Watertown Marashtsis And "The Ice-a Crrim"!

Marash Girl's dad Peter used to share the following memory. When he was a little boy and had first come to this country, he and his family would attend the gatherings of Marashtsis (Armenian immigrants from Marash, Ottoman Empire), meetings held once a month on Sunday afternoons in Watertown, Massachusetts. The announcer would often try to quiet the gathering, folks who were so pleased to be together once again, folks catching up on what had happened in the family since their last meeting . . . The announcer, in preparation for the featured speaker of the day, would shout above the din,"Quviet, plees! Quviet, plees; prritty soon, by and by, ve gonna  hava de  ice-a crreem!" (Translation: Quiet, please! Quiet, please! Pretty soon, we're going to have ice cream!)


(It should be noted here that throughout Turkey, Marash--now known as Kahraman Marash-- is famous for it's ice cream ... or should I say, ice-a crrim!) Marash Girl's dad Peter (Bedros) reports that while sitting in that audience with his fellow Armenian immigrants, he would think to his 9 year old self, " . . .I wonder if I'll ever be able to speak English that well!" By the time Marash Girl knew her dad Peter, he was speaking perfect, unaccented English. Having graduated from Watertown High School with honors, he had been accepted to M.I.T. with a full scholarship!!! N.B. For more on Peter and M.I.T., see MarashGirl.blogspot.com, Aug 14, 2020.