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Armenian Assembly Announces Sponsors for Annual Members Meeting in Florida
Annual Members Meeting Will Take Place in Boca Raton, March 13-14, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is pleased to announce the sponsors of this year’s annual members meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. Current Gold sponsors include: Hirair and Anna Hovnanian Foundation, Edele Hovnanian, Harry and Edna Keleshian, Carolyn Mugar, Lu Ann and Bruce Ohanian, Gail and Richard O’Reilly, George Pagoumian, Toros Sahakian, Joyce Stein, and Peter and Irene Vosbikian. Michael and Marie Haratunian, and Virginia Ohanian are Silver sponsors. George M. Jamgochian, James Kalustian, Oscar Tatosian, and Thomas G. Varbedian, M.D. are Bronze sponsors. Sponsorship opportunities are still available and will be displayed throughout the weekend.
The Assembly’s annual members weekend will kick-off with a complimentary welcome reception on Friday, March 13 at 7:00 PM with select hors d’oeuvres and open bar. Author Irene Vosbikian will present her new book BEDROS at the welcome reception and sign copies that will be available for purchase with all proceeds benefiting the Assembly. On Saturday, March 14, guests are invited to a complimentary continental breakfast at 9:00 AM, with the annual trustees and members meeting starting at 10:00 AM. Lunch will be available from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM for $35.00. The Assembly’s Armenian Genocide Symposium featuring Dr. Rouben Adalian, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, and Hannibal Travis, will take place from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. The symposium is free and open to the public. On Saturday night, guests are invited to a cocktail reception at 6:00 PM, followed by a dinner dance with live music at 7:00 PM. Tickets to the Saturday cocktail reception and dinner dance are available for $100 per person.
“This year’s annual members weekend in Florida is gearing up to be an exciting series of events for the Assembly,” stated Assembly Board Member Lu Ann Ohanian. “We’d like to thank our current sponsors for their generous support and also encourage others to join us as an official sponsor,” Ohanian said.
Individuals can sponsor the Assembly’s Annual Members Meeting at Gold ($2,500), Silver ($1,250), and Bronze ($750) levels. Bronze sponsors will receive access to the welcome reception, breakfast, symposium and two tickets to the Saturday dinner dance. Silver sponsors will receive access to all events for two people. Gold sponsors will receive access to all events for four people.
All events of the Assembly’s annual members weekend will be held at the Marriott Hotel at Boca Town Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486. Guests that are traveling from out of town should call (561) 392-4600 to reserve a room at the Armenian Assembly’s reduced rate of $169.00 per night. To register for the annual members weekend please contact Assembly South Florida Regional Council Chair Carol Norigian at southflaaa@gmail.com. Online registration for the Armenian Genocide Symposium is available here.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
Florida Atlantic University Conducts First Public Teacher Workshop on the Armenian Genocide in South Florida
Workshop is Part of a Series of Events in South Florida Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
By Taniel Koushakjian
FLArmenians Managing Editor
As part of the South Florida commemorations of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century, Florida Atlantic University (FAU) will conduct a two-part series of events. On January 20th, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at FAU and Reverend Fr. Paren Galstyan, Pastor of St. David Armenian Church in Boca Raton, Florida, held a workshop at the Alex and Marie Manoogian School. The workshop featured lectures, exhibits, and thought-provoking information and dialogue on the Armenian Genocide. Facilitated by Dr. Mary Johnson, Facing History and Ourselves, the workshop explored the role of World War I in the execution of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
Fifteen teachers from Broward and Palm Beach County participated in the FAU workshop. “St. David’s Armenian school was the perfect setting for teachers, not only to learn about the Armenian genocide and how to teach it, but also to begin to understand Armenian identity,” stated Dr. Gatens. “All of us were fascinated by the richness of Armenian culture, but even more by the ancientness of Armenian Christianity,” Dr. Gatens said.
During the workshop instructors examined the exhibit “Witness to the Armenian Genocide: Photographs by the Perpetrators’ German and Austro-Hungarian Allies,” produced by the Armenian National Institute (ANI), the Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), and the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). The ten-poster set includes an introductory page, a detailed timeline, a color-coded map geographically matching the photographs with their location, and seven pages displaying 34 captioned historic photographs. The color-coded map in the exhibit is based on the previously-published ANI map of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire illustrating the three prevailing aspects of the Genocide: the deportations, the massacres, and the concentration camps.
FAU’s second lecture commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will take place on Sunday, April 19, 2015, as part of the Martin and Edith Stein Community Lecture Series. Dr. Tamar Akçam will discuss his book, “The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire.” Dr. Akçam is the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Florida Atlantic University Events Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:
January 20, 2015
Teacher Workshop: The Role of World War I in the Execution of the Armenian Genocide, facilitated by Dr. Mary Johnson, Facing History and Ourselves, FAU, Boca Raton Campus, 8.30-a.m.3.30 p.m. at St. David’s Armenian Church, Boca Raton. Substitute reimbursements available. April 2015 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This program is part of local commemoration of the first genocide of the Twentieth Century.
April 19, 2015
Martin and Edith Stein Community Lecture Series: Dr. Tamar Akçam will discuss his book, “The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire,” Dr. Akçam is Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. This program is part of south Florida’s commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. FAU, Boca Campus, 7-9 p.m., location TBA.
OPINION: A Journey Through Time
By Rabbi Craig H. Ezring
Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach, FL
Observer Newspaper
I was invited to a genocide commemoration last week. But this was not a commemoration of the Shoah, this was a commemoration (the very first in the United States) of the 100th Year of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
Most of you who read my column know that I have a passion for dance. So when I heard that the program would include a performance by the Sayat Nova Dance Company …well, how could I stay away? But there was another reason that I needed to be there.
On Shabbat, just before the event, I sang a song during my sermon. The lyrics go something like this:
I am bound for the Promised Land …
Oh Lord, I am bound for the Promised Land …
Oh who will come and go with me …
I am bound for the Promised Land …
Who will come and go with me?
Which is it, are we coming or going? The same question was asked by the Sages in regard to what G-d tells Moses about a trip to pharaoh. You see, the Hebrew word, Bo, can mean, “go” or it can mean, “come.” So was G-d telling Moses to “go” to Pharaoh or was He telling him “come to Pharaoh?” If I asked you to go to the store, I would be asking you to go in my stead. But, if I asked you to come … that is what G-d was saying to Moses, “Come with me … I will be with you every step of the way.”
And that is why I felt I had to come to the Armenian Genocide Commemoration. As a Jew, I have a duty to remember the Holocaust and to see to it that it never happens again. The problem is that, before the Holocaust, there was a genocide perpetrated against the Armenians and there have been others since then in places like Darfur and Rwanda. So how could I not be there to remember the horror that happened to my Armenian brothers and sisters?
The dance program took us all on “A Journey Through Time.” The performers weaved the story of the Armenians from ancient days to the Genocide, to their rebirth. With each step the dancers took on stage, I could feel the connection between the Armenian Culture and the Jewish Community. We each went through an amazing religious transformation; each of us had and have those who would like to see us annihilated; and each of us not only miraculously survived an attempt at extermination, but both cultures have found a way to go on. No, each has found a way to do more than that; each has found a way to live, to laugh and to dance.
As I looked around the audience and saw so many children with parents and grandparents, I realized that the Armenians have the same aspirations that we have … to make our progeny knowledgeable of our past, of our traditions, of our culture and to be proud of being who we are. And, with the help of people like Arsine Kaloustian and the AGC (The Armenian Genocide Commemoration), may we be vigilant to speak out against any and all attempts at the Genocide of any people.
To Arsine and to all my Armenian brothers and sisters, we will not forget!
Shalom my friends.
This article originally appeared in the Observer Newspaper on February 5, 2015, and is reposted with the expressed written consent of the author.
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