Well-rounded performer

Fairfield Advance (Australia)
August 3, 2005 Wednesday

THOUGH he is no Australian Idol, Sam Berberian is a born performer.

The Bossley Park resident sings in a local church group, teaches
Armenian dancing and is helping his son learn the guitar.

Nevertheless, his eight-year-old son, Daniel, believes it is his
performance as a well-rounded father which makes Mr Berberian worthy
of being nominated for Fairfield Advance’s Father of the Year Award.
The awards recognise the city’s top dads.

Mr Berberian volunteers his time each week to teach a group of local
children Armenian dancing. He learnt the dance as a young boy and
wanted to pass the tradition on to the next generation.

“I enjoyed it when I was doing it, so I thought I’d give something
back to the kids,” he said.

He is also involved in his local church, being one of the founding
members of an Anglican service held in Bossley Park.

Mr Berberian’s daughter, Talita, was recently in hospital with a high
fever. In his nomination letter to the Advance Daniel said his father
did not leave her room for two days until the five-year-old recovered.

In fact, the children barely leave Mr Berberian’s side when he is
not at work.

“We do everything together, be it grocery shopping or homework,
and my wife is very involved,” he said.

Daniel also thinks his dad is the best barbecue cook in the world.

* John Luu is a work experience person from the University of
Technology, Sydney