Azg, Armenia
March 4 2010
"A JOURNEY TO HISTORIC ARMENIA"
Edward and Mary Ann Kazanjian of Belmont will present an illustrated
talk entitled "A Journey To Historic Armenia: There Is Something
There," on Thursday, March 18, 2010, at 7:30 p.m., at the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.
In June 2009, the Kazanjians traveled with a group of Armenians from
the U.S.A., Cyprus, and Austria, led by veteran tour guide Armen
Aroyan of the Armenian Heritage Society (CA). They ventured on a 3,000
mile journey through more than thirty cities and villages in historic
Armenia, including Edward’s family’s ancestral Kharpert Veri Tagh
(Upper City) and Mary Ann’s ancestral Yozgat, as well as Kayseri,
Sivas, Shabinkarahisar, Erzinga, Erzurum, Sarakamish, Kars, Ani,
Ararat, Van, Aghtamar, Engil, Mush, Changli, Kighi, Bingol, Lice,
Nikhri, Palu, Elazig, Diyarbakir, Chunkush, Malatya, Husenig, and
Kharpert.
The Kazanjians will present in pictures, video, and music their own
account of their first-time trip to Historic Armenian lands in
modern-day Turkey. Among their memorable experiences was discovering
Mary Ann’s great-great-grandfather’s home in Yozgat and Edward’s
finding the sites and remnants of the St. James and St. Stephen’s
Churches in Kharpert.
Following the overwhelming response to the Kazanjians’ talk at the
Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in November 2009, it was
decided to schedule an encore presentation at NAASR. The couple will
be returning to visit portions of Historic Armenia in the spring of
2010.
Edward Kazanjian recently retired after a 41-year career as: a General
Dynamics engineer; public schools administrator in Framingham,
Brookline, and Billerica and most recently as Assistant Superintendent
of Schools in Westwood, MA; and sixteen years as Executive Director
and Senior Consultant for an Educational Cooperative. He is still
consulting part time. Mary Ann Arakelian Kazanjian is a former
elementary school teacher and has been a church organist for 45 years,
first at St. James and currently at St. Stephen’s Armenian Churches in
Watertown.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Center is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the
U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building and
in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. More
information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.