The Kharpert Country Club

WASHINGTON (A.W.)–At the AYF Olympics this year, you may have seen fifteen or so people wearing navy blue polo shirts with an Armenian flag logo and the words: Kharpert Country Club.

We look forward to a day when we might actually be able to build and join the Kharpert Country Club in what Grannie always called “the old country.”
We look forward to a day when we might actually be able to build and join the Kharpert Country Club in what Grannie always called ‘the old country.’

These are all members of the Gavoor, Merian, and Mardoian Clan. Of course, there is a story behind these shirts.

The story begins in 1986. When our daughter Armené was baptized that year, we had the dinner at the Pine Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was a very lovely place and a warm gathering of family and friends. A good family friend, Vartan Agbabian, performed selections from Aram Khachaturian’s Album for Children on the piano. Everyone enjoyed themselves. At the end, I got up to say a few words, to thank everyone for coming and to reflect on the day. I decided to add a little levity by beginning with “Thank you everyone for coming to Armené’s baptism. It is a special day for our family and we are honored and delighted that you were able to share it with us. It is even more special that we are having the dinner here at the beautiful Pine Lake Country Club, because there is a long tradition in our family of having baptismal dinners at the Kharpert Country Club.” This comment got a few chuckles.

Then my maternal grandmother, well along the path of losing her hearing, blurted out to my mother loud enough for everyone to hear, “Vat he saying? Vee don’ have no country club in Kharpert!” Everyone cracked up.

Thanks to Azniv Merian, who we all called Grannie, the fictitious notion of the Kharpert Country Club became a real, well, concept in our family. At family gatherings we would bring up this story and someone would invariably quote Grannie, “Vee don’ have no country club in Kharpert!” We would all laugh like it just happened. We talked and joked about having golf shirts made with the name of this mythical country club.

We never made those shirts; until this year.

At the AYF Olympics this year, you may have seen fifteen or so people wearing shirts with the words: Kharpert Country Club
At the AYF Olympics this year, you may have seen fifteen or so people wearing shirts with the words: Kharpert Country Club

My parents Sonny and Itchie Gavoor had the shirts made. There was no question where we would wear these shirts: The AYF Olympics. Grannie was the mother of an Olympic Queen, Suzanne Merian Arzoian, the grandmother of an Olympic Queen, Nancy Gavoor, and the mother in-law of an Olympic King, Sonny Gavoor. Sonny and Itchie met and married through the AYF as did their Judy and Mark Gavoor.

That is why we all wearing Kharpert Country Club Shirts at the games today. We are proudly remembering our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. We are honoring not only that we are Armenian but also Kharpertsi. We look forward to a day when we might actually be able to build and join the Kharpert Country Club in what Grannie always called “the old country.” Then, we can truly have all our baptism dinners there.

Mark Gavoor
Mark Gavoor is Associate Professor of Operations Management in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University in Chicago. He is an avid blogger and oud player.

6 Comments

  1. Mark, I enjoyed your comments about the “Kharpert Country Club” because my Grandmother and Grandfather grew up in Harpoot/Kharpert. We also heard stories of the “old country” and how they missed it. So, thank you for honoring your Grannie in this way.

  2. Let me be the first of many to ask — can I get a golf shirt like yours?

    If you sold them as a fundraiser, we might yet get a Kharpert Country Club!

    By the way, please post when your music ensembles are performing — well before the date — I’m always chagrined at the descriptions of wonderful events AFTER they happen…

  3. Sonny Gavoor wore his shirt to our latest Detroit Armenian Boys Thursday Breakfast club meeting. It was suggested that all of the Kharpetzis join their funds to buy Pebble Beach Golf Course in California.

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