ST. MARY ARMENIAN CHURCH 
SHNORHALI MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER
October 2021
Meet Your Parish Council Members at Work

Front Row, left to right: Rick-Vazrik Neshanian (Advisor), Shoghig M. Sahakyan (Chair), Der Hovsep Karapetyan (President), Catherine Sahakian (Advisor), Artur Sivaslian (Co-Chair)
Back Row, left to right: Jack Guiragossian (Treasurer), Robert George (Co-Treasurer), Ara Avedisian (Advisor).
Missing from photo: Hratch Semerjian (Corresponding Secretary), Mark Krikorian (Secretary)

With God’s grace and the dedication of Parish Council members, 2020-2021 has been a fruitful year on many levels despite the many challenges. We are blessed with a supportive parish and community who have been instrumental in overcoming the financial shortages by their generosity. We are grateful to all and in particular, Mr. Varouj Varoujanian who took the initiative to sponsor the installation of the handrails at the side entrance of the church. Furthermore, a group of lady garden-lovers came forward to care for and beautify the landscape of our church. In addition, new equipment was purchased for the kitchen so that we are able to continue providing scrumptious meals with the latest fall food festival.

Our Heavenly Father has graced us each with unique skills and it is our responsibility to share those skills to enrich our community. All are welcome to make a difference. There’s more to be done and the work never ends. We give thanks to our God who is always faithful to those who continue to bring glory to His name.
ACYOA Juniors Fall Kick-Off Event

The ACYOA Juniors gathered on Saturday, October 2, at Fort Reno Park in DC for an afternoon of fellowship. Teens played sports, enjoyed a picnic lunch of pizza and snacks, and then shared a Devotional time when they discussed the Miracle of Jesus' Healing of a Paralytic man. The teens also came together in prayer to ask for God's healing for those in our community who are sick and in need.

For more information about our next event in October, please email your contact info to stmaryyouthdc@gmail.com.
73rd Annual Armenian Food Festival

73rd Annual Food Festival, on October 1,2 & 3, although carry-out edition, was well attended by returning parishioners and community members to pick up their orders. The workshops were led by members of the Women’s Guild and volunteers during which the many dishes were prepared. The Grillmasters were once again at their station from the early hours of Friday morning until the end of the 3-day festival. The highlight of this event was a musical performance by lead singer Mihran Kochyan and company; Nasim on Guitar and Cindy on dumbeg. The group entertained the crowd by playing an array of Armenian folk songs. We are grateful to Mihran for offering his services to our community. Moreover, the vendor exhibit over Saturday and Sunday added the feeling of a festival to the event. Shoppers perused the vendors’ tables and were pleased to purchase goodies from olives to hand-creams to personalized house goods to hand-woven baby clothes and beyond.

We extend our utmost gratitude to our Business Sponsors:
Classic Bakery, Yerevan Market & Café, Asadur Market, Nora's Kabob & Catering, Westwood Cleaners, Shahverdi's Foreign Cars, Inc., Mihran Kochyan Armenian Music, Sintia Petrosian of Fleisher Arrowood, Midiya Jewelry Design and Repair, East Coast Collision, Armenian Youth Center Golf Fore Kids, and Dimitrios Komninos Greek Super Foods. 
We would like to encourage you all to offer your support to their business as well.

Volunteering during food festivals is key to its success. Bring your skills and your big smile to the next event. We guarantee you it will be a rewarding experience.

We are grateful to all who have made this event truly a festival to celebrate our community and give thanks to our Heavenly Father who continues to bless us in many ways. Last but least, we are indebted to the leadership of our Der Hayr Hovsep Karapetyan who remains to be the faithful shepherd of his flock. May God bless you all and may his face always shine upon you.
Shnorhali Armenian School receives a Grant from The Armenian Youth Center

We are happy to announce that Shnorhali Armenian School has received a $2,000 cash grant from The Armenian Youth Center (“AYC”).
On October 4th, The AYC held its annual “Golf Fore Kids Charity Fundraiser” at Norbeck Country Club in Rockville, MD to raise funds in support of its charitable mission. As part of its mission, AYC raises funds through charitable events to fund various American-Armenian youth organizations in the Washington DC area whose missions serve to inspire and develop camaraderie through cultural, social, educational, and athletic endeavors.
As a token of our appreciation, Shnorhali School students and their parents handmade Armenian theme pins during their Back to School Fun event. These pins were gifted to the AYC golf participants. A couple of Shnorhali students participated in the event to represent the School and to help spread awareness of the Armenian culture.
IFS visit to Washington DC

IFS; Insurance Foundation for Servicemen representatives, Narine Galstyan & Sona Baghdasaryan met with the church congregation on Sunday, October 17th, immediately after Badarak during fellowship hour and presented the foundation activity and mission elaborately. The presentation was followed by Q & A. The aim of this visit was to build and raise awareness about IFS, its mission, and purpose, to highlight the tremendous work IFS carried out after September 27 war, as well as to show their gratitude to the Armenian communities who supported them with their donations.
The response of our parishioners was great, hence they all appreciated and valued the IFS operations, transparency, and accountability by getting to know it from the source. We hope these meetings will strengthen the ties between IFS and Diaspora communities. For more information visit www.1000plus.am/en/compensation
Pumpkin & Mums Drive Fundraising

Saturday, October 16, and Sunday, October 17, our Garden Committee held its first fall fundraiser selling mums, organic apples, and pumpkins. We express our utmost gratitude to all those who showed support by their generous donations and purchases.
Armenian Arts & Food Festival in Alexandria, VA

On October 23-24. a large number of the Armenian community in the DMV area attended the Armenian Arts & Food Festival in Alexandria, VA, organized by two young, hardworking, and passionate women, Marianna Agekyan & Marina Sarukhanyan. The event was very successful as the attendees enjoyed a rich program full of music and dance performances, including Kevork Artinian Entertainment, Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble, Gevorg Chakmanyan, Marc 2Ray, and others. 
And, of course, plenty of delicious Armenian food during the entire weekend was prepared by the one and only Silkapron Catering.
Our Church Gift Shop also took part in The vendors' market thanks to our dedicated Gift Shop Committee members, Raffi Sahakyan, Malvina Brown, Takouhi Shafakian, and Arlin Diratsuyan, we were able to sell our Armenian products available at the store.
Moreover, the Shnorhali School also participated in the Festival. With the help of Armine Khachatryan, our students prepared and performed a program, which included Armenian dance, music, and poetry recitals. Our students Levon and Elona Zanyan, Hayk Avetisyan, Ani, and Lucy Nishanian, and Taguhi Gomtsyan captivated the audience with their patriotic songs, beautiful dance performances, and poems.
We thank all of our Shnorhali School participants, and we look forward to future opportunities and events to further showcase our talented students.
ACYOA Juniors Update

The ACYOA Juniors teen youth group has been on the move this October, holding a general meeting, electing new officers, and participating in a Fall fire pit and pumpkin decorating party. A special thank you goes out to Patricia Yeghissian for providing an interactive thought-provoking devotional, at the Fall fire pit event.  Other adult advisors who made the Fall fire pit party possible include: Yn Jennifer Karapetyan, Becky Bagdasarian, Lori Madock, and Catherine Sahakian. Photos from the fun event can be seen on the church Smugmug account.
Congratulations to the new ACYOA Juniors teen officers:
Chairperson: Julie Tilimian
Vice Chairperson: Hovsep Seferian
Secretary: Shant Festekjian
Treasurer: Andre Alexandrian
At-Large Member: Ani Mkrtchyan
An Evening on Armenian Life in Istanbul

On Saturday evening, October 30th, as part of the Cultural Month activities, an “Evening on Armenian Life in Istanbul” (ՊՕԼՍԱՀԱՅ ԳԻՇԵՐ) was organized by the Parish Council, under the leadership of Shoghig Sahakyan and Artur Sivasliyan. Dr. Hratch Semerjian made a presentation on the Armenian Life in Istanbul, the churches (33 of them), and the schools (18 of them) that are still going strong. Church choirs continue the traditions from the days of Gomidas Vartabed. Dr. Semerjian also spoke about some of the history of Armenian presence in Istanbul that goes back to the 5th century. He also talked about some of the “Amira” class of Armenians, who were the benefactors of the Armenian community but also important personalities in the Ottoman government (Duzians, Dadyans, Bezciyans, etc.) and were the Imperial architects (the Balian family) who built many of the important buildings in Istanbul, including palaces. Dr. Semerjian concluded his remarks with some reminiscences about his days in Istanbul, where he attended Getronagan Varjaran and Robert college, and how this beautiful city has changed over the years.
The guests were treated with Armenian delicacies unique to Istanbul Armenians, including “Midye Dolma” (stuffed mussels) and many other food items prepared by our very own skilled chefs. Our heartfelt appreciation is extended to the impromptu committee members who brought their expertise to make the evening a memorable one; Eva Shafakian, Mari Shafakian, Nadia Koseian, Seta Sevaslian, Takuhi Hallajian, Zivart Bolat, and Raffi Sahakyan. We express our deepest gratitude for the parishioners’ generosity as well as participation. Last but not least, this event could not have been possible without the initiative taken by Dr. Hratch Semerjian and Mr. Onnik Sevaslian who had come up with the idea of sharing the rich history and culture of the Bolsahay community a while back and became a reality at a time when our parishioners and their guests were eager to get together for the first time in a long time; a great time was had by all and a chance to reminisce about their childhood memories!
Wedding
October 10, 2021
Christopher J. Tyson & Sarine Zenian
Parents: Joseph Tyson and Jean Berdan Cherne, David Zenian and Leda Seraydarian
Best Man: Andrew Tyson
Maid of Honor: Nathalie Z McOmber

Octoberber 16, 2021
John Michael Walsh IV & Talyne Margaret Derderian
Parents: John Michael Walsh III and Denise Schreiber, Harry Derderian and Ani Jindian
Best Man: Nika Barbakadze and
Maid of Honor:Vana Derderian

Octoberber 23, 2021
Amanda Hess & Peter Vlazakis
Parents: Mr. and Mrs. David & Mary Hess and Mr. and Mrs. Emmanuel & Paula Vlazakis
Best Man: Dean Paul Vlazakis
Maid of Honor: Ashley Koontz

Congratulations and may God make the newly married couple worthy of the desirable crown of Holy Matrimony.
Funeral

October 2, 2021
Asadur Tufeckgian
Beloved Husband and Loving Father.
Survived by his Wife Janet, Son’s Asadur & Dave, and Daughters Sona & Tatev.
He was the brother of Aghajan & Anna. Uncle to Juliyet, Denchali, Sahak & Jbeed.

October 11, 2021
Anna Loloyan
Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Sister, and Aunt. 
Survived by Daughter Juliyet, Son Sahak, Son-in-law Chris, Daughter-in-law Melina, Grandchildren Christopher, Sean, Johnathan, Isabelle, and Brother Aghajan.
Aunt to Denchali, Jbeed, Sona, and Asadur.

October 20, 2021
Anna Bolek
Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Sister, and Aunt. 
Survived by Daughter Janet & late Son-in-law Asadur.
Grandchildren Asadur & Sona.

October 24th, 2021
Sarkis Pakoyan
Beloved husband, father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle.
Survived by his wife Nairy, daughter Kohar, son-in-law Harutyun, sister Marie, brothers-in-law Nicolas and George, and nephews Lukas and Stephanos and their families.

October 25, 2021
Souny Kodjanian
Beloved husband to the late Silvia Kodjanian.Loving father & grandfather.
Survived by his son Erik (Alida) Kodjanian & daughter Karina (Mike) Stouffer.
Grandchildren Conrad, Abbigail, Alexander & Caroline.
 
October 29, 2021
Haikouhi Koudoussian
Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother.
Survived by her daughters Rita Koudoussian and Lena (Edvik) Alexandrian, her sister Marie Balian, her grandson André Alexandrian, her sister-in-law Rita Balian, and her nephews Raffi Balian and Sevag (Nairi) Balian.  

May the Lord rest their souls in peace and grant His comforting Holy Spirit to the family members and friends.
Hokehankists - Requiem Services

October 3, 2021
For the Soul of
His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Patriarch of Jerusalem (9th anniversary)
Requested by:
Bishop Daniel Findikyan, Der Hovsep Karapetyan, St. Mary Parish Council

For the Souls of:
Hamayak Ghazarian (40 Day)
Khachatoor Pirijanian( 40 Day)
Asatoor Pirijanian
Matevos Shahverdian
Requested by:
Tamar, Klarice, Boris, Karmen; Carmen, Robert, Agop; grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Leudvig, Leonar, Emily, Vivi, Berj, Zabelle, Leah, Osana, Sebastian, Christian, Zoe, and Stella

October 31, 2021
For the soul of:
Qajik Stepanyan (40 Day)
Requested by:
Mr. & Mrs. Artur & Erna Zanyan

May God rest their Souls in peace and may His loving favor be with their Loved Ones. 
St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church 
Rev. Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan, Pastor
4125 Fessenden Street N.W, Washington, DC 20016 
202-363-1923 / www.stmaryaac.org