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CHURCH OFFERS ARMENIAN FARE AT FUND-RAISER
By Samantha Frank
Neighborhood Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach Post, FL
Feb 14 2007
If you stop by St. David Armenian Church this weekend, be sure to
bring your empty stomach.
Beginning Friday St. David is holding its annual Armenian Food Festival
at the church. The three-day fund-raising event will feature food
and entertainment.
Inside the church's main hall, local vendors are paying for space to
sell jewelry, purses and other items.
Outside will be carnival games with prizes for children. At night an
Armenian disc jockey will be spinning music next to a dance floor.
Festival and parish council chairman Armen Melkonian is excited about
the games and dancing, but said the heart of the event is the food.
Inside the main hall visitors will find traditional Armenian and
Middle Eastern foods such as kabobs, lamb shanks, rice pilaf, spinach
and cheese pies and gyros.
Choreg, a type of sweet bread, was the most popular dish last year,
selling out the first day of the festival. So this year they're
prepared with double the amount.
Last year the festival brought in $30,000. Money from the festival
will got toward the church's annual budget for its maintenance.
Admission is free. Melkonian said that there were around 5,000 people
at last year's festival, although he said it's difficult to pinpoint
numbers without admittance tickets.
The Rev. Nareg Berberian, who has been the priest at St. David for
four years, said he looks forward to the food festival each year.
"We're introducing some part of our culture and we're making ourselves
known," Berberian said. "The community will know that there is an
Armenian community present in Boca Raton."
After finalizing festival plans at a church meeting, Melkonian said
he only has one thing left to worry about: the weather.
The festival takes place Friday from 5 to 11 p.m.; Saturday from 10
a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. St. David is at 2300
Yamato Road. For information, call the church at (561) 994-2335.
~U
Camp Breakaway applications: It may be winter, but summer planning
is already under way at the Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service.
Applications are due Tuesday for Camp Breakaway, a one-week summer
camp program for underprivileged Jewish children between the ages
of 7 and 14. The all-expenses-paid program, which is in its 10th
year, will be hosted at Indian Head Camp in the Pocono Mountains of
Pennsylvania. This year the camp runs June 3-10.
The program is paid for by Jill and Cliff Viner, members of the Ruth
Rales board of directors.
Before being accepted to the program, the children must pass the
financial requirements and a screening by a social worker. If
selected for the camp, the kids receive clothing, a duffel bag, a
water bottle, a disposable camera and other items that are useful in
a camp setting. At the end of the week, they receive a DVD reflecting
on their experiences.
"It's great for the kids because there's no stress, no pressure of
daily life when they're at camp," said Beth Levine, human resources
and family assistance center coordinator at Ruth Rales.
For Jean Berner and her 11-year-old daughter Cara, Camp Breakaway
has been a blessing. This will be Cara's fourth year at the camp,
and according to her mother, Cara can't wait.
"Cara just loves it," Berner said. "Her favorite things about the
camp are the new friends and the food."
Berner, who lives near Powerline and Palmetto Park roads, said that
she would never be able to send Cara to a sleep-away camp without
this program.
"I'm a single mom, so it's difficult for me. My income gets burned
up quickly."
She said she is grateful that the program provides so much for the
children.
"They provide everything you need," she said. "You just pack underwear,
and that's it. It really puts the kids on equal terms."
Last year, 73 children participated in the program, and this year
Levine hopes to have more than 90 children. Although the program
attracts children from all over the country, the majority are from
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
For more information about the program, call Beth Levine at (561)
852-3334 or e-mail her at [email protected].
By Samantha Frank
Neighborhood Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach Post, FL
Feb 14 2007
If you stop by St. David Armenian Church this weekend, be sure to
bring your empty stomach.
Beginning Friday St. David is holding its annual Armenian Food Festival
at the church. The three-day fund-raising event will feature food
and entertainment.
Inside the church's main hall, local vendors are paying for space to
sell jewelry, purses and other items.
Outside will be carnival games with prizes for children. At night an
Armenian disc jockey will be spinning music next to a dance floor.
Festival and parish council chairman Armen Melkonian is excited about
the games and dancing, but said the heart of the event is the food.
Inside the main hall visitors will find traditional Armenian and
Middle Eastern foods such as kabobs, lamb shanks, rice pilaf, spinach
and cheese pies and gyros.
Choreg, a type of sweet bread, was the most popular dish last year,
selling out the first day of the festival. So this year they're
prepared with double the amount.
Last year the festival brought in $30,000. Money from the festival
will got toward the church's annual budget for its maintenance.
Admission is free. Melkonian said that there were around 5,000 people
at last year's festival, although he said it's difficult to pinpoint
numbers without admittance tickets.
The Rev. Nareg Berberian, who has been the priest at St. David for
four years, said he looks forward to the food festival each year.
"We're introducing some part of our culture and we're making ourselves
known," Berberian said. "The community will know that there is an
Armenian community present in Boca Raton."
After finalizing festival plans at a church meeting, Melkonian said
he only has one thing left to worry about: the weather.
The festival takes place Friday from 5 to 11 p.m.; Saturday from 10
a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. St. David is at 2300
Yamato Road. For information, call the church at (561) 994-2335.
~U
Camp Breakaway applications: It may be winter, but summer planning
is already under way at the Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service.
Applications are due Tuesday for Camp Breakaway, a one-week summer
camp program for underprivileged Jewish children between the ages
of 7 and 14. The all-expenses-paid program, which is in its 10th
year, will be hosted at Indian Head Camp in the Pocono Mountains of
Pennsylvania. This year the camp runs June 3-10.
The program is paid for by Jill and Cliff Viner, members of the Ruth
Rales board of directors.
Before being accepted to the program, the children must pass the
financial requirements and a screening by a social worker. If
selected for the camp, the kids receive clothing, a duffel bag, a
water bottle, a disposable camera and other items that are useful in
a camp setting. At the end of the week, they receive a DVD reflecting
on their experiences.
"It's great for the kids because there's no stress, no pressure of
daily life when they're at camp," said Beth Levine, human resources
and family assistance center coordinator at Ruth Rales.
For Jean Berner and her 11-year-old daughter Cara, Camp Breakaway
has been a blessing. This will be Cara's fourth year at the camp,
and according to her mother, Cara can't wait.
"Cara just loves it," Berner said. "Her favorite things about the
camp are the new friends and the food."
Berner, who lives near Powerline and Palmetto Park roads, said that
she would never be able to send Cara to a sleep-away camp without
this program.
"I'm a single mom, so it's difficult for me. My income gets burned
up quickly."
She said she is grateful that the program provides so much for the
children.
"They provide everything you need," she said. "You just pack underwear,
and that's it. It really puts the kids on equal terms."
Last year, 73 children participated in the program, and this year
Levine hopes to have more than 90 children. Although the program
attracts children from all over the country, the majority are from
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
For more information about the program, call Beth Levine at (561)
852-3334 or e-mail her at [email protected].