The celebration of the 28^th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence took place on September 21, 2019, at Saint Geragos Armenian Church’s “Ani McTarian Memorial” playground and soccer field, organized by the Seta Tajirian Armenian Saturday School and ACYO.

The event began with the Lord’s prayer lead by the Very Reverend Fr. Sasoon Zumrookhdian, Parish Priest of Saint Geragos Armenian Church. Then the national hymns of the United States and Republic of Armenia were sung. Hayr Sasoon, the Parish Priest, welcomed every one and thanked the School Principal Mrs. Kristine Mkhitarian and the teaching staff for organizing the event. He also thanked the ACYO members of the Church for support in helping the school run the event. In his speech, Hayr Sasoon stressed the importance of the Armenian School and announced that this year Seta Tajirian Armenian Saturday School already has 90 registered students and is growing. He emphasized the necessity of bringing another trailer for classrooms as a temporary solution to accommodate the growing school and more importantly stressed the fact that we need to build a new building for the Armenian School on the premises for our new generation. Hayr Sasoon declared that Saint Geragos Armenian Apostolic Church of Las Vegas is the best place to come for worship, to meet people, socialize and feel like you are at home in Armenia. He welcomed everyone who wants to be united, work with love in harmony, and do their best for the betterment of the Armenian Church and community in Las Vegas.

After Hayr Sasoon spoke, Mrs. Kristine Mkhitarian alongside ACYO Co-Chair Rene Setanyan read excerpts from the Independence Proclamation.  The speeches were Followed by a beautiful Armenian Dancing program by Armenian Dance Academy of Las Vegas artistic director and choreographer Mrs. Gohar Yeghyaian and by Armenian Dance Group of Las Vegas artistic director and choreographer Ms. Izabel Martirosyan. The musical portion was then presented by Fr. Nareg Matarian and lovely Armine Martirosyan, Second Grade teacher of the Seta Tajirian Armenian School. Additionally, some students of the school recited Armenian poems to delight the audience.

After this short cultural event Mrs. Satine Sargsyan and Milena Harutyunyan introduced games that the students of Seta Tajirian School would compete. They explained the rules and regulations and then at the sound of the horn the games began! The kids were fantastic, competitive, and conducted great sportsmanship during the highly competitive games. The three teams were Red, Blue and Orange to represent the colors of the Armenian flag. After the competition the scores were calculated and the winners were presented with metals.

The event was concluded with Armenian dance music provided by Arsen Urfalyan. Everyone that remained danced, celebrated, and had great fun.

(Photos - Courtesy of Mr. Raffi Papazian)