LETTING THE OUTSIDE IN:FRESNO’S ARMENIAN CENTER STEEPED IN THE PAST, LOOKS TO FUTURE.
By Vanessa Colon
Fresno Bee, CA
July 26 2007
The old Armenian men gather as they have for years to socialize at
the Asbarez Club, the informal name of the Armenian Community Center
in Fresno.
They tease each other as they slam down playing cards or backgammon
chips and sip dark, strong Armenian coffee. A few of them reek of
the cigars or cigarettes they puff on the patio.
A century ago, men like these founded the club to honor the city’s
Armenian immigrant roots. In a new century, the club is trying to
reach a broader audience that can help it ensure its future.
The club has opened its cafeteria, serving authentic Armenian food,
to downtown Fresno’s lunch crowd. It is renting out its renovated
facilities for special events. The goal: to raise money the club
needs to open a new center when Fresno’s Armenian Town project is
complete. They think they’ll move in three years.
Raffi Santikian, a member of the Fresno chapter of the Armenian
Cultural Foundation, which runs the center, said the foundation spent
about $120,000 to renovate the building, including new wood floors,
a modern kitchen and ceiling repairs.
"We needed to renovate because we had plans to rent it out. The new
building will cost a fortune. … Now we opened it to anyone willing to
pay the price," said Edward Megerdichian, a member of the foundation.
In the past, the club has opened its cafeteria doors to outsiders,
but it didn’t advertise that fact. Now, it does.
Outside, there’s a sign that reads "Food to Go." Inside, brochures
advertise "Yeraz Armenian Cuisine" and the banquet hall.
Megerdichian said opening the club to the public won’t affect the
social activity of the old-timers.
Armen Dermenjian of Fresno said he doesn’t mind if the doors of the
club are wide open. Dermenjian enjoys seeing non-Armenian-Americans
visit the place.
"They will have to learn our games," Dermenjian jokes.
He said he also understands that the club has to make money to pay
the bills.
The community center dates to 1904, but the name Asbarez Club was
taken from an Armenian newspaper founded in 1908. The club kept the
name even after the newspaper moved to the Los Angeles area in the
early 1970s. "Asbarez" means "arena" or "forum" in English.
The social club moved several times before settling in the 1980s at
its current location on the 2300 block of Ventura Avenue, near Holy
Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church.
Eventually, the club intends to move to new quarters on the same
block where the Valley Lahvosh Baking Co. sits on M Street.
Today, the club is still a place where you hear chatter in Armenian and
political discussions on such things as the congressional resolution
that would describe as genocide the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians
by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.
Most of the card players were born in Lebanon, Egypt and other
countries in the Middle East. But many members of the foundation are
Armenian-Americans born in the United States.
>From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., cigar-smoking men drink tiny cups of Armenian
coffee at the patio. After playing belote, a French card game, some
of them step inside and join the nonsmokers for lunch.
The menu varies day to day, with a few American dishes but mostly
featuring Armenian cuisine. One recent Thursday, it was dolmas,
stuffed grape leaves and a yogurt sauce. Prices range from $2 for a
burger to $10 for a shish kebab plate.
Ben Raya of Fresno, one of the few non-Armenians in the cafeteria,
said he comes every day for lunch. Raya works at a car wash in Fresno.
"It’s the only place you can come and enjoy Armenian food and you
can sit and relax. I come six times a week. … It’s a very friendly
community," Raya said.
But most of the regulars are a revolving cast of Armenian men who
come to play, chat or to get away from home.
Last week, Manas Saghdejian, 69, of Raisin City settled in to a game of
cards with three others. He slammed down a playing card at the patio,
trumping another player.
"I’m going to take him out," Saghdejian joked. Zavan Vartanian of
Fresno responded with an ace of spades, banging his 67-year-old
knuckles on the table as a counterpoint.
Vartanian said he enjoys the card games as an escape from home.
"If I fight with my wife, I come here. In the morning, she said,
‘Wash the dishes.’ I said, ‘Goodbye," Vartanian said with a stern face.
An hour later, most of the smokers trek inside to order lunch.
Saghdejian, one of the men who entered the cafeteria, doesn’t expect
much will change as the club reaches out to the wider community,
or even when it moves to a new building.
The old-timers will still hang out together, he said.
"Without us, it won’t be Armenian town."