Presentation by Ara Tekian on Climbing Mt. Ararat Tops Busy Calendar of Events for AGBU Chicago

Calling his climbing of Mt. Ararat "the journey of a lifetime," Ara Tekian, a medical education specialist and professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, delivered a riveting presentation of his experience, illustrated by more than 300 images, at the AGBU Chicago Center on March 4, 2007. He had made this pilgrimage last August with the president of the American University of Armenia (AUA), Haroutune Armenian, and accompanied by Dr. Armenian's wife Sona, assistant professor of public health at AUA, Varduhi Petrosyan, and her husband Arsen Krikoryan, as well as a former professor of public health at AUA, Dr. Arthur Melkonyan.

As Tekian and Armenian prepared for this once-in-a-lifetime trip, they decided the best way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Armenian independence and the founding of AUA was "to raise the Armenian flag on Mt. Ararat." Once the group reached the summit, Tekian said, "The sense of achievement and pride was overwhelming..." Due to a temperature of minus 30 Fahrenheit (-34 Celsius) and fingers freezing in the wind, they stayed only twenty minutes at the peak, forgoing plans to dance an Armenian folk dance and drink Armenian cognac.

Commenting on the journey, which also included visits to Ani, the monastery of Varag, the Holy Cross Church of Aghtamar, and the city of Kars, Dr. Tekian said, "This trip was a spiritual journey, climbing a sacred mountain and visiting some of the most important religious centers in Western Armenia. It was a pilgrimage for me to trace my roots. Dreams do come true! Finally I climbed Mt. Ararat, and when the journey was over, I was a different person. I acquired such strength that gave me confidence, courage, and determination that there is nothing impossible in life. I now believe you can conquer any height and overcome any difficulty in life if you have the determination."

Enthused by Dr. Tekian's presentation, AGBU Chicago is considering the possibility of arranging a group tour to climb Mt. Ararat in the summer of 2008. Those interested in joining the group should contact AGBU Chicago Board chair Leona Mirza at Imirza@northpark.edu or call (773) 588-2844.

A Full Year of Events

Chicago AGBU began this year's calendar of noteworthy events on January 22 and 23, by hosting five prominent Armenian government press secretaries and journalists visiting the United States from Yerevan on a US State Department exchange program. The visiting media professionals were: Ruzanna Azroyan, Assistant to the Press Secretary, President's Office, Government of Armenia; Sarmen Baghdasaryan, Head, Policy Planning Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Lusine Harutyunyan, Press Secretary, Ministry of Energy; Meri Harutyunyan, Head, Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Armenia; Nelli Manucharyan, Press Secretary, Customs State Committee, Government of Armenia; and Lusik Tovmasyan, Second Secretary and Head, Press Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Following a lively discussion on continuing developments in the Armenian economy and a community reception at the AGBU/Chicago Center, the guests were hosted at the renowned Sayat Nova Armenian restaurant in downtown Chicago. While in Chicago, the group toured the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and discussed American journalism education with a faculty member, who had once covered Armenia as a foreign correspondent. Their American tour also included stops in Washington, DC, Portland, OR, Tampa, FL, and New York.

On February 3, Harvard University doctoral candidate Rachel Goshgarian gave a compelling talk sponsored by the Knights of Vartan on the history of the Armenians and Turks as a bridge and obstacle to reconciliation.

On February 11, Chicago AGBU co-promoted Music in the Loft Valentine's concert featuring Ani and Marta Aznavoorian and Stefan Milenkovich, with a special piece composed by Eric Hachikian. Marta Aznavoorian is a member of the Lincoln Trio, ensemble in residence at the highly regarded Music Institute of Chicago, where she is also an instructor of piano. Her sister Ani is a world-renowned concert cellist, and is married to Mr. Milenkovich. Eric Hachikian is a rising-star composer and the son of Gloria and Ken Hachikian, chair of the Armenian National Committee of America.

On February 24, George Shirinian, a featured speaker at North Park University's all-day Conference on Genocide, gave a special presentation that same evening at AGBU/Chicago Center on the topic of "New Trends in Armenian Genocide Studies." Due to a severe ice storm, only ten brave souls were in attendance yet this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the small audience engaged in a lively question-and-answer session with Dr. Shirinian.

AGBU/Chicago concluded its spring calendar with a weekend of theatre: on April 14 the chapter hosted a presentation of the well-known cartoonist Alexander Saroukhan's satiric play, "Menk Hayeren Chenk Kider" (We Don't Know Armenian), by the "Pokr Tem" (Little Stage) Troupe of Toronto's Holy Trinity Church in AGBU/Chicago Center's Terzian Hall. Staged by the celebrated director Sirarpi Adjemian, the play attracted an audience of over 200. The evening's proceeds benefited "Parev Monthly," Chicago's sole Armenian-language newspaper, whose editor Missak Kharmanjian gave welcoming remarks and expressed his gratitude to the organizers and sponsors prior to the presentation. On Sunday afternoon, April 15, AGBU Chicago was honored to host a community benefit performance of Richard Kalinoski's highly acclaimed "Beast On The Moon," the stirring drama about two Genocide survivors which recently ran off Broadway. The production--Chicago's fourth--was staged by Provision Theater Co., which generously donated half of the benefit performance's ticket sales for the day to the AGBU Children's Centers in Armenia.

For more information on AGBU Chicago and upcoming events, please email agbuchicago@yahoo.com or visit www.agbuchicago.org