FRESNO, CA – When the Seropian brothers arrived in Fresno in 1881 they could not have imagined hosting an ANCA Town Hall meeting, largely because they were no other Armenian Americans in the San Joaquin Valley. Today, some 132 years later, the Fresno that welcomed Hagop and Garabed Seropian is home to a large and prosperous Armenian American community and one that is pleased to be hosting an ANCA Town Hall meeting on March 16, 2013 at 7:00pm at the Armenian Community Center located at 2348 Ventura Street in Fresno, California.

The ANCA Town Hall meeting will feature twin presentations from ANCA-Western Region Executive Director William Bairamian and External Affairs Deputy Tereza Yerimyan. The forum will also offer an opportunity for community members in the Fresno area to ask questions about the efforts of the ANCA, the nation’s largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the Western United States, the ANCA-Western Region actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues. The Central California ANC, which has a long and proud history of representing the Armenian American community in the San Joaquin Valley, is hosting the ANCA Town Hall gathering.

“We welcome the opportunity to visit the Armenian American community in Fresno and the broader San Joaquin Valley,” remarked ANCA-Executive Director William Bairamian. “The best part about the ANCA Town Hall format is that it welcomes a two way conversation with members of our community. The ANCA has much to share with our community in Fresno about our work. But we also have much to learn from our community in Fresno. I look forward to sharing time in Central California with members of an Armenian American community that gave birth to the Asbarez in 1908 and other enduring institutions, like Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, which I understand was built in 1900” the ANCA-WR Executive Director added.

Fresno and the broader San Joaquin Valley is home to tens of thousands of Armenian Americans, many of whom can trace their arrival to the area to the Hamidian massacres in 1895 and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. As the Armenian American community grew in the area in the early 20th century, so to did local organizations and newspapers, like the Asbarez and later the California Courier. William Saroyan, a favorite son of Fresno, chronicled life in the San Joaquin Valley in his classic work “My Name is Aram” which was published in 1940.

“We welcome the opportunity to host an ANCA Town Hall meeting,” remarked Central California ANCA Chairman Paul Jamushian. “The ANCA is an effective and genuine grassroots organization. The community here in Fresno and surrounding cities is very much looking forward to learning about the ANCA’s efforts around the nation to advance our common cause,” added Jamushian.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

For more information about the upcoming ANCA Town Hall meeting in Fresno, California individuals are encouraged to email ancfresno@gmail.com or call 559-486-1918.