St. Paul Armenian Church

2003 Grape Blessing Picnic

Fresno, California
August 17, 2003
Held at the California Armenian Home
(click on any picture to see enlarged)

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The calm before the crowds.
It looks so peaceful now.		 DSC00166.JPG (161238 bytes)
Gevork and Ari holding candles as Deacon Sam reads from the Gospel.		 DSC00167.JPG (170043 bytes)
Svetlana leading the
St. Paul Church Choir.
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Der Hayr giving communion		 DSC00169.JPG (149058 bytes)
Blessing of the Grapes		 DSC00170.JPG (164409 bytes)
Blessing of the Grapes
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Gevork, Timothy, and Der Hayr		 DSC00172.JPG (151160 bytes)
Blessing of the Grapes		 DSC00173.JPG (149508 bytes)
Dn. Sam, Dn. Stepan, Der Hayr, Dn.Barlow, sDn. Alan and Ari
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Blessing of the Grapes		 DSC00175.JPG (184951 bytes)
Rosalie, Mary, Stephanie, Diane, Kim
on the he serving line		 DSC00176.JPG (187172 bytes)
Arax, Tammy, Lena, Berjouhi, Annette
The serving line
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Russell, Bob and Tom, the BBQ Committee in action		 DSC00178.JPG (159649 bytes)
Russell, Bob, Tom, and Carl watching over the BBQ		 DSC00179.JPG (175511 bytes)
Jerry and Russell
checking the Chicken Kebab
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The Pinochle players		 DSC00181.JPG (148910 bytes)
Ann, Alice, and Rose
The Baking Angels		 DSC00182.JPG (183494 bytes)
The Baked goods
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Alice and Rose at the Baked goods table		 DSC00184.JPG (194218 bytes)
Jerry and Harold at the ticket table		 DSC00185.JPG (175233 bytes)
More of the serving line
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Nellie, Jennifer, and Laura
serving the ACYO Snowcones!		 DSC00187.JPG (182583 bytes)
Gabe and Mike at the drink booth		 DSC00188.JPG (190116 bytes)
3 generations of Hagopians
entertaining the crowd
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Jim on Kanoon and Armen on Clarinet		 DSC00190.JPG (146196 bytes)
The Richard Hagopian Band		 DSC00191.JPG (161470 bytes)
Hagop and Ed at the Bingo
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Hagop, Ed, and Franklin manning the Bingo table		 DSC00193.JPG (154006 bytes)
Nina, Charlotte, Michael at the
St. Paul Book Store		 DSC00194.JPG (146384 bytes)
Jerry, Barlow, Mark and Phil
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Dancing to the sounds of Richard		 DSC00196.JPG (188814 bytes)
Dancing		 DSC00197.JPG (169707 bytes)
Bob and Jerry take a break from the BBQ
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More dancing		 P8170005.JPG (75409 bytes)
A cool drink on a hot day, cousins Alec and Michael		 P8170013.JPG (62323 bytes)
Evelyn, Sue, and Sara

2003 General Co-Chairmen Jeff Markarian and Terry Kuckenbaker
Thanks Jeff and Terry for a great job and thanks to all of those who worked so hard.
It was a warm day, but in the cool of the shade, it was great!

A great crowd enjoyed the day at the California Armenian Home for our Annual Grape Blessing and Church Picnic.  With everyone gathered on the grounds of the California Armenian Home for the Aged, we celebrated the Blessing of the Grapes in our centuries old tradition.  Services were conducted by Rev. Fr. Arshen Aivazian the Parish Priest of St. Paul.   The Divine Liturgy began at 10:30am with the Blessing service following at 12 Noon.  After Church services a delicious lunch was served followed by the music of the Richard Hagopian Band.

Jeff and Terry put together a great group of volunteers who are always eager to come out in support of their church.  Teams of helpers manned the serving lines, drink tables, kitchen, barbecues, ticket tables, raffle tickets.  There are many many tasks that individuals participate in to make the annual picnic a success.

Finally, a much deserved thanks to Rozine, Charlotte, and Jim who took care of all the important details.  Once again, they were indispensable.  How fortunate we are at Saint Paul, to have so many committed members.  It was a lot of work, but well worth it..  See you all next year!

Page layout and Photos were done by Deacon Steve Adams
Additional photos from Sara DerMatoian
Camera was a new Sony TRV-27 in still mode.