An Olympic Meeting Full of Life’s Emotion
Alicia Barberian is a real fidgety woman. The Salem, N.H. resident arrived at the tennis courts to watch her 16-year-old daughter Olivia compete for the first time.
But instead of scrutinizing her every move from behind the fence, she proceeded to an obscure part of the field and let her husband Arthur provide the moral support.
That’s what nerves can do to a parent and Alicia is no different than the rest of us. Except for one thing: She’s being treated for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma—the same disease that struck Governing Body member Alex Sarafian (portrayed in a recent Armenian Weekly story about his recent marriage to Kara Derderian).
Alicia never met Alex but heard from him through a mutual friend. All it took was a simple telephone call from Armen Kourkounian. “Listen Alex. I need a favor. How about calling this woman from Salem who also has the same disease and give her a few words of encouragement?”
Done deal!
The two exchanged words for a considerable time. Alicia was buoyed with hope at Alex’s tender message and about staying resilient.
Well, Olivia won her preliminary match and stunned the eventual gold medalist in the opening set of the semi-finals against Detroit’s Stephanie Dolik. That brought the mother out of hiding and also Alex. The girl was from Detroit and Sarafian was there to give some home-town encouragement as the former coach.
Alex and Olivia were standing next to one another at the tennis court on this day and, despite the telephone call, didn’t know one another. They were total strangers until an introduction was made.
Two victims with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma suddenly embraced in a hug that made for one very worthwhile climax. There’s something much more vital at an Olympics than a tennis match or a gold medal. It’s called the game of life!
WWII women recognized
In one of the more emotional tributes at an Alumni Night gathering, three women from the World War II era were singled out for their devotion to the AYF and male counterparts called to battle in defense of their country.
Honored were Virginia Tourigian, Alice Dolbashian, and Roseanne Chebookjian, all of whom performed yeoman’s duty in keeping their chapters intact, despite the depleted numbers.
Virginia was named an Olympic Queen later that evening while Roseanne made the trip to Philadelphia from Greater Boston. She’s the mother of Richard Chebookjian, Philly coach and one-time stellar athlete for the Boston chapter.
Spearheading the program was Debbie Tashjian, who compiled a pictorial history of that era and put a video together for all to see.
What started out as just that turned into a three-pronged celebration with the ARS centennial and the Prelacy’s declaration as the “Year of the Woman” throughout the Apostolic Church.
“Their main focus was the betterment of their organization and perpetuating the Olympics tradition despite the absence of male members,” said Tashjian. “They brought respect to our chapters and raised future generations of AYFers. To them goes a debt of gratitude.”
Armenian cycle team
If you’re ever around the Illinois area and see an entourage of bicyclists with red, blue, and orange colors, no, you’re not in Yerevan. It’s the North Shore Armenian Cycling Club led by ANC national chairman Ken Hachikian and sidekick Mark Gavoor.
Other members of the troupe are Koko Tchamitchian, Christian Tchamitchian, Antreas Mesrobian, Claude Ohanesian, and Ara Surenian.
Most of these guys are regular Olympic aficionados as well. You’ll usually find Ken leading an Armenian dance with his wife Gloria in “toe.” As for Mark, he’s a talented oudist, community activist, and one heck of a writer with his monthly columns, “This Side of Fifty.”
The club is based in Lake Forest and enjoys weekly rides of 10-35 miles depending on time availability and weather conditions. It’s not only about health and fitness but for camaraderie and the enjoyment of God’s beautiful environment.
Come join them sometime when you’re in the Chicago area. They’ll even supply the bike.
For more on this, please log on to http://thissideoffifty.blogspot.com/2010/01/north-shore-armenian-cycling-club.html.
Helpful Olympic hints
What’s an Olympics without a meeting of the minds? A small group of notables sat in a conference room and picked each other’s brain on how to make this AYF tradition of 77 years even better.
What came out of it is this: more team-oriented sports such as relays; a program booklet containing the names and numbers of each participant for easier recognition; proper uniforms for all athletes; suggestion box at the welcoming booth; two 2-tier scoring system separating larger and smaller chapters, based upon chapter population.
Let’s also throw in territorial restrictions for athletes and an allegiance to home-town chapters with respect to recruitment issues.
There was also a suggestion to change the date to Memorial Day weekend for those who have college requirements and combining the senior games with the juniors. They would conduct their Olympics on Saturday.
All were welcomed thoughts. Let’s see what’s implemented in the future.
Age no barrier with Parnagians
Charlie and Mary Parnagian are well into their 80s and hail from Ridgewood, N.J. They came to Philly for the Olympics to watch twin grandsons Matthew and Christopher compete. Mary is a former Terhanian who belonged to the New York “Hyortiks.”
“It’s wonderful to see the younger folks clinging to their roots and making Armenian friends,” said Charlie. “I thank their parents for teaching them.”
But who taught the parents?
Ara Krikorian earns silver
Give Ara Krikorian a silver medal. The Glendale, Calif., resident attended his 25th Olympics with parents John and Elsie, two prominent AYFers who’ve always been aboard this bandwagon.
The 35-year-old Ara has been attending these games since he was 10 and is one of 7 siblings and uncle to 22 nieces and nephews who frequent these games. His forte is Armenian dancing.
He’s no athletic slouch himself, winning medals in the Special Olympics for weight-lifting and bowling. Hopefully, his San Francisco 49’ers make it to the Super Bowl.
A crowded affair
Although the numbers posted a slight decline from 2002 when the Olympics were last hosted by Philly, they still were quite good, considering the economy and logistics.
“The crowd exceeded our expectations,” said chairman Jim Kzirian. “What’s more, no discipline problems this year.”
Sunday’s turnout at the Olympic Ball was about 1,200, while 800 guests were reported at Saturday’s dance. Alumni Night drew 450 guests, while another 500 attended the AYF dance.
And Philly’s victory couldn’t have been any sweeter at home.
“Rich (Chebookjian) did a great job in building this chapter up,” Kzirian added.
Philly adbook a gem
If there were an award given for the best-looking adbook, Philly would certainly be in the hunt.
This one was truly a beaut with its cover shot of the Philadelphia skyline and tall buildings taken at dusk.
Pages totaled 234 with some striking messages from sponsors. Kudos go out to adbook chair Lena Ohannesian-Streeter and her dedicated committee.
Philly comparison to old dynasties
Olympic historian Bob Tutunjian offers some valuable insight to these games. Had Philly won last year, instead of Providence, the “Sebouhs” would share company with the “Varantians” (1955-59) and more recently Boston (1981-85) with their string of five consecutive victories.
The contrast in their approaches showed clearly in ’83 when Boston became the first chapter to win an Olympics in Providence and also retired a Cup at the same time.
The “Varantians” had over 70 entrants that year compared to only 20 for the “Siamantos,” but it was a group that Providence coach Steve Elmasian called “the team of iron.”
“It has been said by some that Philly has taken advantage of weaker competition and may not have done well against another dynasty team like Boston in the 80s,” said Tutunjian. “But a real comparison of this year’s times and distances to those of the 80s shows this is only partially true.”
The current Philly women swimmers would have also prevailed in the 80s. While men’s swimming in the 80s was the deepest ever, the Kaiserian brothers would have probably won most of their events in that era.
The group of Philly female runners that won all the track events this year would have taken every event from 100 to 800 meters in ’81. However, in the throwing and jumping events, this current group of women would have nearly been shut out had it competed that year.
Today’s men would have scored in the shorter races but would not have done much in races from 400 meters and longer where there were a number of collegiate athletes in the 80s.
The 80s also had better pentathletes with current record-holders Allison Aylaian and Leo Kashian.
“Overall, the current Philly team would have done well in many events and not so well in others had it competed in the 80s,” reports Tutunjian. “They probably would have challenged the Boston dynasty except for the fact their coach was a member of the Boston team.”
On to Chicago
See you ‘round and about next year in the windy city. After that, it’s scheduled for Boston in 201,1 but that site is still in the air due to hotel complications. Washington and New Jersey are other potential alternatives. Stay tuned.
Tom Vartabedian
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