Fresno Bee (California)
April 8, 2005, Friday SOUTH VALLEY EDITION

Ladies Society celebrates 90 years of helping church St. Mary
Armenian service praises group’s dedication to community.

Peyton Ellas Special to The Bee

A special service at St. Mary Armenian Church of Yettem last weekend
celebrated 90 years of service by the Ladies Society, a group of
women dedicated to caring for the Armenian church and community.

“It started way back 90 years ago with a handful of ladies,” said
Lucinne Bennett, a Ladies Society member since 1982. From 15 members
in 1918, the society has grown to about 100 members, she said.

>From the group’s inception, its goal has been to support the church,
study the holy Scriptures and keep the ladies of the Armenian church
together, according to an anniversary book written by Ladies Society
members in 1986.

“They do just about everything,” said the Rev. Father Vartan A.K.
Kasparian, St. Mary’s parish priest. “They are the obvious choice
whenever there’s a need, whether it’s keeping up the altar robes or
helping out financially. They are the largest group in the parish.”

The April 3 service was presided over by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, and included
an encyclical, or “letter of blessing” from the diocese to Miritz
Barsamian for her service as a Ladies Society member since 1947.

Also included was a service for deceased members of the Ladies
Society and the consecration of two khachkars, or cross stones, to
commemorate the 90th anniversary of the society. The stones are set
at the church’s monument for the victims of the 1915 genocide, which
is remembered April 24.

The first mid-Lent luncheon was held in 1933, the first Mother’s Day
luncheon in 1937, and the first annual bazaar in 1918; all of these
events are still held by the Ladies Society.

“We have memorial dinners, we have Lent dinners, Armenian Christmas
dinners, Ladies Society Spirit Day dinners, martyrs’ dinners, the
Mother’s Day luncheon, Grandfather’s Day and the holiday bazaar,”
Bennett said.

The group also hosts the Armenian Food Festival, held May 19 this
year. “Anyone who has an Armenian name is involved in that,” Bennett
said, laughing.

In addition to serving the St. Mary Armenian Church and community,
the society has often supported charitable and patriotic endeavors
around the world. In 1920, the Ladies Aid Society, as it was then
called, contributed $1,000 toward support of Armenian orphans in
Europe and the Middle East.

During World War II, the group bought war bonds and sent Bibles to
servicemen. In 1952, funds were used to buy bedspreads for the
California Armenian Home for the Aged in Fresno, and funds were also
sent to assist victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia.

The church serves about 300 families, Kasparian said.

“Our church is a small church. It’s an old church,” Bennett said.
“When it’s time for work to be done, people really come forth. There
is a faithful following.”

When St. Mary Armenian Church was established in 1911, an active
Armenian community was present in the Valley, according to church
history posted on the Western Diocese’s Web site.

Armenian Apostolic Church services were started in 1895 in Fresno,
and Holy Trinity Church was established there in 1900, a few years
before an Armenian settlement was formed near Yettem, Kasparian said.

Throughout the history of the society, changes have been made to
accommodate modern churchgoers, although many of the old traditions
have been retained. Bennett, a Visalia native, recalled how, when she
was a child, the services were conducted entirely in Armenian.

“Our services are modified now. Some of it is in English, but the old
traditional services, like the constant prayers, are still in
Armenian,” she said. Bennett also recalled changes in attitudes
toward the small Armenian community. “I remember going to school in
Yettem, and we had fights and there was prejudice then.”

Bennett also pointed with pride to the society’s role in helping
preserve Armenian culture.

“The Armenian faith is continuing,” Bennett said. “This little
country [Armenia] has been kicked around quite a bit. But it’s still
able to be together.”

GRAPHIC: PHOTOS BY CRAIG KOHLRUSS/FRESNO BEE Above: The Rev. Father
Vartan A.K. Kasparian of St. Mary Armenian Church of Yettem reads a
dedication Sunday to mark 90 years of the church’s Ladies Society.
Below: Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, primate of the Western Diocese of
the Armenian Church, leads services at St. Mary’s on Sunday.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress