AYF Olympics reporting: Honoring legacy and community

The end of August and the beginning of September are always busy for me, especially given the start of the fall semester of the new academic year and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Olympics — both occurring during the same period of time. I have been taking photos and writing daily articles for the Armenian Weekly at the AYF Olympics, which take place over the Labor Day Weekend, for eleven years now. The writing doesn’t stop on Labor Day, however, as I also contribute to the Weekly’s AYF Olympics Special Issue. This year, the Weekly is producing its first-ever AYF Olympics Special Issue Magazine covering the 2025 AYF Boston Olympics, for which I wrote a few articles, with a mid-September deadline. The combination of the start of school while covering the AYF Olympics is definitely challenging, leading to a bout of exhaustion after the Labor Day Olympics weekend. While I have gotten efficient at taking photos and writing articles, it is time-consuming and makes for long hours and while the weekend is full of fun and socializing for all the attendees, it is much less so for me. I do manage to fit in some socializing as I am often in the middle of the action, and interacting with our AYF youth is always enjoyable, but it is nothing like the fun I had before I started reporting. It might sound like I am complaining, but I am not. It is a wonderful, though exhausting, labor of love. That is the kind of organization that the AYF is. For several generations, the AYF has been responsible for instilling and nurturing Armenian pride, patriotism, community and political activism in its members and alumni. For me, this reporting and writing has been the most significant Armenian thing I have done and something I am very proud of. My Dad, Aram “Sonny” Gavoor, was very involved in the Olympics, helping organize the weekend and running the games as a member of the Governing Body, which is a rotating team of three alumni that ensures efficient planning, continuity and ongoing improvement of the games. He then became the coach of the Detroit “Kopernik Tandourjian” Chapter team and led them to their first Olympics wins. My Dad was also an Olympics King along with his brother, my Uncle Buddy. My sister Nancy and maternal Aunt Suzie are Olympics Queens. The Olympics King and Queens are honorifics, akin to an Olympics Hall of Fame, for those who were athletic standouts or great supporters of AYF Athletics. My parents were also the first recipients of the Varadian Spirit Award, established to honor alumni who best live their lives with the AYF spirit. My contribution was never on the athletic fields. I competed every year when I was a member, but never scored even one measly point. However, I possessed a writing side, which comes from a few inspiring figures. My great uncle, Rouben Gavoor, was a lifelong writer for the Weekly. As much of an influence Uncle Rouben was on his own, it was enhanced even more by my mother, Violet’s, admiration for his writing. Not all my inspirations were family members. Tom Vartabedian used to report on the Olympics all by himself. He was a great cheerleader for my writing, slowly but steadily nudging me into being part of the team that replaced him in writing for the Weekly’s AYF Olympic Special Issue. In the days when I had more capacity for fun and socializing at the Olympics, I noticed that Tom was always on the move with a camera around his neck and his reporter’s notebook sticking out of his back pocket. He never had time to talk very long with anyone… and he was not even writing daily articles back then. Tom was a great influence, and I miss him dearly. I also have to recognize the most recent editors of the Armenian Weekly. Pauline Getzoyan and her first assistant editor, Leeza Arakelian, were so easy to work with and so encouraging. With the current Weekly editor Lilly Torosyan taking the helm after Pauline, we have not skipped a beat in terms of teamwork and responsiveness — not to mention their editorial skills. It is a great pleasure and inspiration to work with such competent and congenial professionals. There is a great sense of accomplishment and a huge sigh of satisfaction when all the reporting is done for the AYF Olympics Special Issue of the Armenian Weekly. This year’s AYF Olympics Special Issue Magazine is no different, if not more exciting. Here are the links to all my daily articles for this year: The Wednesday before the AYF Olympics Thursday at the AYF Olympics Friday at the AYF Olympics Saturday at the AYF Olympics Sunday at the AYF Olympics The day after the AYF Olympics

AYF Olympics reporting: Honoring legacy and community

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Mark Gavoor

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Mark Gavoor

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