What a busy day we’ve had! We were blessed with a visit from our Primate, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, who met with us and urged campers and staff to start thinking about different ways that they can contribute to the life of the Armenian Church, whether it be within their parishes or even as clergy members one day. In evening, we played the SVC version of “Clue” - campers ran around finding clues and solving the mystery of who popped Gevork the inflatable monkey. It was KLC at the pool with “da oil” (don’t worry mayrig yev hayrig, we will explain when we get home)! The oldest teens wrapped up the night by continuing to plan the camp activity they are going to lead tomorrow night. We can’t wait to find out what they have in store for us!

Read more »

We were blessed with another beautiful day to start off our last week here at SVC. We were excited to welcome two clergymen who will be staying with us all week: Fr. Daniel Karadjian, from Syracuse, NY who is teaching religion classes and Fr. Shnork Souin, of Livingston, NJ, who is teaching Armenian classes. After a delicious dinner of chicken parm and spaghetti(a favorite here at the Ararat Center), we played a camp wide game of Capture the Flag today in our olympics teams, blue versus red. The game was so close, and all the campers had fun running around the lower field, along with CITs and counselors.

Read more »

Weekends at SVC are a time to relax and enjoy a more laid back schedule. This weekend was no different. On Saturday we slept in, played sports, went swimming, and shared smores and stories at the campfire. On Sunday morning we celebrated Badarak together before enjoying a delicious brunch and settling in for a rainy day afternoon movie. We also welcomed our new C2 campers. It was the perfect way to unwind after a busy week and recharge for our final week at SVC!

Read more »

We ended our first week of Session C with an SVC tradition: the Friday night dance. We were worried that the dance would get rained out but the stormy weather gave way to a clear summer night Guys and girls dressed in their finest and danced away to Armenian and American music, socialized in the game room, or just relaxed with each other while enjoying the warm breeze on the patio. It was great to see the whole camp having fun together in Christian fellowship!

Read more »

Thursdays are Talent Show night at SVC so after a full day of swimming, sports and classes the whole camp got together to share our talents and gifts of song, dance, and comedy. Counselors Connor, Chris, and the always funny John Oundjian hosted the evening. Another highlight today was a presentation by Mr. Stephen Piligian, who is visiting us from the Holy Translators parish in Framingham MA, on historic Armenia. Through an interactive media presentation, he outlined the different provinces of our ancient homeland and urged us to find out where our grandparents and great grandparents came from. Everyone was inspired to learn more about their family history after the session. The hot afternoon has now cooled into a pleasant evening; we are ready for bed and excited for tomorrow!

Read more »

A bit of rain didn’t stop the fun today as we continued on with Session C1. In sports, it was “boot camp Wednesday,” and we got in a great workout doing exercises like push ups and sit ups to strengthen our bodies and minds. In religion class, we talked about worship with Der Vasken and how as Christians we must worship God more than we sometimes worship things in the secular world, such as music and celebrities. The evening activity was Olympics, and the blue team emerged victorious with their chants and cheers. The red team will have an opportunity to win the SVC cup by gaining points in other Olympic events throughout the session. The light sound of rain will lull us to sleep, as we dream of all the fun we’ll have tomorrow!

Read more »

It was another hot and sunny day here in Greenville, so we really enjoyed swimming in the pool, playing kickball in the field, and having burgers and hotdogs out on the picnic tables for dinner. We also welcomed new visitors: Der Vasken, Yn. Arpi, and Alina Kouzouian, of Holy Trinity in Cambridge, MA, are here. During their stay at SVC, Der Vasken is teaching religion and Yn. Arpi is teaching CIT class. Tonight was movie night, and the whole camp enjoyed watching “Little Rascals” and eating freshly popped popcorn for an evening snack.

Read more »