AT ARMENIAN FEST, MORE PEOPLE, FUN AND SUPPORT
By Michael Martz

Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
Sept 24 2006

Also, it was a day for dogs at AARF fundraiser party in Shockoe Slip

Costumed children danced for joy.

So did the organizers of the Armenian Food Festival.

The festival, in its 48th year, is setting a record for attendance in
the four-day run that ends today at St. James Armenian Church in the
West End. Festival organizers estimate festival attendance at more
than 4,500 people – 80 percent higher than last year’s mark of 2,500.

The lines for traditional Armenian food, all prepared by members of
the church, stretched through the St. James parking lot to Pepper
Avenue at the festival’s peak Friday night, said festival co-chairman
Chuck Ashjian. Organizers had to scramble to buy and prepare food to
serve crowds the rest of the weekend.

"It was unbelievable," Ashjian said.

This was the second year that the festival, billed as the oldest
food festival in the Richmond area, was staged outside, on the
church grounds along Patterson Avenue. "It makes more of a festive
environment," said Leiza Bouroujian, a member of the festival committee
whose business provided the Armenian wines that were popular at the
festival. "I think it’s drawn more people in."

The festival also featured performances of traditional Armenian music,
performed by local musicians, and, for the first time, traditional
dancing by church youths in colorful costumes. The 20 children,
ranging in age from 6 to 16, also performed yesterday after an
inaugural public appearance Friday.

"It’s a good thing, it’s a very good thing," said Richmond City
Councilman William J. Pantele, who attended the festival yesterday
along with a sizable contingent of people from the region’s
Greek-American community.

The annual festival is crucial to St. James, which will celebrate
its 50th anniversary next month. The church has about 100 members,
so it depends on festival proceeds for a big part of its annual budget.

"The church is not a wealthy church," said Mark Kambourian, who was
selling rugs for the festival yesterday through his family’s business,
M. Kambourian Sons Inc., which has been in the Richmond area for 100
years. "It’s more about survival than anything else."

At the same time, the festival is important to the area’s entire
Armenian community, regardless of whether they attend St. James. "I
still feel that part of home is here," said Charlie Diradour, a
Richmond businessman and member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. His
family came to the area from Armenia 80 years ago.

"Not only is it a good money-raising event for the church, it’s also
a great cultural event," said Father Hovsep Karapetyan, the priest
at St. James for six years. "They go together."

. . .

Dogs dominated the day in Shockoe Slip.

Like the legendary children’s book "Go, Dog, Go!," dogs of every size
and color were having a dog party around the Morgan Fountain in the
Slip yesterday. Their owners got to come, too.

"You bring out your dog, you bring out your kids," said Angela Agee,
a spokeswoman for the Animal Adoption and Rescue Foundation, or AARF.

Yesterday’s dog party was the second annual fundraiser for AARF,
which billed the event as "Puttin’ on the Dog." For a $10 donation,
you could enjoy music, food and a variety of vendors, and see about
70 dogs looking for happy homes.

Agee, who has two dogs and four cats, said the event raised about
$2,000 for the cause last year. She said AARF projects the proceeds
will double this year.

>>From a dog’s perspective, there was plenty to do. There was a
contest for costumed dogs and dogs with clever tricks and dogs that
looked like their owners, or vice-versa.

Every hour, a black Labrador named Woody picked the winning ball
out of the fountain for another contest. There was a contest for
guessing the number of dog bones in a jar, and a raffle of other
dog-friendly prizes.

Sue Diveley came with two friends: Oscar, whom she got from AARF 10
years ago, and Gracie, who came from the shelter at the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They’re both terrier mixes;
Oscar’s a star at agility trials, and Gracie is wonderful as therapy
for nursing home residents.

Diveley, who lives near Short Pump, is an ardent AARF supporter.

"Every event they have, I go to."