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AGBU's Chicago Chapter Celebrates Its Centennial

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  • AGBU's Chicago Chapter Celebrates Its Centennial

    AGBU Press Office
    55 East 59th Street
    New York, NY 10022-1112
    Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
    Fax: 212.319.6507
    Email: [email protected]
    Website: www.agbu.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    Wednesday, January 25, 2012

    AGBU's Chicago Chapter Celebrates Its Centennial

    Serving Chicago's Armenian community with dedication and devotion for
    over a century, the AGBU Chicago Chapter held its Centennial Celebration
    on Saturday, December 10, 2011, at the Onnig Norehad Center, the
    Chapter's headquarters. A special private reception welcomed members and
    lead donors prior to the festive program, which was attended by 200
    people.

    Armand Norehad, whose father, Onnig, is the namesake of the Chicago
    Center, opened the evening. "My connection to AGBU through my family
    goes back to 1920 when my dad joined AGBU after a year here as a
    refugee. It's remarkable that this organization was conceived long
    before the Genocide, but then what did we live through? World War I, the
    Depression, World War II. And this chapter continued to grow through
    more refugees. They were the gift given to Chicago, people who came from
    Turkey, Syria, and all sorts of countries where they'd been abused and
    decimated as families. This evening represents 100 years of successes,
    and I hope and pray that we will be able to continue the success, and
    feel we have carried the torch forward from all of those people over the
    decades," said Norehad.

    The Chapter's former chairman Haig Pedian also gave heartfelt remarks,
    followed by AGBU Central Board member Carol Aslanian, who talked about
    the current relevance and role of AGBU both in the United States and
    abroad. Aslanian went on to discuss the organization's recent successes
    and accomplishments, and stressed the importance of staying connected to
    one another as a community. "I am so very pleased to represent the
    Central Board of AGBU as we celebrate the Chicago AGBU Chapter's
    Centennial. The Chapter's 100 years of service and dedication to the
    Armenian community in greater Chicago have been exceptional. The Chapter
    has sponsored countless cultural, humanitarian, and educational projects
    and programs over the years, and has been instrumental in sharing its
    ideas with other chapters throughout the world. For that, we are greatly
    indebted to the thousands of volunteers who have come to honor their
    heritage and culture," said Aslanian. She continued, "We all need to
    remain connected and share what we as individuals and as members of
    groups can offer so as to tie our communities together and to inspire
    ourselves as well as the communities of which we are contributing
    members."

    The Zulal Trio of New York, an a cappella group of three women who
    perform traditional Armenian folk music, took the stage next for a
    nearly two-hour concert. Introducing the singers, AGBU Chicago Board
    member and program director of the Kooyumjian-AGBU Chicago Armenian
    Humanities Festival Gary Rejebian said, "It would be selling tonight's
    concert far short to regard this performance as merely faded postcards
    of a bygone era. While the melodies hail from another time and place,
    the music of Zulal is very much a vibrant example of the mosaic which is
    Armenian culture today. Listen carefully and you will recognize that the
    emotions and experiences related in their lyrics are both timeless and
    universal. Such is the gift of Zulal, and the Armenians, to humankind."

    Chicago Chapter chairwoman Sona Boghosian Diorio, who has worked
    tirelessly to maintain the Chicago Center and is a passionate advocate
    for AGBU's presence in the community, delivered closing remarks. The
    Chapter's birthday celebration followed for all in attendance.

    As part of the Chicago Chapter's centennial celebration, the
    Kooyumjian-AGBU/Chicago Armenian Humanities Festival had a series of
    cultural events lined up during fall 2010, which included a lecture
    entitled "Resistance and Rescue During the Armenian Genocide: The Story
    Behind a Photograph: Marsovan, 1915-1918," a violin and piano concert,
    and a presentation entitled "Memories of a Lost Armenian home:
    Photography, Anatolia College and the Story of an Armenian Family in
    Anatolia." One more event took place on January 14, 2012 -- a production
    of the renowned Michael Fosberg play "Incognito."

    The Festival debuted in May 2010 with the premiere of Chicago composer
    Eric Hachikian's film Voyage to Amasia, which won Best Documentary at
    the 2011 Pomegranate Film Festival in Toronto. Festival events have been
    made possible by the joint efforts of AGBU's Chicago Chapter and the
    generous support of the Kooyumjian Foundation.

    AGBU Chicago, established just five years after the founding of AGBU in
    Egypt, has played an important role in the philanthropic, educational,
    cultural, and social life of the Chicago-Armenian community over the
    last 100 years. Generating strong support for various causes through
    years of fundraisers, and local subchapters for men, women, and youth,
    the AGBU Chicago Chapter has been a core focus of the organization in
    the community. The Chapter's Center was established nearly twenty years
    ago through funds raised from the Armenian community in and around
    Chicago, and is named after the late Onnig Norehad, a former chairman of
    AGBU Chicago. The Center takes great pride in the growing number of
    activities that are a part its operations, as well as the ongoing
    services that it offers.

    AGBU has also taken responsibility for running one of the two Armenian
    Saturday Schools in Chicago. Private support has helped create an ethnic
    identity and heritage program in the dual-dialect weekly school, with
    new multimedia curricular components and external partnerships that
    connect the students with peers in Armenia and, eventually, to other
    Armenian students around the country. Current enrollment is 30 children
    and adults.

    Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world's largest
    non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
    preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
    educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
    lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

    For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit
    www.agbu.org.

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