The Republican, MA
Sept 6 2004

Armenian Fest brews some fun
Monday, September 06, 2004
By PATRICIA NORRIS
pnorris@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD – Anita Assarian can tell your mood by what’s left in
your coffee cup.

For $5 Assarian brewed customers a strong demitasse cup of thick
Armenian coffee and then read the sticky grounds that clung to the
bottom and the edge of the shot-glassed sized mug.

The tiny West Springfield woman and her insight were a main
attraction at the 8th annual Armenian Fest on the grounds of St.
Mark’s Armenian Church on Wilbraham Road.

The festival featured traditional foods, music and games from a
country considered the first to officially embrace Christianity as
its religion around 300 A.D.

While fortunes were read for some, children bounced in a blow-up
bounce house and adults danced to live Armenian music under overcast
skies.

Although the fair was free and open to the public, proceeds from
food, drink and Assarian’s fortunes benefited the church.

“I only do this once a year because it is for the church,” said
Assarian, who learned to read the markings as a girl from her mother.

But that does not mean Assarian does not put stock in her
interpretations.

“I didn’t believe in it until everything my mother said came true,”
she said, adding that her mother told her she would marry an only son
in a far-off country.

“And here I am,” she said.

Brenda Edwards and Gerard Richards are not Armenian but they came to
the fest to enjoy the food and a culture that is not their own.

The two, who own Mantic Arts Wellness, a wellness center in
Springfield, got a reading by Assarian because last year she foresaw
they would be taking a two-week trip. In a few weeks they leave for
the south of France.

“She told us we had a lot of protection,” said Edwards, who believes
in her own innate psychic abilities after a near-death experience as
a teen.

But not everyone was a believer in the mystical.

“We don’t believe any of it, but we enjoy the coffee,” said Hagop
“Jack” Boyajian, a St. Mark’s parishioner, who had yet to get his
coffee read.

As an added attraction, this year organizers set up a country store
that served exclusive Armenian goods such as cracker bread, a yogurt
drink called Tahn, and traditional pickled vegetables, among other
things.

Hot foods like shish kabab and losh – spiced lamb and beef – were
also served.

“It’s great stuff,” said Steve Barrian, event organizer.

Boyajian said the annual event allows the Armenian community which is
often splintered around the greater Springfield area to come together
and share their customs and their fare with each other and the
extended neighborhood.

“The parishioners here do an excellent job,” he said.