By Anahid Karentz Varadian
Growing up in a family of dedicated ARF and ARS parents, it was inevitable that my brother and I would become involved in Armenian organizations from a very young age and continue through adulthood. My brother Varoujan would become president of the Providence “Varantian” AYF Chapter and a founding director of the Armenian Youth Foundation.
My journey through the ranks of the various groups and organizations in Providence started with the pre-teen Ardzevigs, then the young-adult ARF Nigol Douman Committee, followed by the Tzeghagrons, and the Providence “Varantian” AYF Chapter. Serving on the Providence chapter’s executive for a number of years prepared me for my commitment to the ARS. As a 60-year ARS member, I have been privileged to hold positions on the executive of the local “Ani” chapter as well as the organization’s regional and central executive boards.
However, it is the AYF that inspired and prepared me for those future endeavors. The AYF remains the dominant organization for our Armenian youth, influencing generations to value their Armenian heritage with educational, cultural, athletic, social, and political activities.
The AYF Olympics has become the major athletic and social event of each year, and memories of the past remain vivid despite the passing years. Many of my fondest memories hail from the mid-1940’s when our country was engaged in World War II, and many of our eligible AYF members were drafted or volunteered to serve in the military. The Providence chapter’s team at the 1942 Olympics in Lawrence, Mass. was the last full complement of male athletes to compete in track, baseball, tennis, and golf, winning the 9th Annual AYF Olympics. In 1943, with most of the older boys in the service, we “girls” from Providence were determined to carry on the winning Varantian tradition, of course with assistance from the few remaining boys. The Games were held at Dean Academy in Franklin, Mass. With our small team we managed to win, achieving Olympic victory three years in a row. With all the high-tech equipment being used today, it is quite humorous to mention that back then the high jump bar was a bamboo pole that bowed in the middle, and the pit was very hard for landing. There was no “Flosbury Flop,” a forward roll-over technique developed in 1968. Back then, the latest high jump technique was called the “scissor back over.” With no uniforms, many of us wore our high school gym shorts (luckily, my Cranston High School green also was the Providence chapter color). When a number of our “men” (who left as “boys”) returned to help our chapter capture the title in 1945, 1946, and 1947, the Providence Varantians retired the first coveted Olympic Cup. As recalled in the 1948 Olympics Program Book, it would not have been possible without the active participation of the “fairer sex.”
The 1947 Olympics was very special. Previously, we were competing in very small urban settings, but in 1947 the Games were held in New York at the tremendously huge Triborough Stadium on Randall’s Island, the site of the 1936 World Olympic Trials. With a record number of spectators, chapters from Boston, Bogota, Brockton, Cambridge, Camden, Hartford, Lawrence, New York, Newton, Niagara Falls, Philadelphia, Providence, Springfield, Syracuse, Utica, Union City, and Washington competed for victory. With additional new members, Providence again dominated the Olympics. The host New York “Hyortiks” placed second, followed by the Watertown “Gaidzags.” Also that year, the AYF Olympics began to adapt to athletic regulations of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) with a first-class facility, proper athletic field equipment, experienced AAU officials, and a new system of four-place points in all events.
As generation after generation from east to west recount their experiences as AYF members with pride and honor, their individual stories have one common remembrance: The fraternal spirit never fades or diminishes.
We hope to see you in Providence for the 76th Annual AYF-YOARF Olympic Games, Sept. 3-7, 2009.
For more information, visit www.ayfolympics.org.
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Anahid
Remember me?
Love your article. My parents met at the 1947 Olympics in New York and eloped 7 weeks later….10 months later I was born.
Now I live in a NYC apt and see Randall’s Island outside my kitchen window.
Love to you and all your family.
Noni