Albany has a relatively small Armenian community nestled in the Hudson Valley region of upstate new york.
The Armenian Community in Albany saw in influx of Armenian Immigrants in the 70's and 80's bringing with them the ideals of
having a centralized youth organization to bring the youth of the area together.
The Homenetmen of Albany provided most of the social interaction and played an integral role in preparing the Armenian
youth of Albany to take initiative.
The AYF Albany Shoushi chapter was founded in 1993 with the help of the New York Hyortik chapter. The AYF decided
a joint junior/senior chapter was the best road to take for this small community of young Armenians.
Albany Shoushi was a self contained chapter that kept mainly to themselves for the first year trying to find its identity
as the new kids on the block. Once Shoushi felt comfortable enough to venture out of Albany, they raised funds to attend their
first ever Junior Seminar. 14 members plus 2 volunteer drivers from our Homenetmen trekked the 10 hour voyage to land
themselves into a camp full of Armenians their age in the middle of nowhere for 4 days. This would be Albany's first
introduction to a regional event. Albany would attend this event for the next decade.
Once the shell had been broken the members started to attend all regional events. They attended Senior Seminar,
Genocide Workshop, Convention, Junior Winter Olympics and Senior Olympics.
The AYF would also become one of central organization is preparing social, educational and political activities for the
local community. They have brought the Albany community to laugh, dance, sing and cry with performances annually to bring
entertainment and raise funds for their activities. One of the more memorable events in the short history of the shoushi chapter
was when they sponsored a dinner/dance and invited Congressman McNulty to attend along with ANCA members from Washington D.C.
and New York City. This event was the largest held by any Armenian organization in the Albany area. this also opened
the doors to the political chapter of the history of Albany Shoushi.
in 1997 the AYF begun to learn more about their political identity. As some members grew older, they realized that Albany
is in a very important area of New York State. Every state assemblyman, senator and governor were located within minutes of
our reach. AYF would soon embark on educating the our state officials on major Armenian-American issues and has been
a strong grass roots lobbying presence since.
The Albany Shoushi has always strived to succeed at all its objectives and plans to be a strong organization locally
and regionally.
Facts:
First Executive of Albany Shoushi.
- President; Antranig Karageozian
- Treasurer; Raffi Mahserdjian
- Secretary; Leo Ohanian
First Regional Events Held in Albany.
Athletic Events.
- Basketball (We Tried anyway)
- Shotput
- Javelin
- Tennis
- Ping Pong
- Bowling
Regional Committee members from Albany.
- Senior Seminar (Raffi Mahserdjian, Leo Ohanian)
- Junior Seminar (Leo Ohanian)
- CHTC (Raffi Mahserdjian, Leo Ohanian, Isabel Ohanian)
- Convention Tivans (Raffi Mahserdjian)
- Junior Seminar Lecturers (Steve Karageozian)
Most Widely Known member of Shoushi Chapter.
First Convention.
Largest Rolls
