On Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., H.E. Archbishop Kegham Khacherian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the United States, paid a visit to the Glendale center of the Armenian Youth Association of California (AYAC), in response to an invitation extended by the Association’s Board of Directors. During the visit, the Prelate toured the facility with great admiration, becoming closely acquainted with the wide range of programs and activities taking place at the center, particularly those of the “Gomidas” Choir, as well as other groups engaged in humanitarian, cultural, and national initiatives.
Following a warm welcome delivered on behalf of the Association, AYAC Board members expressed their appreciation to H.E. Archbishop Kegham Khacherian for his fatherly care and attention, and conveyed their hope that he would continue to visit the AYAC center frequently.
In his remarks, H.E. Archbishop Khacherian commended the Association’s beautifully renovated center and its various departments and praised the enduring Armenian spirit and vibrant youth energy that prevail in the facility, particularly the unique atmosphere that has been preserved since 1991 through the dedication of multiple generations of Iraqi-Armenians. H.E. Archbishop Khacherian emphasized that the center embodies the living heritage of Western Armenians from Van-Vasbouragan, a homeland from which many Armenian families fled the Turkish sword during the atrocities of World War I. Their long and difficult journey led them to Iraq, where they established a safe community for nearly a century. The Prelate shared that in more recent decades, instability in the Middle East prompted a new wave of emigration westward to the United States, where these families established their new homes, continuing to build strong Armenian institutions in safer diasporan settings.
In this context, the Prelate offered special recognition and blessings to the young men and women who actively contribute to the Association’s mission, particularly praising the “Gomidas” Choir, its members and leadership for their exemplary cultural service.
On this occasion, H.E. Archbishop Khacherian also attended a dinner hosted by the AYAC Board of Directors. The dinner was also attended by benefactors Mr. and Mrs. Varant and Houri Melkonian, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan and Stephanie Meschian, as well as guests Dr. and Mrs. Vicken and Nora Hovsepian.
During the dinner, Dr. Vicken Hovsepian announced that he had come to return a historical heirloom to the Association, the personal staff of Armenian freedom fighter and ARF member Levon Pasha Shaghoian, a native of Van-Vasbouragan. The staff had been carefully preserved for the past 20 years by the late Rev. Fr. Vartan Arakelian, the spiritual shepherd of the Iraqi-Armenian community, who had recently resettled in Los Angeles. Dr. Hovsepian shared that Fr. Arakelian had expressed a wish that Levon Pasha’s staff be preserved not simply as a museum artifact, but as an inspiring symbol of Van-Vasbourgan. Dr. Hovsepian emphasized that this symbolic staff is now being returned to the descendants of the Iraqi-Armenian community in Los Angeles, many of whom were among the founding members of the Armenian Youth Association’s Glendale center.
