Don't Know Why, But In The Midst of All This Snow, Marash Girl Is Remembering Summer Saturdays In Sturbridge Before The Tornado

Years ago, several years before the 2011 summer tornado hit Massachusetts, Marash Girl and her family would not only summer in the old cabin on top of Wilbraham Mountain, but would often spend time there at the end of a work week, leaving late on a Friday afternoon from the eastern side of the Bay State to arrive in Wilbraham about an hour and a half later, traffic allowing. On such weekends, Marash Girl would often drive on Saturday afternoons down from the top of Wilbraham Mountain, east to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to join the artists, writers, musicians, and poets of the area, all meeting at a restaurant's coffee shop, if only for a cup of coffee and some words of encouragement. (Marash Girl was honored to be welcomed into the group . . .) But as Marash Girl's father would have said at this juncture, "Those days are gone . . . forever!" N.B. Should any of you reading this blog be one of the artists, writers, musicians, or poets that used to meet in Sturbridge in those days, please comment below! Or email!

Marash Girl's Old Friend, Architect Rostom Voskanian, Gains Fame On The Avenue!

A street in Tehran has been named after well-known Iranian-Armenian architect (and Marash Girl's long ago friend), rahmetli olsun Rostom Voskanian. The avenue adjacent to the H.M. ‘Ararat’ organization in Tehran, formerly Aftab, was renamed in honor of architect, sculptor, painter Rostom Voskanian, ParsToday reports.

According to the website, the authorities of the capital city and the representatives of the political council, made the decision on the renaming, when last year they visited ‘Ararat’ sports ground and got acquainted with the historical building of the chapel Holy Cross, the architect for which was Voskanian. Rostom Voskanian was born in 1932 in Iran and passed away in 2013 in the United States of America. He received his degree from the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University in Iran. He is an honorary doctor of Yerevan State University of Engineering and Construction. There are many buildings in Iran designed by Rostom Voskanian -- public buildings and apartment buildings, including the Ararat Sports Complex, the Armenian Club, the Armenian Kindergarten in Tabriz, the construction of the Central Park of the Tabriz Prelacy, and other structures. NOTE: Marash Girl thanks author Davit Muradyan for the above photo and article. . . And I'm sure rahmetli olsun Rostom Voskanian is thanking Davit, as well!