Bike-a-thon Raises Money For Children In Armenia

During the BBQ, Douglas Boyajian, Richard’s nephew, said this was his young daughter’s second race, the first being when she was 6 months old. This time “she wanted to ride her own bike” to help. “This is something we look forward to every Memorial Day Weekend,” he said. “We don’t have enough exposure to the Armenian culture, music and food so this event gives us that opportunity.”

Of course, no traditional Armenian BBQ would be complete without some good old-fashioned Armenian music and many talented musicians donated their talents to the delight of the audience including Garo Papazian, Harrry Papazian, Mal Barsamian, John Berberian, Hagop Garabedian, Joe Kouyoumjian, Mike Gregian, Costa Maniatakos, Richard Boyajian and Gregory Smyrlian. Some other musicians and guests couldn’t resist, and grabbing a spare dumbeg, tambourine or oud, joined in on the musical fun. Others danced Armenian style, encouraging other guests to join their snakelike line.

And it wasn’t just Armenians enjoying the BBQ. Majid Bensellam, originally from Morocco but now residing in Boston, has been a friend of Richard Boyajian for 16 years. “I am sympathetic to this cause. It was a pleasure to do the bike ride early in the morning,” declared Bensellam.

Echoing the sentiment was Nancy St. John of Cohasset. “We think what he is doing is great and we like to support it.” She heard about the benefit event through her husband, who makes flags, including ones representing Armenia.

Boyajian thinks of every little detail in planning for the annual event. Indeed, he even goes to a local farm in the western suburbs to procure meat so that’s it’s freshly killed “like you’d find in Armenia,” he says. Boyajian not only prepares his home and outside yard for the days leading up to the event, but procures and cooks much of the food served at the post-ride BBQ. Twenty-four hours before the event finds Boyajian with a volunteer team making dozens of yalanchi. Then there is a huge salad to put together as well. The next day, the finished products are brought outside and laid out on a long table next to the hugest, deepest platter of hummus that I’ve ever seen. And of course, no Armenian meal would be complete without pilaf. One really busy place is the BBQ pit where chefs Ara Ghazarian and Ben Der Torosian are constantly moving, flipping and turning the meat, serving an admiring crowd.

Boyajian has tackled numerous projects, often playground-related, in various parts of Armenia, including Sissian, Gumri, Zeitoun and Nor Marash. The foundation’s latest project is in the village of Hnaberd in the Ararat Valley. He said this is the first time they have taken on the responsibility of rehabbing an entire building.