Almost an Angel over Olympics

By Mark Gavoor and Michelle Hagopian

Angel Perethian used to write a gossip column called “Angel Over Olympics” that was imbued with the AYF Olympic Spirit. It was one of the most widely read columns in the annual Olympics issue of the Weekly. This article is channeling what Angel used to do, combined with Tommy Vartabedian’s “Tid Bits” pieces.

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Worcester “Aram” came to Washington Olympics with 12 members, and all 12 were athletes and participated.

At the opening ceremonies, Sevan Kholegian of the Washington “Satenig” Chapter spoke on behalf of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS). She, rightly, pointed out the importance of the AYF in our community. Sevan simply asked us to look at the leadership in any of our organizations locally and nationally. There are AYF members everywhere.

The fraternal spirit was alive and well in all the athletic events, and you could see it in members like Sevan Donoian from Providence who congratulated his competitors in every event. Everyone saw the exemplary spirit Sevan displayed, and he was rightfully awarded the Ernest Nahigian Sportsmanship Award.

Grace and John Kulegian were missed this year. Looking forward to seeing them in Detroit next year, in Grace’s hometown.

Got a question about an obscure AYF Olympic athletic statistic or factoid? Just ask Bob Tutunjian. He not only has every Ad Book from every Olympics, but he is constantly studying and referring to them. He flat-out knows more than anyone else. When was the last time the Stanley Maligian Trophy was given out? No one had a clue. This answer was not on the tip of Bob’s tongue, but a few days after returning home, he researched it and had the answer: 1975 in Detroit.

The Ad Book committee of Chris Hekimian, Diane Hekimian, Justin Kaladgian, Phil Nigon, and Yehgso Chouldjian did a magnificent job. Over the years, there have come to be less ads and more memories. Thumbing through the Ad Book, we get to see who had a significant birthday or anniversary. We get to remember AYFers who are no longer with us. Perhaps we should start calling it a Memory and Ad Book.

Who went to the first ARS Summer Studies program in the summer of 1971? Silvia Misserlian Melikian, who also just came to her first Olympics since then. Fellow alums of that first ARS summer program—Ken Hachikian, Jack Mardoian, Andrew Kizirian, and Sona Babayan Petrossian—all enjoyed seeing and catching up with her.

Onnik Dinkjian and John Berberian were great, as usual, Sunday Night. These two are perpetually young and energetic. They were not just there to play music, they were at every event.

It was great to see the reunion of three Boston “Siamanto” ungerouhis, Barbara Tutelian of D.C., June Kevorkian (Kadehjian) of Boston, and Lauren Balekian (Johnson) of California. They were close as could be back in the day and they picked right up where they left off. That is the magic of the AYF bonds.

The AYF Olympic page on Facebook was updated over the weekend with great photos. After the weekend, more photos were added. Thanks to Tamar Kanarian, Yeghso Chouldjian, and Justin Kaladjian for the great images and memories. If you have not seen it, check it out.

What a perfect weekend for a mini-tour of D.C. Hopefully all who participated in the organized tour enjoyed the sights!

The swimming events, though always hot and sticky, proved to be entertaining as usual. The athletes provided an exciting Friday evening for the crowd.

While everyone was trying to win, the athletes truly were friendly and complimented each other after the event. This generation seems to have taken the fraternal spirit of the AYF to another level. Kudos to our yewt…er…youth.

Nothing kicks off an Olympic weekend better than an AYF night at the baseball game, this time at Nationals Park. What an evening of good friends and a great environment. Thanks to Ara Sarajian of the Nationals for arranging. Hey, didn’t Ara also win the Ernest Nahigian Sportsmanship Award?

Did anyone else see AYF alum Phil Nigon’s ad in the Ad Book? Look it up, it’s worth seeing.

The Razmik Amyan Band from Armenia performed at the Saturday Night Dance. They rocked the place. The musicians were top-notch and Razmik’s vocal stylings were superb. The dance floor was full. Everyone had a great time.

Does anyone know golf is an Olympics sport? It’s the hidden gem of the weekend. The only downside is waking up at 7 a.m. But it’s a fantastic event that athletes and alumni enjoy equally.

No one ever tires of the kiddie race at the Sunday track and field events.

Manoog Habibian was the back-up timer at the swimming events. His role was to dutifully start his watch at the start of each race and be ready in case one of the other timers did not start their watch in time. He related that it took years of training and study to qualify for the role. Manoog was delighted to get the call this year.

A big thank you to Mark Alashaian and his helpers in the press box as announcers. Another big thank you to the Olympics Governing Body members, Jeff Hagopian, Richard Sarajian, and Ken Topalian, for their hard work for a year. An especially a big thanks to the D.C. Steering Committee. This is not an easy weekend to execute as well as you all did!

Speaking of folks missing from the Olympics, we missed the three Stepans: Panosian, Kanarian, and Altounian. Rumor had it that they were in Armenia together!

It was wonderful to see Vatchik Magarian, 93, Friday in the hotel and at the Alumni Party. He and his wife Elizabeth journeyed from their retirement home in Florida to their longtime hometown of Washington for the Olympic weekend with their children and grandchildren. It was sad to hear that he had a stroke early Saturday morning and passed away on Thurs., Sept. 5. Our sympathies, prayers, and support go to the family. Many folks commented on how happy Vatchik was to see old friends and acquaintances on Friday evening…

Being in Washington made it a natural, but it was very special to have the Armenian ambassador to the United States, H. E. Tatoul Markarian, and Robert Avetisyan, the permanent representative of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic to the United States, both speak at the opening ceremonies.

New Jersey Softball. Need we say any more? They rock! They have dominated softball in recent years. They are a dynasty!

Here is a shout out to the Racine and Granite City chapters for always turning out to compete with such small numbers. Everyone who comes from those chapters competes!

It was great to see Peter and Marianne Bonjuklian. They make every Olympics as do many others. It was a pleasure to Marty and Annig Nalbandian surrounded by their grandchildren, most of whom participated.

Excellent choice of hotel by the Steering Committee: The Hilton was right in walking or metro distance to many hot spots. Both young and old—well, young and younger—took advantage of this.

It was unbelievably hot at the track and field events at Sunday. There was a crowd of spectators but it thinned out faster than any other games in recent history. Thankfully, there were no reports of heat stroke or exhaustion.

Did you see those snazzy Olympics t shirts? Hopefully you picked one up in the hotel lobby. Maybe it was those cool shirts that kept everyone from having heat stroke or exhaustion.

Committee member and photographer Justin Kaladjian had the coolest camera, with a wireless capability. He could be anywhere, and he was indeed everywhere (e.g., the Nationals Game on Thursday or the track on Sunday) and could post an image immediately on the AYF Olympics Facebook page.

Speaking of social media, for the first time articles were being posted on the Armenian Weekly online in almost real time. Articles were written in DC and emailed with photos to the Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian, who was in occupied Western Armenia. He would edit and post the articles from Lake Van. How cool is that? The Armenian Weekly also now has an iPad app. Have you gotten the app?

Always great to see members of the AYF Central Executive in full force, participating and making their presence known all weekend.

During the picnic, Diane Hekimian spoke with an employee of the hotel of Ethiopian descent. She was surprised to learn that the young lady, Elysse, was Armenian with Armenian-named siblings. Elysse said she enjoyed, and understood, everyone speaking Armenian, and especially enjoyed Razmik Amyan and his band. Wishing Elysse had made this known sooner so more of us could have gotten to know her.

A friend Seta Topakbasian from Philadelphia said her son Andre would be there and he would not be hard to miss as he was on crutches. Ran into him late Sunday night. Delightful young man.

No one was missed more than Tom Vartabedian. He is the AYF Olympic Games report nonpareil! He is the King of Olympic reporting. Actually, he was crowned an Olympic King at the 2001 Boston Olympics. He has reported on the games for 40 years. Many of those years he wrote every article and took every photo. He officially retired from being the lead reporter last year. It took a small village or army to replace him. We all missed seeing his smiling face everywhere this weekend. Tom, thank you, and come to Detroit next year and just “hang out.”

Who was the small army of reporters? Ken Hachikian, Violet Gavoor, Harry Derderian, Michelle Hagopian, and Bob Tutunjian. We did not let Tom Vartabedian off the hook and gave him a writing assignment in absentia. We were supported by ace photographers Knar Bedian, Tamar Kanarian, Yehgso Chouldjian, Justin Kaladjian, Sharis Simonian, and others. Thanks everyone!

What a treat seeing friends new and old from all around the country and beyond. Looking forward to another successful 80 years of AYF and a fun time in Detroit next year!