HOMENETMEN CELEBRATES 25 YEARS
NORTHEAST GLENDALE, July 30 (Noyan Tapan). Homenetmen Glendale Ararat
Chapter held a 25th anniversary celebration 27 July at Glandale High
School. The event included live cultural music, dancing and sporting
events. It lasted from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and by midafternoon,
organizers said more than 1,000 people had walked through the
entrance.The event was for the community but it also was a chance to
bring past and current membership together to see how the organization
has grown. “We wanted to create an environment in which the membership
would see each other and create a momentum for the 25th anniversary
gala in October,” Glendale News Press LATimes.com quoted anniversary
celebration organizer Armen Abrahamian as saying. This year, the
anniversary has already included reunions of past members and
volunteers. The chapter, the largest of its kind in the Western United
States, is celebrating 25 years of providing a place for
Armenian-American boys and girls – many from south Glendale – to get
involved in scouting and athletic activities. Homenetmen, also known
as the Armenian General Athletic Union & Scouts, is a global
organization founded in 1918. The mission for the local chapter has
remained the same since it started 25 years ago, when it started out
of small homes and rented space in Glendale. “I think we’ve done a
good job with educating kids while being able to give them enough to
do to help them not get into trouble,” Abrahamian said. Many members
are now in their 50s, and mentoring a new generation at 3347 N. San
Fernando Road. “This place is a second home for us,” said Andre
Pashai, a longtime member who is now coaching the basketball team that
Homenetmen officials said will represent Glendale this year in the
Pan-Armenian Games in Armenia. “It is a great idea,” said Narek
Shahmoradian, 13, who plays tennis and basketball. “It will stop kids
from getting into spraying graffiti on walls and getting into gangs.
It makes the community better.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress