Alvin and the Armenian Chipmunks

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You must be thinking that I've lost my mind, right? Well, not quite! If you watched Alvin and the Chipmunks growing up, then maybe you realized one of the names in the closing credits as being distinctly Armenian: Ross Bagdasarian. Well, as it turns out, Ross was the cousin of William Saroyan and his stage name was David Seville! David Seville, if you recall, was the man who took care of the Chipmunks in the shows!

Well, all of this is great, but I really wrote this entry to announce that there will be a Chipmunks movie this Christmas produced by none other than Ross Bagdasarian, Junior, the son of the late Ross Bagdasarian.

Don't miss it!

Armenian Technology Group: An Agricultural Charity

I didn't know about the ATG until reading this article. Did you?

ATG showed them how to become self reliant through several projects, from growing American wheat seed to resurrecting the Armenian wine industry using thousands of plants from Visalia.

"The idea was to empower them to feed their own families."

Their next projects in Armenia, include establishing a diagnostic lab for infectious disease and building a cold storage packing facility...

Instead of throwing money at a problem, ATG decided to make people make their own destinies. This is a model that many charities should study and follow as it is the right way of providing assistance.

Check out Armenian Technology Group's official website to learn more about what they do and how. There are pictures there, as well!

Source: ABC

New "Armenian Town" Being Built in California

It seems that there was some problem by other news outlets in translating this release correctly. The few that I saw made it seem that a city was being built by Armenians for their sole inhabitation! Here are the facts:

The 10-acre redevelopment project is becoming reality as the first building rises from an area once filled with the modest homes of Armenian immigrants. This will be the new home of Fresno's 5th District Court of Appeals. It will also be the anchor of the 'Armenian Town' redevelopment project, envisioned as a mix of office and retail, as well as public open space and parking.

Jeanette Jurkovich, Friends of Armenian Town, says, "Cities across America embrace old and new development. They know it's not an either/or." Jurkovich says these five homes from the old Armenian Town were to become part of this project. Jurkovich says this area on the 10 acre site across from the Armenian Church would create a bridge from the past to the present. And once restored, could become home to retail, restaurants or art galleries...

So you see, it's merely a re-development project. The reason it was called "Armenian Town" was because of the large number of Armenian immigrants who settled there. In fact, William Saroyan grew up near there in Fresno!

Source: PanArmenian