HUNDREDS FOLLOW THEIR NOSES TO ARMENIAN PICNIC
Tom Caprood
Troy Record
Aug 4 2008
NY
TROY – More than 400 hungry community members turned out at the
Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church Sunday for an annual picnic and
blessing of the grapes ceremony.
Families from the community, of both Armenian and non-Armenian descent,
lined up through out the afternoon inside the Spring Avenue church
to get a plate full of the parish’s famous shish kebab dinners, which
people enjoyed out behind the church among friends and parish members,
or picked up in takeout orders to feed their families waiting at home.
Rev. Bedros Shetilian, pastor of the church, who is also the conductor
of the recently formed Troy Orchestra, explained that the picnic was
an annual event the parish held to help bring the local community
together to relax with good food and good music while celebrating an
age old tradition of the Armenian people.
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"It is traditional to bless the grapes as a kind of thanksgiving
for the harvest," said Shetilian. "In old times, when the grape
was seasonal, people waited for this ritual to eat them in order to
promote a successful upcoming harvest in September."
The church’s staff was kept busy throughout the early afternoon,
both inside the kitchen and out on the barbecue grills, as dozens of
community members flocked to event, which was so packed with people
that the church was close to running out of property for visitors to
park on just over one hour into the celebration.
"A lot of people come every year because they like our food and we
enjoy having them," said Shetilian.
The church is also actively preparing for its upcoming 50th
anniversary, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the church’s
national congregation establishing itself in the United States.
Founded in 1958, the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church started out
by renting a Lutheran church in North Troy before purchasing a former
Presbyterian church on Pawling Avenue, which was later damaged by a
fire in 1975.
The current church, which is located at 101 Spring Ave., was built
in 1976.
According to Shetilian, Armenians were some of the first people to
adopt Christianity as an organized religion in approximately 301
AD, with cultural traditions, such as the blessing of the grapes,
and some minor theological difference separating them from other
Christian orders.
Shetilian is expected to conduct the next public performance of the
Troy Orchestra on Aug. 16 at Joe Bruno Stadium during a Tri-City
Valleycats baseball game.