30 years young and another protest
It's been pretty quiet on the diaspora blogs as of late so I'm taking it upon myself to liven things up with a quick recap of what's been going on here in Southern California.
On Friday night Armenians from all over gathered in Montebello to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of AYF Camp. http://www.ayfcamp.org/ It was such a great reunion and provided us all an opportunity to catch up with people from back in the day. The entertainment for the evening was provided by Aravod http://www.aravod.com/ and Karnig Sarkissian. I give Aravod big time props for playing such long sets. I must say I had a grand ole time dancing my vorig off the entire night.
AYF Camp holds such a special place in so many people's hearts and to each and every one of us it means something different. My earliest and fondest memories of camp are from the early 80's when I was still a little rugrat running around with a pacifier shoved in my mouth. My father and his friends would go up to camp on the weekends (bringing along their families) and spend their weekends building and renovating. I remember how they built the tables and benches for the lodge and how I sat in the corner with my Lincoln logs building cabins like the ones we would sleep in. It wasn't until the late 80's that I got to go to camp as an actual camper and when all other kids in my cabin were crying and homesick I wasn't because by then, camp for me was like home. After a few summers I decided to give Camp Haiastan on the east coast a shot and I recall a friend who had gone the summer before warning me that I would never be able to return to our camp after seeing the plush ammenities that Camp Haiastan had to offer. Well, not only was I able to return to our camp as a camper, a bnag, a snack shop coordinator and later a counselor, I returned with a new found respect and appreciation for our camp. Although it's not as lavish as other camps nonetheless it has succeeded in serving a place for generation after generation to gather, learn about our heritage and culture and meet and mingle with peers.
The morning after the AYF Camp 30th Anniversary dinner dance a bunch of my friends and I went to the UCLA vs. ASU football game at the Rose Bowl. Altough UCLA lost it was a beautiful and sunny day in Los Angeles and we really enjoyed ourselves as you can probably tell from the cartwheels. Unfortunately we didn't make it out of the madness of the Rose Bowl and back to campus through LA's notorious traffic to take part in the protest on campus. The UCLA ASA, AGSA, AYF and ANC had organized a protest outside of a an event in honor of Congresswoman Jane Harman (AKA Congressional rep who betrayed the Armenian-American community). She was being honored with the Jacoby award for her contributions to international affairs. If any of you are interested here are a few related links you can check out.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=4898220&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/nov/13/protesters-picket-international-awareness-award-ga/
On Friday night Armenians from all over gathered in Montebello to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of AYF Camp. http://www.ayfcamp.org/ It was such a great reunion and provided us all an opportunity to catch up with people from back in the day. The entertainment for the evening was provided by Aravod http://www.aravod.com/ and Karnig Sarkissian. I give Aravod big time props for playing such long sets. I must say I had a grand ole time dancing my vorig off the entire night.
AYF Camp holds such a special place in so many people's hearts and to each and every one of us it means something different. My earliest and fondest memories of camp are from the early 80's when I was still a little rugrat running around with a pacifier shoved in my mouth. My father and his friends would go up to camp on the weekends (bringing along their families) and spend their weekends building and renovating. I remember how they built the tables and benches for the lodge and how I sat in the corner with my Lincoln logs building cabins like the ones we would sleep in. It wasn't until the late 80's that I got to go to camp as an actual camper and when all other kids in my cabin were crying and homesick I wasn't because by then, camp for me was like home. After a few summers I decided to give Camp Haiastan on the east coast a shot and I recall a friend who had gone the summer before warning me that I would never be able to return to our camp after seeing the plush ammenities that Camp Haiastan had to offer. Well, not only was I able to return to our camp as a camper, a bnag, a snack shop coordinator and later a counselor, I returned with a new found respect and appreciation for our camp. Although it's not as lavish as other camps nonetheless it has succeeded in serving a place for generation after generation to gather, learn about our heritage and culture and meet and mingle with peers.
The morning after the AYF Camp 30th Anniversary dinner dance a bunch of my friends and I went to the UCLA vs. ASU football game at the Rose Bowl. Altough UCLA lost it was a beautiful and sunny day in Los Angeles and we really enjoyed ourselves as you can probably tell from the cartwheels. Unfortunately we didn't make it out of the madness of the Rose Bowl and back to campus through LA's notorious traffic to take part in the protest on campus. The UCLA ASA, AGSA, AYF and ANC had organized a protest outside of a an event in honor of Congresswoman Jane Harman (AKA Congressional rep who betrayed the Armenian-American community). She was being honored with the Jacoby award for her contributions to international affairs. If any of you are interested here are a few related links you can check out.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=4898220&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/nov/13/protesters-picket-international-awareness-award-ga/
posted by LORI at 9:11 AM
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