24 Febb. 2010- KAZANJIANS TO REPRISE “JOURNEY TO HISTORIC ARMENIA”

IN SPECIAL PRESENTATION AT NAASR
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., Cy-prus, 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 his-toric 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, Sa-rakamish, 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 ex-periences 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 engi-neer; 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 avail-able 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.
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February 22, 2010
Belmont, MA

NAASR