GLENDALE : Armenian Center to Celebrate Opening

A long list of local, state and federal dignitaries is expected to attend a banquet and celebration Friday night to mark the recent opening of a central headquarters for several major Armenian American organizations in Glendale.

The Armenian National Committee/Western Region has long called Glendale its home, but recently the organization and several affiliated organizations moved into new quarters at 104 N. Belmont St. to offer a variety of services from a central location, said Raffi Hamparian, ANC chairman.

Hamparian said attendees at the banquet, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Universal City Hilton, will include U. S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown and seven members of Congress.

“One could look at it cynically and say they’re coming because this is an election year, but on the other hand the Armenian community has a lot of friends, because we’re active in the public life of many cities,” he said.

In addition to being the headquarters for the ANC Western Region, which has 16 chapters from Texas to California, the new building houses the local offices of the Armenian Youth Federation, the Armenian Relief Society, a student association and a fund for the war-torn Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Also located in the building are local offices of the ANC’s parent organization, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, a political party founded in 1890.

For more information on the event, call (818) 500-1918.