Hundreds of members of the Armenian community held a three-day celebration in Glenview last weekend, culminating with an outdoor Blessing of the Grapes service followed by dance troupes and music.
The festival was held on the grounds of the Armenian All Saints Apostolic Church on Greenwood Road near West Lake Avenue.
Hagop Soulakian, chairman of the church’s board of trustees said the event has become a homecoming, bringing people back from across the country with some traveling from as far as California.
Revelers ate chicken, beef and lamb kabobs, a small Armenian style pizza called lahmajoun, spinach and cheese dishes wrapped in phyllo dough, stuffed grape leaves, hummus and an assortment of baked goods. They drank wine and other spirits and even puffed a cigar or two for sale.
Sunday’s Blessing of the Grapes was part of the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. The act of blessing the grapes, the first fruits of the harvest, go back to Old Testament times. Armenian monks would wait to eat grapes until the Feast of the Assumption.
The congregation first came to Glenview building a hall in 1980. In 1990, the church building itself opened. Before Glenview, the church was based in Chicago.
The Armenian Festival has taken place in Glenview for about the last 15 years, growing from a one-day to three-day event.
http://www.journal-topics.com/image_25409ffa-837f-11e7-adfa-5fbae278c94d.html