autocratic government that imprisons journalists and political dissidents, violates the human rights of Kurds, Alevis, Christians, and others, and denies the Armenian Genocide. Should a library be spotlighting such a person?

Stembridge replied that because the Turks themselves invited the consul the library could do little about it.

Stembridge also understood our uneasiness about the possible presence of factually dubious books about the Armenian Genocide.

We noted that a new genocide could occur. For 25 years Turkey has closed its border with Armenia, threatened another “1915,” and in 1993 had planned to attack Armenia during a coup attempt in Russia.

Stembridge is of ethnic Russian ancestry. She took our concerns seriously and was gracious and sympathetic.

Blatantly Political

I believe that Consul Erişen’s conspicuous presence and the donation of Turkish books were essentially political, intended to boost Turkey’s image in this prominent, historic, upper-middle class town 10 miles northwest of Boston.

The first battles of the American Revolution between colonists and British troops were fought in Lexington and nearby Concord in 1775.

Settled around 1642, Lexington’s colonial populace was primarily of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. But over the last decades substantial numbers of Jews and Asians, along with many Armenians, have moved there.

In 2007, Armenian residents and human rights advocates forced Lexington to eject the Anti-Defamation League’s programs due to its collusion with Turkey and Israel to diminish the factuality of the Armenian Genocide and defeat Congressional resolutions on that genocide. About a dozen other municipalities and the Massachusetts Municipal Association did the same in what quickly became an international embarrassment for Jews, Israel, and Turkey.

Erişen noted in her speech that similar Turkish book collections have been established in Santa Clara, CA and Houston, TX.

It seems clear that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has had a hand in all this.

Such activities are yet another sign that the Turkish government, in addition to spending millions on lobbying in America, is working to increase the political influence of Turks in this country.

David Boyajian is a freelance journalist. Much of his work is archived at http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian.

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ALTADENA, CA – The Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter will host a program titled Vladimir Yengibaryan: Gold Medal Winning Armenian Boxing Legend on Friday, January 25, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Glendale Public Library, Glendale, CA. Avetis Bairamian, sports editor of Nor Or, and author of the Armenian language publications Famous Armenians in the World of Sports and Armenian Sports Encyclopedia will serve as the keynote speaker and present the fascinating life of Yengibaryan.

Also participating in the program are renowned Armenian boxers, Khoren Injeyan and Nshan Munchyan, who will offer their remarks on Yengibaryan.

Vladimir Yengibaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia on April 24, 1932. He retired with a record of 255 wins and 12 losses. Yengibaryan was a three-time European champion (1953, 1957 and 1959) and three-time Soviet champion (1955, 1956 and 1958). He won a gold medal representing the U.S.S.R. at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia as a light welterweight (-63.5 kg). Yengibaryan is considered the most prominent Soviet boxer of the 1950’s period. He was the first Soviet boxer to become European champion. After his retirement, he served as an international boxing referee and international boxing judge. Yengibaryan was a noted boxing coach who trained and developed generations of Armenian youth in the sport of boxing. Yengibaryan passed away on February 1, 2013 in Los Angeles. He is buried at Tokhmakh cemetery in Yerevan.

Carl Bardakian, chairman of the Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter, stated “Vladimir Yengibaryan is not only a beloved boxing figure, but also a great patriot and national hero of the Armenian people. His impact and influence on Armenian boxing is still felt to this day. Our goal is for Vladimir Yengibaryan to become a candidate on the ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York when they finally establish an amateur section.”

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LODI, N.J. — The Tekeyan Cultural Association of New York, under the auspices of the TCA Board of Directors of USA and Canada, will present a Valentine’s Dance, on February 9, starting at 7 p.m., featuring international Armenian superstar André.

The dance will take place at The Elan, in Lodi. Tickets are $125 ($150 after February 2), and $100 for Young Professionals. There will be an open bar and a four-course dinner.

André is one of the most popular pop stars of Armenia, winning the Best Male Singer trophy at various music awards in Armenia starting in 2004.

Andre, who was born in Stepanakert, Artsakh, started singing at the age of 3. Although war was taking its toll on the country and its people, the only guiding light and hope forAndré was the music and his dream of singing. These events led him to write his first song, Prayer, at the early age of nine.

Upon winning the musical contest “Road to Renaissance” at the age of 15, he started his professional career. While working for 5 years at the State Theater of Music, he pursued his education at the Yerevan State Conservatory of Music and obtained his PhD.

In addition to success as a singer, he has been a judge in several big television shows in Armenia, such as “Pop Idol”, “My name is…”, “Premiere” and “The X Factor.” André also has his own reality show called “Andrenaline.”

In 2006 he was the first artist to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest, performing one of the 37 songs in Athens. There André sang Without Your Love, a mixture between modern Western and traditional Armenian music. The song was composed by an Armenian celebrity, Armen Martirosyan, the conductor of the Armenian Jazz Orchestra. After qualifying through the semi-final André finished in 8th place in the competition with 129 points.

Also providing music  that night will be DJ Shant (Shant Babikian), a New York and New Jersey based DJ.

Hilda Hartounian, chair of TCA of Greater New York, expressed her happiness with the lineup.

The event’s benefactors are Ed and Carmen Gulbenkian and Vartan Nazerian.

“Valentine’s Day is such a fun celebration and the local branch of the TCA wants to bring that joy to our friends in the area,” she said. “And we are grateful for the generosity of our sponsors, the Gulbenkians and Vartan Nazerian.”

To see him sing one of his songs, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHIz9wat9uU

To reserve seats, visit https://ticketstripe.com/TCAValentinesDayDinnerDance. For further information and seating, write to rsvptaliab@gmail.com or call 917-238-3970.

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FLUSHING, N.Y. — The Anthropology Museum of the People of New York and the Armenian Cultural Educational Resource Center Museum at Queens College, Flushing, New York, are looking for a new home.

The exhibits at present include “The Voyage of Human Origins,” which covers multi-ethnic cultures and the biological aspects of human origins. The “Armenia: Memories from My Home ” exhibit displays the history of the Armenians from 9000 BCE to the present.

The Armenia exhibit originally opened at Ellis Island in 1996-7 for six months. Its religious history panel shows how controversies resulted in the separation of the Armenian, Catholic and Greek Churches. Petroglyphs are reproduced from Lake Sevan and there is a 3,200-year-old female skull. The 1915 Armenian Genocide display shows both the Armenian and Turkish views of the genocide. Coming to America and Contributions of Armenians to America include the Ellis Island experience and famous Armenians like Ruben Mamoulian and William Saroyan.

Since the Anthropology/Armenian Museum is functioning in such small quarters, there is no space to expand to include comprehensive histories of other ethnic groups, which was the mission of the organization, supported by noted anthropologist Margaret Mead, back in 1977. There are references to Africa through our fossil collection, origins of pertinent languages, and dolls from over 125 nations, but our mission is to display exhibits representing the history and diversity of the people of NYC.

We have contacted New York City Councilmen and wealthy donors,  and would even like to be part of the Amazon educational complex slated for Long Island City. “All We Need is a Little Help From Our Friends.” Do you know anybody?

The Museum is located at 6419 Kissena Blvd., Kissena Hall 1, Flushing, New York. Parking arrangements are available. Admission is free. Please call (718) 428-5650 to make an appointment.

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FRESNO — The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, in conjunction with the William Saroyan House Museum, is presenting the international premiere of “Lights! Camera! Saroyan!” on Friday, January 25, at 7.30 p.m., in the Satellite Student Union at Fresno State.

Directed by Harut Shatyan, and produced by Ara Baghdasaryan, “Lights! Camera! Saroyan!” examines the career and personal life of Fresno native William Saroyan, a Pulitzer Prize and Oscar winning author, playwright, and artist. Through exclusive interviews with his family and friends the documentary spans the artist’s years living in Fresno and abroad.

No reservations are required, and admission is free.

Seating is available based on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:00 and the showing will start at 7:30. Free parking is available in Lots P15, P16, P5 and P6-parking permits not required.

The Fresno State Satellite Student Union is located at 2485 E. San Ramon.

For more information about the screening contact the Armenian Studies Program, visit website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudieså.

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FRESNO — “Germans and Armenians: Historic and Artistic Relations” is the title of a talk to be given by Dr. Levon Chookaszian, Chair of the Department of Armenian Art History on Friday, February 1, at 7.30 p.m., in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, at Fresno State.

The presentation is part of the Armenian Studies Program Spring 2019 Lecture Series and is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

There are many interesting fact about the historical and cultural relations between the Germans and Armenians. The oldest evidence concerning the presence of the Armenians in Germany is dated to the 11th century. Germans visited the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the period of the Crusades. In later centuries, many German travelers and scholars visited Armenia and many Armenian intellectuals received their education in Germany.

The first Armenian printed Bible produced in Amsterdam by Voskan Erevantsi was illustrated by the engravings of the famous German painter Albrecht Durer who himself illustrated one legend connected with Armenia. The legacy of Durer inspired Minas Avetisyan, the well-known Armenian painter of the 20th century.

Many other examples of the cultural interchange between the two peoples will be discussed during the presentation, which is accompanied by images of some of the important figures.

Chookaszian is the chair of the Department of Armenian Art History at Yerevan State University and one of the leading authorities in the world on Armenian art. He is the author of two monographs: one on the art of 13th century Armenian miniaturist Grigor, The Art of the 13th century Armenian Painter Grigor Tsaghkogh (1986), and the other on the art of the painter Arshag Fetvadjian, Arshag Fetvadjian Masters and Treasures of Armenian Art (2011). Chookaszian has taught at Yerevan State University since 1978 and is one of the founders of the Department of Art History. In 1996, he established the UNESCO Chair of Armenian Art History.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

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By Katie Baker

NEW YORK (The Ringer) — “Grandkids on demand,” the tagline for a new Florida-based business called Papa, has a cheerfully dystopian ring. And so it makes sense that when the entrepreneur and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian explains why he invested in such a company, he, too, sounds like he’s living in a dramatized, if familiar, future. “Empathy,” he says, speaking by phone from the Bay Area on a recent Thursday morning, “is not something I believe robots will be able to possess.”

In October, Initialized Capital, the early-stage VC firm Ohanian cofounded with Garry Tan in 2011, was part of a $2.4 million seed round for Papa, which connects college students with seniors looking for companionship or nonmedical assistance. The “Papa Pals,” as the designated whippersnappers are called, are like if the Boy and Girl Scouts merged with TaskRabbit: They might set up an Apple TV, provide a ride to an appointment, gofer at the grocery store, or just sit and listen. (Andrew Parker, the company’s founder, tells me that a Papa Pal recently accompanied an older client to a wedding and cut a rug on the dance floor.)

There were a number of things about Papa that made it a compelling investment. This summer, Papa’s founders went through the famous accelerator program at Y Combinator, where Ohanian first hatched the website Reddit with his cofounder Steve Huffman in 2005, and where he met Tan a few years after that. The startup is based out of Miami, which Ohanian likes: He has been outspoken about the benefits of operating outside the Silicon Valley bubble, and a Florida base is a no-brainer for any strivers in the so-called “elder tech” space. But what Ohanian keeps coming back to when he talks about Papa is that the business harnesses something—kindness, basically—that “humans are uniquely good at,” he says. “It’s something we don’t have to worry about AI automating away.”

For years, as he built, left, and rejoined Reddit and did a zillion other things on the side, Ohanian had a front-row seat to many of the thrills and chills that can come from humans being uniquely good (“good”) at things. With Reddit, he watched passionate communities form around shared interests like skin care or Phish, buzzing with the collective purpose of a hive; he also presided over a business that teemed with racism, misogyny, and snuff films. He marveled at the growth of a startup that once felt like his baby; he recoiled at, yet enabled, that baby’s maturation into a troublesome punk.

Now, Ohanian has entered a new phase of his life, one revolving around an actual baby. “He has this whole Business Dad aesthetic, this whole Business Dad philosophy,” says Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at Initialized. “Like, being great at being an investor, being great at being supportive of companies, and then also being a great father, and having that be a very visual part of his identity.”

In early January he and his wife, the tennis all-timer Serena Williams, shared with Vogue the startling particulars of Williams’s harrowing and life-threatening postpartum experience following the birth of their first child, a girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. In February, Ohanian stepped down from his day-to-day role at Reddit to focus his time and energy on seeding and advising startups through Initialized Capital, which has amassed portfolios valued at $22 billion. (He remains on the Reddit board.)

Throughout 2018, Big Tech has loomed larger than ever, casting shadows over anyone who has ever idly taken a quiz on Facebook or hopped in an Uber with friends. Faced with increased scrutiny over their practices and societal impact, businesses like Google and Twitter have responded by becoming even less transparent. Amazon’s yearlong quest to find its second headquarters accentuated the company’s almost incomprehensible influence, reexposed its unsettling working conditions, and served as a reminder of the vast gulf between the average person and the technological entities they rely on.

Ohanian certainly doesn’t exist independently of this; he is, after all, a venture capitalist. Still, he lately seems to be moving in a very different direction: loudly seeking and preaching life balance, advocating for paid family leave, urging young founders to take care of themselves before changing the world, and being perceptive toward the feelings and opinions of others. “I’ve heard from founders who are walking out of investors’ offices because they went to an all-partner meeting and didn’t see a woman,” he remarked in November to Wired. “You could say they are more woke than we were 13 years ago.” Ohanian comes across like a concerned parent in his public life because, well, that’s exactly what he has become.

Recently Ohanian retweeted Bill Gates, who had written a short musing about the HBO series “Silicon Valley,” a satire that sometimes seems like more of a documentary. Gates wrote that, of the characters on the show, he most identified with the squirrely, on-a-different-wavelength Richard Hendricks. I ask Ohanian whether there’s a member of the Pied Piper braintrust who resonates most with him. “Maybe — ” he says, then interrupts himself. “No, no, I got nothing.” I continue to press him, and he says, “I was thinking: ‘Who’s the vest dude?’”

Jared?

“Jared,” he says. “There’s moments where I definitely … I feel like the suit guy. I feel like the corporate dork.” (Of Reddit’s two cofounders, Ohanian was decidedly not the one who wrote the code. In 2017 he told NPR’s “How I Built This” that, in addition to coming up with Reddit’s name and doodling its logo, his duties included haggling over cellphone bills and ordering pizza.) “And there’s a little bit of the — who’s the jackass who got kicked off the show?”

Erlich?

“It has been said that there was inspiration there, but I don’t see it at all,” Ohanian says. He explains that some viewers drew parallels between Erlich Bachman’s fictional travel-booking startup Aviato and Huffman and Ohanian’s real-life endeavor, the travel site Hipmunk. “I was like, ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’” he says. “I don’t see that at all, but whatever.” (The character comparisons he does see: that the late Peter Gregory character is part Paul Graham, one of Ohanian’s first supporters, and part Peter Thiel, Tan’s former boss.)

Rise of Reddit

Ohanian’s actual personal arc is far too dramatic and silly even for a Silicon Valley script anyway; it’s like something out of an earnest “By age 35 you should …” meme. His rise to prominence was so sudden — Reddit was only 16 months old when Ohanian and Huffman sold it to Conde Nast and became multimillionaires at age 22 — that his success feels both wildly aspirational and weirdly achievable, at least in a “well, if he can do it …” sort of way. Even his early setbacks felt relatable to media types: In 2010, when he left Reddit and spent a few months living in Armenia, it was practically a rite of passage. You haven’t truly made it in New York City, after all, until you’ve quit a Conde Nast job during a recession and headed abroad.

And then there was his relationship with Williams, whom he met in 2015. One minute Ohanian was just some nerd visiting Rome to speak at a tech conference; the next he was the type of guy who attends a royal wedding, is followed around by HBO cameras, and sits down with Stephen Colbert. (Ohanian points out that his appearance on “Late Night” in May, while “rad,” wasn’t the first time he’d met the host: Back in the day he went on “The Colbert Report,” an experience that he remembers being “the hardest interview I’ve ever done … they’re like, ‘Don’t try to be funny.’”)

Ohanian has always had a flair for the dramatic: In We Are the Nerds, a book published in October that details the rise, fall, and rise of Reddit—the title refers to something Ohanian once hollered in a fit of happiness at a mid-aughts party—Ohanian is referred to by a colleague as “Chief Bullhorn.” Cutler says that when it comes to the two Initialized founders, “Alexis likes to say that Alexis is the sizzle and Gary is the steak.” In a recent interview about personal finance, Ohanian sheepishly revealed that he used to bring elaborate flower bouquets to every first date. As it turned out, this unapologetic corniness turned out to be an asset when it came to Williams. The couple’s origin story is circuitous and cute, involving a cameo by Kristen Wiig and a poolside rat hoax, but hinges almost entirely on Ohanian’s bold decision to treat an offhanded “you should totally come see me play sometime” courtesy offer from Williams—“an L.A. invitation,” as he calls it — as a legit excuse to actually show up in Paris for the French Open.

Still, during this time, Ohanian managed to piss off many of the people around him. After returning to the increasingly mutinous Reddit as executive chairman in late 2014, Ohanian oversaw a troublesome time for the company. “The second act really helped me see what it would take,” he says, “to bring a company not from zero to one, but from one to 10.” When he unceremoniously fired Victoria Taylor, a popular community manager, in July 2015 it was bad enough. It was worse that Ellen Pao, the embattled interim CEO, shouldered much of the blame.

“It was my decision,” Ohanian later wrote in a Reddit comment. “And the transition was my failure and I hope we can keep moving forward from that lesson.” Sam Altman, the head of Y Combinator and a Reddit board member, answered questions from users the same day. “Free speech is great and terrible,” he wrote in response to one question. “I think figuring out how technology can encourage empathy is one of the more interesting and important open research problems in the world right now.”

Growing up in Maryland

Ohanian grew up in Columbia, Maryland, and long before he was watching his wife play tennis and naming his baby daughter after himself, he was watching the Washington Redskins and making plans to name a future baby after a different man. “Son or daughter,” he wrote in the acknowledgements of his 2013 book Without Their Permission, “I’m naming him or her Robert Griffin Ohanian.” When I remind him of this almost instantaneously dated reference and ask his thoughts on the current state of the franchise, he sounds legitimately aggrieved. “I don’t even want to talk about it,” he says. “I’m so over it.”

Once upon a time, Ohanian’s first big purchase upon selling Reddit was to upgrade his father’s longtime nosebleed tickets to four sweet seats near the 50-yard line. Now, annoyed at both the team and the league, they have let the ticket subscription lapse. “I was raised a diehard,” says Ohanian. “I would have never imagined after 25, 30 years of indoctrination, feeling this ambivalent about it, but I really do.” When the Redskins signed Mark Sanchez in mid-November, Ohanian weighed in: “Am I too late to make the obvious @Kaepernick7 tweet?” Growing up, Ohanian thought the coolest thing in the world would be to own a pro football team. “And now, actually, instead,” he says, “I just own an esports team.”

Over the years Ohanian and Initialized have been a part of some extremely successful investments, like the crypto trading platform Coinbase and the increasingly omnipresent Instacart. But Cloud9 might be the objectively coolest venture they’ve backed. Cloud9, which counts among its properties the Overwatch League champion London Spitfire, was named the year’s top esports organization by ESPN.com and was also figured by Forbes to be the most valuable player in the growing esports ecosystem, based in part on its youth-focused strategy and its successful merchandising arm.

Cloud9 isn’t the only Initialized portfolio company to have racked up big wins in 2018; there was also a major victory in San Francisco’s hectic scooter wars when Skip, a scooter-share business, was awarded one of just two contracts to operate in San Francisco. For much of 2018, the standard operating procedure among competing scooter companies had been, basically, just to show up and deal with the details later, that tried-and-true ask-forgiveness-not-permission startup model. The result was sidewalks littered with devices and swift action by city board of supervisors to pass a law requiring permits.

“Three companies — Bird, Lime and Spin — unloaded hundreds of motorized scooters across San Francisco,” wrote the city’s irritated Municipal Transportation Authority in its decision to grant permits to none of the three. “I looked at this with delight,” says Ohanian of his competitors’ failed attempts to move fast and break things. “For a product and a business that requires you to work with governments and communities, it just seemed so obviously self-destructive.”

Skip’s deliberately collegial approach, sitting down with city planners to draft policy and incorporating community feedback into their scooter design, wasn’t rogue or cool, but it got the job done.

As an early-stage venture capital investor, Ohanian loves to be the guy who swoops in to write the “first check” to the enterprising souls behind some compelling new startup. But earlier this year, when Ohanian agreed to liaise with one particularly passionate group, it wasn’t because he had visions of hockey stick growth or tangible return on investment dancing in his head. “Working with Alexis was really a big deal for a small little startup organization,” says Katie Bethell, the founder of a nonprofit called PL+US that is dedicated to fighting for paid family leave in the United States.

Bethell knew that getting a response from Ohanian, to whom she reached out via a friend who had once met him at a dinner, was a long shot. But she also knew that Ohanian was a proud new dad with interest in the subject of paid leave, and wanted to see whether the famous founder would participate in a speaking engagement about fatherhood and family. He said yes, and the two chatted on stage for more than an hour this summer in San Francisco. “The thing I was most excited about,” says Bethell, “was his willingness to call for up to a year of parental leave in the U.S. I think as a business leader, that’s really bold, and shows how much he is putting kids and family at the center of his analysis.”

Having seen firsthand how debilitating the aftermath of a delivery can be, Ohanian gets riled up when he discusses the subject. “The statistic that was most alarming,” he says, “was that one in four American women are back to work after two weeks from having a kid. And that seems—it’s unconscionable.” Ohanian has engaged in various forms of political activism in the past, though the issues were typically technology-based: In 2012 he protested the federal privacy bill SOPA, which would eventually die in the house, and in 2014 he lobbied for net neutrality. “He’s got credibility both in the private sector but also just, like, at a national scale in terms of advocacy,” Cutler says. And he plans to use it: “You’ll probably be seeing me in a suit in D.C. next year, making the case for [paid family leave],” Ohanian says. “I really do think there are folks on both sides of the aisle in office who want this.”

Importance of Mental Health

For much of the year, Ohanian has also been delivering an adjacent message about mental health, burnout, and perspective. In March, ruminating about the 10-year anniversary of his mother’s death from brain cancer and the depression he’d felt as a result, he wrote: “As entrepreneurs, we are all so busy ‘crushing it’ that physical health, let alone mental health, is an afterthought for most founders.” He further expanded on this idea in November, speaking at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon. “Hustle porn!” he yelled. “This is one of the most toxic, dangerous things in tech right now,” he said. “This idea that unless you are suffering, grinding, working every hour of every day, you’re not working hard enough.”

Humans trying to be robots: It’s an instinct Ohanian can certainly understand, which is why he knows how damaging it can be. Last week, when the 34-year-old founder of HQ Trivia was found dead of a suspected drug overdose, another young founder, The Athletic’s Alex Mather, fired off a bunch of tweets about the importance of self-care. “[I] want to talk about founders, failure, and mental health,” he began. “I’ve been so happy to see @alexisohanian talk about this at length.”

In February, Ohanian pulled off one of his characteristically grand gestures. With Williams returning to tennis at the tournament in Indian Wells in Southern California, Ohanian welcomed her back to the game by setting up four billboards along I-10 that featured pictures of Olympia and Williams along with the words, “GREATEST MOMMA OF ALL TIME.” It was a touching tribute, and also happened to be a great way for Ohanian to do his ongoing due diligence on an Initialized portfolio company called AdQuick. By using the product for himself, he was engaging in a practice that is known as “dogfooding.” (Classic Business Dad move!)

There’s a certain shameless beauty to much of Ohanian’s strat. Earlier this year, when he and his friend Jennifer 8. Lee led a petition for interracial relationship emoji, the effort was also spearheaded by Tinder. Around Father’s Day this summer, Ohanian made the rounds to talk about fatherhood and fitness in a media blitz sponsored by Johnnie Walker, which led to some casual, normal statements like, “When I see that first little outline of a six-pack, I’ll be raising a glass and toasting a little bit of Blue Label to celebrate.” Ohanian’s daughter, who is mostly known as Olympia, although he usually calls her “Junior,” has more than half a million followers on Instagram; the account for Olympia’s baby doll, Qai Qai, has amassed 60,000-plus since late August. “It’s kind of silly,” Ohanian says, “but even watching the way that people interact with our child’s doll, there are these moments of real humanity that I think people have been really hungry for this year.”

It can be hard to hear that and not cynically wonder about Ohanian’s motivations, or scoff at the idea of the Reddit cofounder waxing sentimental about humanity. It can be hard not to side-eye Ohanian when he gets into full “as a father of a daughter …” mode. Even the company Papa — sweet, pure, empathic Papa — exists not to make intergenerational friends, but to make money. (Insurance companies find the business compelling because, by reducing isolation and loneliness, Papa has positive health benefits. This sounds like a win-win until you envision a future in which some poor soul has a health care claim denied because she didn’t spend enough hours relaxing with a Papa Pal that month.) When I describe “hustle porn” to Bethell, she has a thought-provoking perspective. “I think working moms,” she says, “have been operating under the tyranny of hustle porn since the ’80s.” She paraphrases the writer Amy Westervelt, noting that women are expected to parent like they don’t work and to work like they don’t parent. And viewed that way, it’s possible that Business Dad is just what happens when hustle porn reaches middle age.

Still, Ohanian is someone who has real social and economic clout, and he generally wields it thoughtfully. (In the cutthroat world of startups and seed money and overnight millionaires, even just the appearance of propriety can feel welcome.) At Initialized, 40 percent of the investing partners are women, and one of the fund’s recent investments was in an organization called The Mom Project that helps lapsed employees reenter the workforce. Initialized recently set up a panel discussion about mental health for its employees. New mothers and fathers alike are encouraged to take their full 16 weeks of leave, as Ohanian did when his daughter was born.

Ohanian hasn’t seen his wife and daughter in person for days, but when I ask what’s new with Junior he describes, in great detail, a video he just watched of the toddler performing her latest silly baby trick: summiting her high chair, solo. “She’s got a good little kick where she can handle stairs,” he explains of the curly-haired girl. “She’ll kick that leg up over the side no problem,” he repeats, “but I’d never seen a full climb, because you’ve really got to go vertical. It’s not just kicking your leg over the side, it’s lifting your knees straight up ahead of you and climbing up that high chair.”

I recognize his tone: Like most parents, Ohanian speaks of his offspring’s escapades in a manner that falls somewhere between a coach evaluating a quarterback and a mechanic admiring a sweet rig. Maybe at some point a machine will learn how to replicate that exactly, but it hasn’t happened yet. For now, it feels like a uniquely human thing.

The post The Mayor of the Internet Has a New Mission appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

By Dario Ayala

MONTREAL (Globe and Mail) — The distance from Aleppo to the lab at Montreal’s Trudeau airport where a young engineer-in-training is perfecting her first invention is 8,580 kilometres, but Shoushi Bakarian’s trajectory might better be measured in light speed.

Three years ago, Ms. Bakarian was sitting in Lebanon, part of a family of four Syrian refugees facing an uncertain future with hope of making a new start in Canada. Fast-forward those 36 months: Ms. Bakarian is in her third year of aerospace engineering at Montreal’s Concordia University. She has learned her fourth language, French — in addition to English, Arabic and Armenian. She’s got two part-time jobs with promising prospects in her field: one in the parts department at Bombardier Aerospace and another at Stratos Aviation, a small aviation and flight simulation firm. There, she’s co-created her first invention in the lab she’s building. Oh, and she leads a Scout troop where she hopes to influence her young charges.

She’s 21. “I want to reach girls and tell them they don’t have to limit themselves to traditional jobs, like teachers. Especially for girls from my community, they have a very limited idea of what’s out there,” Bakarian says. “I want to become an example.”

On a recent late fall day, Bakarian tinkers with the tiny generator fan blades of her latest accomplishment: The Ventus, a 5-volt accessory charger for Cessna airplanes that runs off the aircraft’s air vents and as an added bonus cools the air by compressing it. The simple blue tube prototype seems likely to become a must-have accessory for pilots who rely on tablets and smartphones for aviation computation but fly aircraft that were mostly built long before the smartphone era.

“I like clean energy, solar power, wind power, so we developed it further to add on the charger idea,” she says. “I spent my summer designing, drawing and testing until it worked.”

Naor Cohen, the owner of Stratos Aviation, hired Bakarian within days of meeting her during an outreach program for women in aviation about a year ago. Bakarian started out as an instructor on the company’s flight simulators. One day he shared an idea he had to improve cooling small Cessna cabins by using a Venturi tube to compress and cool the air. He invited her to set up a lab with computers and 3-D printers and she ran with it.

“I guess she must sleep very little,” Mr. Cohen says. “We’ve never seen her as an employee, and more as a partner in the team. She’s free to come whenever stuff needs to be done. Right now, she’s concentrating mainly on the lab. We want to put that imagination and creativity to work more.”

Bakarian arrived in Canada on Christmas Eve, 2015, with her father, Antaranik, her mother, Ani, and her now-24-year-old sister, Meghri. The daughters had high school diplomas earned during the Syrian civil war with rockets flying overhead and bombs bursting not far from their Armenian school in Aleppo.

Small details come back to Bakarian as she remembers the time. “Our school was in the firing line, so we had to study in a kindergarten in these tiny little chairs,” she recalls. “I always make jokes about it, but it’s not funny.”

By 2015, the battle for Aleppo had settled into a stalemate and her family was stuck. “In Grade 10, the big bombs started, by Grade 11, we were without electricity or running water or internet. Some people started to leave but we didn’t know how to get out of Aleppo. We didn’t know who was on the road waiting to kidnap us. … Once the missiles started falling, we didn’t know where they were coming from or where they’d land.”

A turning point came when her mother needed surgery that had to be performed in Lebanon. The medical issue combined with mounting violence forced the family to make a move. They spent a year in Lebanon while she recovered. Her parents concluded the family would have limited education and work opportunities in that country. That’s when Canada opened the doors to Syrian refugees.

In those early Canadian winter days, the family enrolled in French classes while all four of them set about finding work. Bakarian got hired at McDonald’s, a job she kept as she enrolled at Concordia, which helped her family survive while her parents found work in the garment industry. It was a step down from her father’s previous job managing a tools warehouse. Meghri, meanwhile, is specializing in child studies at Concordia.

Bakarian is grateful for the sacrifices her parents made, but she made some, too. She was almost crushed by workload as a first-year university student who was working 30 hours a week at her fast food job. “I was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted,” she says. “But now I’m making up for it. My family is okay now, and it’s easier.”

Arpi Hamalian, an education professor emerita at Concordia University, took the younger Bakarian women under her wing when they showed up at an orientation in early 2016. “They were looking a little lost,” Dr. Hamalian recalls now, but it didn’t take long for them to get on track. “Shoushi, well both girls really, know exactly who they are and where they are going. They are unbelievably talented, focused and team-oriented. There aren’t many like them.”

The post At 21, This Aerospace Engineering Student and Former Refugee Has Created First Invention appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

BELMONT, Mass. — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will name its new headquarters after Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York, fulfilling the request of the building’s principle benefactors, Edward and Pamela Avedisian of Lexington. The new building’s official name will be the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building.

“Vartan Gregorian embodies the values at the heart of NAASR’s mission. He has dedicated his entire life to educational advancement and the pursuit of knowledge, engaging in public service throughout his career, and working to better the human condition. We are grateful that we can acknowledge and memorialize his tremendous accomplishments by naming the institution’s new headquarters the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building,” said Edward Avedisian.

“I am overwhelmed by this most generous and selfless offer and accept it with humility, and with gratitude,” said Gregorian. “I thank NAASR for bringing Armenian history, culture, and values to life through its programming and collections, now visible and accessible to anyone.”

“We are proud to recognize Gregorian’s distinguished life of service and dedication through our new global center,” said Yervant Chekijian, chairman of the NAASR board. “He is an inspiration for generations to come. We are also sincerely grateful to the Avedisians for their generosity and vision.”

Distinguished Career of Vartan Gregorian

Gregorian has had a distinguished career as an academic, scholar, historian, philanthropist, and visionary. Born in Tabriz, Iran, Gregorian received his elementary education in Iran and his secondary education at Collège Arménian in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1956, he entered Stanford University, where he majored in history and the humanities, graduating with honors in 1958. He was awarded a PhD in history and humanities from Stanford in 1964. Gregorian has taught European intellectual history and Middle Eastern history at San Francisco State College, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1972, he joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty and was appointed Tarzian Professor of Armenian and Caucasian History and professor of South Asian History. He was founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Penn in 1974 and four years later became its twenty-third provost until 1981. His outstanding tenure at the university has been honored with endowed professorships in English and in the Humanities and through several graduate fellowships in the humanities.

After an academic career spanning two decades, Gregorian served as president of The New York Public Library from 1980 to 1989. The institution includes a network of four research libraries and 83 branch libraries, and during his tenure, Gregorian was widely credited with restoring the status of the library as a financially sound, cultural landmark. In 1989, he was appointed the 16th president of Brown University, where he led a campaign that raised over $500 million, bringing the institution’s endowment past the $1 billion mark. Gregorian also oversaw the creation of several new academic departments. In honor of his legacy at the university, a residence quadrangle was named after him, as well as three professorships: the Vartan Gregorian Assistant Professorship, The Brooke Russell Astor Professorship in the Humanities in Honor of Vartan Gregorian, and the Aga Khan Professorship in Islamic Humanities created in honor of Gregorian. In 1997, the City of Providence renamed the Fox Point Public Elementary School after Gregorian to acknowledge his role in strengthening relationships between the university and the community.

In 1997, Gregorian assumed the presidency of one of the country’s oldest grantmaking foundations, Carnegie Corporation of New York. His philanthropic work and scholarly accomplishments have been recognized with more than 70 honorary degrees and dozens of significant awards, including the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President William J. Clinton; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President George W. Bush. President George H. W. Bush appointed Gregorian to the J. William Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarships, and President Barack Obama appointed him to the selection committee of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. Gregorian has also been decorated by the Austrian, Italian, Portuguese, French, and Armenian governments.

Gregorian is known for his leadership in support of democracy, human rights, and civic engagement, and his efforts have been recognized with honors from numerous nonprofit organizations such as the Council on Foundations’ Distinguished Service Award; Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Leadership Award; the Africa-America Institute’s Award for Leadership in Higher Education Philanthropy; and a special recognition from PEN America. Civic honors from state legislatures and municipalities include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Houston, San Francisco, Fresno, Austin, and New York City.

Throughout his illustrious career, Gregorian has written extensively about Armenia and has maintained close ties to the Armenian community. When he was appointed Tarzian Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Gregorian recruited three professors to teach Armenian history, language, and literature: the late Vahé Oshagan, the late Robert Hewsen, and Michael Stone. In 1999, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, his Holiness, Karekin I, bestowed upon Gregorian the St. Gregory the Illuminator Medal, the church’s highest honor; and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, honored him and his wife, Clare, with the Prince and Princess of Cilicia Medals.

Gregorian is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2001, following an honorary degree awarded by Yerevan State University in 1995. He is a former trustee of the American University of Armenia, a trustee emeritus of the Dilijan International School of Armenia, and a co-founder the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative with Ruben Vardanyan and Dr. Noubar Afeyan, who established the Vartan Gregorian Scholarship Program in 2018 to support scholarly research of Armenian history. In 2012, Gregorian was presented with the Republic of Armenia’s Medal of Mkhitar Gosh, and in 2017, he was the recipient of the country’s Order of Honor.

Philanthropist Edward Avedisian

Avedisian, a NAASR Board member, is a world-class clarinetist who performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Boston Ballet’s orchestra before changing careers to focus on investments. Through his philanthropy, Avedisian has donated generously to the Armenian community and beyond. He is a trustee of the American University of Armenia (AUA), where he was the principal benefactor of the new 100,000 square foot Paramaz Avedisian Building. He is also the principal benefactor of the Khoren and Shooshanig Avedisian K-12 School and Community Center in an underprivileged section of the capital city, Yerevan.

Avedisian is a 2016 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He is a director on the board of the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), and he recently gave a transformative gift to the Rhode Island College of Pharmacy in honor of his late brother Paramaz Avedisian.

New Headquarters

NAASR’s new headquarters, designed by a team from the architectural, design and engineering firm of Symmes, Maini and McKee, led by Ara Krafian, will be a three-story building with a glass façade, allowing natural light to illuminate the interior. A variety of Armenian features are incorporated into the design, including a hand-carved wooden door, which a master artisan in Armenia is carving, and an Armenian Alphabet Wall.

The general contractor, Altair Construction, anticipates completion by the fall of 2019.

The building will have many spaces for the public to gather as well as a secure environment for NAASR’s rare-book collection gathered in the Mardigian Library, one of the top-five Armenian libraries open to the public in the diaspora. It will soon total 40,000 books, with some dating back to the 1600s, and rare periodicals dating back to the 1800s, as well as the unique personal archives of prominent scholars, early Armenian-Americans, and religious leaders.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has given full support with a capital grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund and MassDevelopment of $225,000 awarded in 2017, for installation of an elevator, other accessibility features, and fire suppression.

The NAASR staff is working in temporary offices at the AGBU-New England headquarters on Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown and continuing its programming and bookstore on-site and online at www.naasr.org.

To date, NAASR has financial commitments for more than $6 million of the $6.5 million needed to build the new center. The nonprofit invites the community to contribute at all levels to support this project.

The post NAASR to Name Its New Headquarters after Historian, Philanthropic Leader Vartan Gregorian appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

PASADENA, Calif. – Pasadena has a substantial Armenian population, though not nearly as large as that of neighboring Glendale. Mayor Terry Eliot Tornek noted that both individual Armenians as well as Armenian organizations are very active in the life of the city. Armenians, he said, “are very well represented in commissions and organizations,” and have a significant impact in terms of the welfare of the city.

Tornek, born in New York City in 1945, graduated Princeton University, and obtained a master’s degree from Columbia University in urban planning. He worked as an urban renewal representative in New York City with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1968 to 1969, but moved to Massachusetts in the 1970s. He worked as Planning Director of Springfield, Mass., and served as a member of the Springfield City Council. In 1982 he moved to Pasadena to become the city’s Planning Director and helped establish the redevelopment plan for Old Pasadena.

Tornek has worked for over three decades in real estate, and is a founding partner of Hudson Properties, LLC. Before this, he served for over a decade as Executive Vice President at HASEKO, Inc. While working in business, he served twenty years as a board member of the nonprofit Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services, and in 2005 was appointed to the Pasadena Planning Commission. He also served on the Design Commission.

He reentered politics with his election to City Council to represent District 7 in 2009, was reelected in 2013, and was elected mayor in 2015. In Pasadena, mayoral elections are direct now for four-year terms, with seven city council members serving along with the mayor. Tornek at the same time serves as chairman of the Pasadena Finance Committee, a member of the Municipal Services and Legislative Policy Committees, the City Council appointee to the Fire and Police Retirement Board, Pasadena’s representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, and is president of the Burbank Airport Authority.

Tornek said, “My focus has been on the financial well-being of the city. I am a business person and a city planner by training.” He said that he appointed himself chairman of the Finance Committee. “I have been very concerned about expenses outstripping revenues, which is why I suggested we increase the sales tax as in Glendale and Burbank. It passed here by a wider margin. We are giving a third to the school district. I felt we had to do this to maintain the level of services that we have and take care of some of the deferred infrastructure issues that we have,” he said. He declared that 14 million dollars will be raised for the city and 7 million for the school district.

Aside from working on affordable housing, Tornek said that he is very much interested in the future of the Arroyo Seco Park, the biggest park in Pasadena, and so has begun an initiative relating to its improvement.

Tornek said that some Armenians think that they form 15 to 20 percent of Pasadena’s overall population, but he said he thought that figure to be too high. However, he says that though there is a fair number of Armenians in Pasadena, “I have no idea what the population is. I don’t have a viable way to define and measure it. I don’t venture guesses.”

The problem is that there is no complete census survey of Armenians there. A study commissioned by the Pasadena Board of Directors in 1989 placed the Armenian population at 6,850. This was when the new wave of emigration from Soviet Armenia/the Republic of Armenia was starting to snowball.

According to the US Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey 5 year estimate, 140,268 people live in Pasadena, among whom there are 4,245 speakers of Armenian. This of course does not include Armenians who do not speak Armenian (or who have not reported that they speak Armenian). Consequently, logic would imply that the total number must be much larger.

Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell also recently admitted that there is a need for up-to-date statistics on the numbers of Armenians, who may have increased due to immigration (https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2018/11/23/pasadenas-workforce-is-diverse-but-officials-say-theres-room-for-improvement/).

There is no Armenian city council member at present but William Mihrtad Paparian was a member from 1987 to 1999 and served as city mayor from 1995 to 1997.

The US government does not grant Armenians any special status for affirmative action type programs. However, in 1985, the city designated Armenians a “protected class,” along with blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, and it does track Armenian numbers in city employment. In 2017 Armenians formed 2.3 percent of the city’s workforce, which would be less than their percentage of the city population even if a lowball estimate of 5,000 is accepted.

Tornek said that the Armenian population is concentrated in north-central and northeast Pasadena. Pasadena, he said, is unlike Glendale and North Hollywood, which have been the epicenter of Armenian population in the region. In Pasadena, Hispanics are the largest single ethnic group, while Asians are the fastest growing group.

Armenians, Tornek said, are “much more integrated into the Pasadena milieu,” compared to their situation in Glendale. He said, “We are unique because we have world-class institutions here like JPL [NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory], Caltech [California Institute of Technology] and Art Center College of Design, and 1,100 nonprofit organizations, so voluntarism is really a dominant aspect of Pasadena culture….The Armenian presence is not as intense because they are so engaged in the general fabric of civic affairs.” At the same time, he said, “It is a distinctive community and clearly because of the churches and the civic organizations it is an identifiable presence.” He gratefully acknowledged that “they have been supportive of me and very helpful to me,” and said, “I appreciate that.”

There are no dual-language Armenian immersion programs in Pasadena schools, unlike in Glendale. Tornek thought that in part, this was because there were several Armenian schools operating in Pasadena.

Tornek participated in August to September 2017 in an official city delegation trip visiting Pasadena’s sister city of Vanadzor, Armenia, for three days, along with other parts of Armenia. Another Pasadena City Council member, Pasadena Sister Cities Committee members, Pasadena United School District Board of Education President Vruyr Boulghourjian and other local elected officials from Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and Glendale participated along with members of the Pasadena chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America. This was his first trip to Armenia and it was self-funded, Tornek said.

The relationship between Vanadzor and Pasadena was established in 1991, and Vanadzor is one of only five sister cities of Pasadena. Tornek said, “We have a very active sister city committee with Vanadzor. They focus their attention on mostly on the pre-school children, maintaining and improving nurseries in the town. It has been going on for years, with very active, heartwarming activity. I enjoyed the visit very much.”

He said that in addition to Vanadzor, “We spent a fair amount of time in Yerevan and met with lots of local officials. We even toured a winery.” The Velvet Revolution and consequent changes in administration, Tornek related, have slowed things down a bit, but the dust has been settling now.

He explained, “I have been working and trying to promote tourism. I think that is the best opportunity for Armenia in terms of expanding its economic activity and it is something that we can be helpful with.” There is also a project to raise funds to build a replacement pre-school because the largest one in Vanadzor is in terrible shape.

Tornek noted that among the biggest issues in Pasadena is that of rising house prices and rent. At a meeting hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America recently, he received the most questions on this topic. Tornek said that people are being driven out of Pasadena by the rapid increases in costs and parents are concerned that their children cannot afford to live here. Armenians who are renters are being squeezed, Tornek noted.

He said that in response a lot of new housing is being built, which should eventually moderate the price increases, but the demand is still so much greater than the supply. This is a regional problem. He said that many people want to live there, while it is expensive and difficult to build new housing.

Partly as a result, homelessness is a big problem in southern California. Attempts by the Pasadena City Council to deal with it led to a brief conflict with the Armenian community in Pasadena last year when a proposal was made to convert a Ramada Inn diagonally opposite St. Gregory Armenian Church and its Armenian school into permanent supportive housing for the homeless. Armenians and other neighbors came out in large numbers at a community meeting in emotional opposition.

Tornek said that this was an overreaction “in a way that was highly inappropriate and unfair. They killed the project before it even got started. It betrayed a deep mistrust of the city and a lack of understanding of what our objectives there were in terms of homeless and what kind of facility was being discussed.”

He added, “It wasn’t their fault. The process was mismanaged. They were not informed. It was just the beginning of a discussion.” Tornek said, “I was not involved in the process…If I had been managing it, it would have gone differently.”

Crime is fairly low and regionally has been down in recent years. There are some Hispanic and black gangs, but no Armenian gangs or mafia in Pasadena, according to the mayor. The gangs were a generational phenomenon, with 3-4 generations sometimes continuing as members, largely in northwest Pasadena and Altadena. Tornek said that fortunately opioids have not had a big impact in Pasadena, though he did not know why this was so, compared to areas like New England.

One major difference from Glendale is that there is a light rail line, called the Gold Line, with six stations in Pasadena, making it easier to go to downtown Los Angeles. While there is a lot of traffic, Tornek said, “we are not choking with traffic.” Apart from the rush hour period, he said, you can get where you are going in a hurry.

Pasadena’s economy is doing well, according to the mayor. He cited four major areas in which it has a competitive edge in the marketplace: tech innovation, supported through the Innovate Pasadena tax-exempt organization, medical services (aside from employing some 5,000 people, Kaiser Permanente is now building a medical school, while Huntington Memorial Hospital is a regional center), the hospitality industry (though a relatively small city, Pasadena has 650 restaurants, and many hotels, with Old Pasadena a major attraction) and education, with many top level institutions.

Tornek concluded by noting that the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day is one of the best-known aspects of Pasadena, yet when he was recently in China, no one had heard of it. Instead, they all knew about Pasadena through the “Big Bang Theory” television show, as most of the characters work in Caltech. One way or another, Pasadena is known throughout the world, and Armenians, living there since the late 1880s, continue to make their contribution to this vibrant and expanding city.

The post Pasadena Mayor Tornek Gives His Take on the Armenians of the City of Roses appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

By Kara Baskin

BOSTON (Boston Globe) — Armenian-Lebanese restaurateur Nina Festekjian grew up in Lebanon during the Civil War. She and her husband, Raffi, opened Anoush’ella Saj Kitchen to share their favorite childhood recipes with the South End. She has no professional culinary training; instead, she honed her kitchen skills cooking for three sons and throwing plenty of parties and charitable gatherings. “I feel like I’m a chef by experience,” she says.

What’s the first restaurant you ever ate at in Boston?

Todd English’s Olives in Charlestown. I loved his paella! We did catering for my son’s first birthday, and he delivered it himself. We got to know him when he brought it. He gave me the platter to keep, he explained how to serve it with the sauce on top, and then he left. This was in 1996.

What’s one thing you’d like to fix about the restaurant industry here?

I didn’t have [restaurant] experience. My husband and I had to research every single aspect of operating the restaurant. I would love to have a single portal for chefs to quickly make decisions . . . the best way to install digital displays, or to get eco-friendly containers or custom-bottled juices, or to learn social media best practices. We did our own research in every single area. It’s very time-consuming.

What other restaurants do you visit?

I love Ostra. Their seafood is so fresh. And I love B&G Oysters, Oleana, and Trade. I tend to like Mediterranean cuisine. Those are my favorites. And I loved the sashimi bar at Uni, back when it was a little place.

What’s your earliest food memory that made you think: I want to work in restaurants?

I never thought I’d want to be in the business. I wanted to be an interior designer. Over the years, I learned to enjoy cooking, feeding my boys — we have three boys — hosting dinner parties, doing fund-raisers. I realized I can be good at it. My husband had this crazy idea that I could create a whole experience in the Boston food scene! That’s how we started. I grew up in Lebanon. I cook everything. Italian. Paella. I cook everything at home for my family.

What’s the worst restaurant experience you’ve ever had?

I’m a positive person. Every restaurant where I’ve had a bad experience, there has been an explanation from the manager. I don’t want to be a negative reviewer. But I can’t handle clumsiness! I am a perfectionist. I like things to be in order.

How could Boston become a better food city?

I wish more restaurants did sugar-free dishes and had minimal use of salt. We need to create menus with spices and sauces other than salt and sugar.

Name three adjectives for Boston diners.

They have a global, diverse palate. They are critical. And loyal.

What’s the most overdone trend right now?

Steak and burger restaurants!

What are you reading?

I’m reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The series just came out on HBO, but I want to finish the book before jumping into the series. Also, I’m reading Wine by the Glass by Oz Clarke. My son just got it as a present for me. I want a deeper understanding of the wines I’m drinking.

How’s your commute?

We live in Winchester. The commute is short but sometimes challenging with traffic. Most cases, it’s a half-hour.

What’s the one food you never want to eat again?

In Lebanon, we serve these little birds that are fried and served with pomegranate molasses. Some say it’s a delicacy. It’s like a tweetie bird. Frying the birds, those tweetie birds — I can’t!

What kind of restaurant is Boston missing right now?

I feel like Michelin star restaurants are missing, maybe like Casa Mono in New York City or Le Bernardin. We also are missing some very good Middle Eastern restaurants, like Ilili in New York.

What’s your most missed Boston restaurant?

Blue Ginger. We used to live in Lexington back then, and it was a short commute.

Who was your most memorable customer?

We have a dentist who is a BU dental professor. He actually worked as a sous chef at one point with Ken Oringer! He’s a very nice person and a foodie. He and his colleagues come almost every week, and they appreciate the effort we put into creating healthy, fresh dishes. They’ve been really nice in providing critical feedback and encouragement since day one.

If you had to eat your last meal in Boston, what would it be?

I love oysters, but I stay away from fried ones. If I had a last meal, it would be fried oysters at B&G.

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LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California (USC) Shoah Foundation is joining forces with an organization that is dedicated to bringing curriculum about the World War I-era Armenian Genocide into high schools across the United States.

The relationship between the Shoah Foundation and The Genocide Education Project (or “GenEd”) is in its infancy, but Sedda Antekelian, the Institute’s Education and Outreach Specialist for the Armenian Genocide, says the collaboration will significantly expand the reach of the voices of Armenian Genocide survivors and eyewitnesses.

“It will really help us humanize the story of the genocide of the Armenian people,” she said. “And it will help students realize its relevance to their own lives.”

Between 1915 and 1923, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in death marches and massacres at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, who were allied with the German Empire during World War I.

The Genocide Education Project was established in the early 2000s in response to a realization that — although a California law mandating the teaching of the Armenian Genocide had passed in the mid-1980s — few history educators were actually covering the material.

“They were unaware of this history altogether, they never learned it growing up, they didn’t learn it when they were getting their teaching certificates — most of them weren’t clear on the mandate, and they were justifiably reluctant to teach such a sensitive topic without the proper preparation,” said Roxanne Makasdjian, GenEd’s executive director, who said the organization surveyed San Francisco Bay Area school districts in 2000. “There wasn’t any dedicated funding, training, or age-appropriate materials at the time.”

Over the years, GenEd has not only produced curricula but also kept a vigilant eye out for instances in which the Armenian Genocide has been given short shrift in schools. Often, Makasdjian said, this was the result of lobbying by interests from Turkey, which continues to deny that the genocide occurred.

Turks have fought against Armenian Genocide recognition and education across the United States, including by filing an unsuccessful lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts for its Armenian Genocide instruction.

GenEd has successfully helped advocate for the Armenian Genocide to take its proper place in numerous state World History curriculum guidelines.

In California, for instance, the advocacy played a role in how the reference to the genocide in the state’s history-social science framework has become unequivocal. What’s more, in 2016, the state’s revisions to the framework included a recommendation for 10th-grade teachers to use oral testimony from witnesses.

GenEd’s catalog of educational materials includes teaching guides, photos, news articles written at the time of the genocide, and lesson plans attached to novels and memoirs about the genocide. This partnership will expand on its testimony-based resources.

The Genocide Education Project and the Institute have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and have begun to plan collaborative projects. Both organizations share a common underlying aim: to help develop empathy and instill values in students that enable them to stand up to hatred.

“We’re seeking to build good global citizens who, armed with knowledge of the history and consequences of genocide, will take action to improve the world,” Makasdjian said.

Makasdjian said the seeds of GenEd’s relationship with USC Shoah Foundation were planted when acclaimed filmmaker J. Michael  Hagopian – known for his stirring documentaries about the genocide – confided in her shortly before his death that he’d made an agreement with the Institute to preserve the interviews he filmed with survivors over decades.

“He was so relieved,” she said of Hagopian, who died in 2010 at age 97. “It was that peace of mind that comes to an elderly person that his legacy will be preserved and it will be preserved for the nation and for humanity and for human rights.”

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ALTADENA, Calif. – The Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter will host a bilingual program titled “Roupen Herian: Rescuer of Armenian Orphans” on Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 5 p.m. at the Tekeyan Center in Altadena. Boston-based scholar Aram Arkun, Executive Director of the Tekeyan Cultural Association of the United States and Canada and Assistant Editor of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, will serve as the keynote speaker and, with the help of illustrations, present the fascinating life of Roupen Herian, who was entrusted with the herculean task of locating kidnapped Armenian women and children.

Herian was born in Tokat sometime between 1868 and 1872, but after graduating the local Armenian school, left to engage in commerce in Constantinople. He left for the United States in May 1895, possibly due to the oppression of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his regime.

Herian immigrated to Boston and later moved to New York City. He became a successful businessman, while continuing to be deeply involved in Armenian political activities. In 1916 he carried out a secret war mission for the British government.

Herian helped arrange the transportation of the 1,200 Armenian-Americans who joined the Armenian Legion, which successfully defeated the Turkish and German forces at the Battle of Arara in Palestine in September 1918, and himself later enrolled as a legionnaire.

Herian served as the director of an infirmary in Egypt for the legionnaires, and participated in an abortive expedition to help the besieged city of Hajin. He also played a role in the defense of the Cilician city of Dört Yol (Chork-Marzban).

As representative of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Egyptian Armenian Relief, and [Armenian] United Orphan Care, with additional financial support from the Armenian Church, the Armenian Democratic Party (predecessor of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party), various other Armenian relief organizations, and, most strikingly, many individual Armenians who themselves barely had enough money to live after the Genocide, Herian tried to rescue kidnapped Armenian woman and children from Bedouins, Turks, Kurds and their harems. Using his adept language skills, Herian disguised himself as needed as an American missionary, British official or Bedouin, primarily in the Aleppo, Der Zor and Mosul regions, to carry out his mission. Despite threats of death and robbery and facing great resistance from those who did not want to easily relinquish Armenian women and children from their hold, Herian remained valiant. Herian used persuasion, money and sometimes threats to rescue Armenian women and children from their captors.

He was a moving and effective speaker who participated in fundraising activities in the United States, France, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt with the intent to rescue more women and orphans. His untimely death in Cairo, Egypt on July 7, 1921 prevented him from fulfilling those plans.

Keynote speaker Arkun is a graduate of Princeton University and has a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a C. Phil. degree in Armenian history from the University of California Los Angeles.  He has been editor-in-chief of the AGBU Ararat quarterly, director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern) and adjunct assistant professor at New York University, among other past posts. He has written a number of articles on Cilician Armenians in the modern period.

Also participating in the program are the dancers of the Patille Dance Studio of Pasadena, under the direction of Patille and Cynthia Albarian.

Roupen Herian made many personal sacrifices to serve the Armenian people, in part by means of the Armenian Legion, Armenian Democratic Party and AGBU. Herian remains a great patriot and hero of the Armenian nation, whose bravery, determination and sacrifice led to the rescue of countless Armenian orphans and women.

The post ‘Roupen Herian: Rescuer of Armenian Orphans’ Program Hosted by Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter appeared first on The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Instead of “With a Little Help From My Friends”, it was “With a Little Help From My Brothers” as some 30 Knights of Vartan members representing four New England lodges spent the afternoon of January 19 in New Britain, Connecticut, to attend and for some, participate in the degree ceremonies that brought three young Asbeds into the organization.

Hosted by Gamsaragan Lodge No. 27 from Hartford, the ceremony brought together members from Hartford, as well as Ararat Lodge No. 1 in Boston, Arshavir Lodge No. 2 in Worcester and Avakasz Lodge Lodge No. 35 in North Andover, Mass. The ceremony was held at the Masonic Temple in New Britain and presided over by former Grand District Representative Thomas Dabakian. A number of out of state lodge members also participated in the ceremony, including Rev. Stephen Baljian, Pastor of St. Gregory’s Armenian Apostolic Church of Merrimack Valley. Rev. Stephen Baljian is the son of NS Der Antranig Baljian of Ararat Lodge No. 1 and Pastor of St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown.

Prior to the Degree Ceremonies, the Knights were treated to lunch prepared by Gamsaragan Asbed John Kasparian.

Installed as new Asbeds in the Knights of Vartan were Krikor Norsigian and Rodolfo Valentini of Gamsaragan Lodge No. 27 and Andrew Kibarian of Ararat Lodge No. 1.

• David Medzorian, Ararat Lodge No. 1

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By Louisa Janbazian

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — On Wednesday, January 16, Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, visited the Merdinian School, accompanied by John Shirajian, president of Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA), Jirayr Abrahamyan, president of the Alumni Association of the Polytechnic Institute of Armenia, and Dr. Vardan Gevorkyan.

The students greeted Harutyunyan in the Aram and Anahis D. Boolghoorjian Hall of the School singing the song Dukhov, whose name those supporting the Velvet Revolution in Armenia had adopted.

After Principal Lina Arslanian’s welcoming words and Armenian language teacher Aline Shirajian’s introduction about the background of the School, Rev. Serop Megerditchian, Merdinian Board member and Pastor of the Armenian Cilicia Evangelical Church of Pasadena, greeted the minister and the guests and talked about the significance of the educational work and the mission of the Armenian Evangelicals world-wide – in the Diaspora and in Armenia, highlighting Armenian Missionary Association of America’s (AMAA) Khoren and Shooshanig Avedisian School in Yerevan.

Harutyunyan addressed the students and answered questions directed to him by some of the students regarding the education and the school system in Armenia, and concluded his remarks emphasizing the importance of the Armenian schools in the Diaspora. The students presented a few patriotic songs dedicated to Yerevan, which was greatly appreciated by the Minister.  The program ended with a prayer by Megerditchian. A reception followed the program in the faculty lounge, where Faculty and Board members continued their conversations with the guests in an intimate atmosphere.

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By Russell Contreras

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — It’s approaching 9 p.m. and Art Laboe adjusts the microphone as Sister Sledge’s We Are Family ends.

“And now it’s time for you to call up for those goodnight dedications,” Laboe announces.

“Hello?” a young girl says. “I want to dedicate this to my dad that’s in Lancaster (prison) and I miss tonight … I just want to say, Dad, I love you no matter where you go…” She dissolves into tears.

The 93-year-old DJ based in Palm Springs, credits one group of listeners for keeping him on the air after 75 years: family members who want to send messages to loved ones in prison.

Every Sunday on his syndicated show “The Art Laboe Connection Show,” his baritone voice calls on family members to speak directly to inmates in California, Arizona or Nevada. Sometimes, Laboe reads parts of letters written by inmates.

It’s a role Laboe says he feels honored to play.

“I don’t judge,” Laboe said in an interview with The Associated Press at his Palm Springs studio. “I like people.”

He often tells a story about a woman who came by the studio so her toddler could tell her father, who was serving time for a violent crime, “Daddy, I love you.”

“It was the first time he had heard his baby’s voice,” Laboe said. “And this tough, hard-nosed guy burst into tears.”

Born Arthur Egnoian in Salt Lake City to an Armenian-American family, Laboe grew up during the Great Depression in a Mormon household run by a single mom. His sister sent him his first radio when he was 8 years old. The voices and stories that came from it enveloped him.

“And I haven’t let go since,” Laboe said.

He moved to California, attended Stanford University and served in the US Navy during World War II. Eventually, he landed a job as a radio announcer at KSAN in San Francisco and adopted the name Art Laboe after a boss suggested he take the last name of a secretary to sound more American.

But it was when Laboe worked as a DJ for KXLA in Los Angeles where he gained fame. Laboe was one of the first DJs to play R&B and rock ‘n’ roll in California and is credited by scholars for helping integrate dance halls among Latinos, blacks, Asian Americans and whites who were drawn to his multicultural musical line up.

By 1956, Laboe’s afternoon show became the city’s top radio program.

Over the decades, Laboe maintained a fan base, especially among Mexican-Americans who followed him from station to station. He started getting calls from inmates’ family members in the 1990s on his syndicated oldies show. Current and former gang members were some of his most loyal fans.

“Here is someone who gave a voice to the most humble of us all through music,” said Lalo Alcaraz, a syndicated cartoonist and television writer who grew up listening to Laboe in San Diego. “He brought us together. That’s why we sought him out.”

Over the years, the syndicated show on Sunday has aired in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

In 2015, iHeartMedia’s KHHT-FM (92.3) dropped Laboe’s syndicated oldies show after the station abruptly switched to a hip-hop format, sparking angry protest in Los Angeles.

“Without Art Laboe, I’m So Lonely I Could Cry,” wrote essayist Adam Vine. Laboe later returned to the Los Angeles airwaves on another station.

Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based National Hispanic Media Coalition, said generations of Latino fans still attend Laboe-sponsored concerts to hear the likes of Smokey Robinson, The Spinners or Sunny & The Sunliners.

“I see these really tough looking guys in the crowd. I mean, they look scary,” Nogales said. “Then Art comes out and they just melt. They love him.”

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