On Sunday night over 80 community members gathered at the home of Krikor and
Diko Apardian in Huntington Beach, California to support the ANC OC’s for the first
annual Sushi Night.
Krikor and Diko beautifully decorated their home in a traditional Japanese manner,
with indoor and patio seating, a bar area, and a lounge room where the guests
could actually sit on the floor and eat around a table. The sashimi, sushi, and
other custom dishes were brilliantly prepared by Shushan Madenlian, Executive
Chef of the Virginia Country Club, who had volunteered her services for the
evening.
Throughout the evening the guests mingled and socialized in a festive and party-
like atmosphere. Sake and Asahi was served at the open bar, and Armenian, as
well as lounge music was playing in the background.
During the brief program, ANC OC member Hratch Ghazarian welcomed the
guests and reaffirmed that the ANC still exists in Orange County and has become
an active force in the community. He explained how the ANC reorganized during
the past few months and has generated a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and
energy.
Hratch briefly outlined some of the ANC OC’s activities during the past few months,
including meetings with elected officials such as Congresswoman Sanchez and OC
Sheriff Carona, securing Congressmen Royce’s and Rohrbacher’s votes for
legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, a fundraiser hosted by Dr. Garo
and Sylvie Tertzakian that raised over $20,000 for the ANCA, and the creation of
the webpage at www.ancoc.org.
Hratch also recognized Marty Simonoff, Brea City Councilman and hopefully the
first Armenian American Assemblyman to be elected from Orange County.
During the past months Marty has developed an excellent relationship with the
ANC OC, which recently sent letters to over 750 Armenian American residents in
Marty’s district encouraging community wide support for his campaign. Marty is a
candidate for the California State Assembly 72nd district.
On behalf of the ANC OC, Hratch thanked the gracious hosts, Krikor and Diko
Apardian, and presented them with a commemorative coin issued by the Central
Bank of Armenia symbolizing Artsakh. Hratch also thanked Shushan Madenlian for
volunteering her time and preparing the wonderful dishes, and presented her with
a photobook of Western Armenian titled “Yergir – Pilgrimage through Western
Armenia.”
The Sushi Night/Party continued until 11 pm as all were having a great time and
many asked about future ANC OC events. Most of the guests were from Orange
County, although there were some from as far away as Glendale, Northridge,
Pasadena and Toluca Lake.
The ANC OC will continue meeting with elected officials in Orange County to
garner support for local and national issues of concern to Armenian Americans,
and also has community events planned during the next few months. One such
event will be dedicated to commemorating the memory of the 1,500,000 victims of
the Armenian Genocide.
There will also be similar events/parties in the future. For more information on past
and future events, or to be placed on the ANC OC email list, please visit us at www.
ancoc.org.
