By Mike Hazelwood
Staff writer
From left, Sark Yahnian, Sylvia Yahnian, Araxie Menendian, Lucinne Bennett, Rosie Baramian, Carolyn Mikaelian and Hartune Neffian are members of the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church of Yettem. The congregation will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first church service on May 30.
YETTEM — As much as life changes in 100 years, much can also stay the same.
Take the tiny town of Yettem, for example. A century ago it was a mere speck on Tulare County maps. But it was an area rich on religious faith.
Today it’s still a speck. And it’s still a spiritual diamond-in-the-rough.
“The church holds us together,” says Araxie Menendian, 78, a member of St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church of Yettem.
Next weekend church members will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first church services in Yettem, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town north of Visalia.
There was no church or clergymen, just a community of Armenian settlers embracing a new land.
According to written records, the families met outside Tateos Davidian’s home. Under a tree, the families of different denominations — and non-Armenians as well — read scripture, prayed and sang a hymn translated to “Morning of Light.”
It will all be relived May 30.
“They did what they could,” the church’s Father Vartan Kasparian says.
The anniversary banquet — which follows a morning full of indoor and outdoor services — is already sold out, though only a handful of Armenians still live in the Yettem area. Things change, as the settling families have branched out across the United States.
But things stay the same, because many Armenians still consider Yettem a slice of home.
“When you’re in Yettem,” Kasparian says, “especially when you’re looking up at the Sierras, it feels like you’re back in Armenia.”
He says many locals have grown and moved to bigger Armenian churches in places like Chicago or Los Angeles.
But they still have love for the church in Yettem, an Armenian word for “Eden.”
Yettem certainly was a paradise in comparison to the homeland 100 years ago, when the seeds of hate were being planted to become 1915’s Armenian Genocide, which took 1.5 million lives. Armenians sought refuge around the world.
“Those who stayed went through hell,” Kasparian says.
They sought religious and cultural freedom. And though they left their homeland, they found solace with each other in places like Yettem.
“Everybody knew each other’s sorrows,” says Lucinne Bennett, 86.
And it all started 100 years ago, under a tree, fueled by faith. And it will continue with next Sunday’s services, under a tree, fueled by faith.
Life changes, yet stays the same.
“There are generations that will come after us,” Kasparian says. “God willing.”
How to attend?
What: Celebration of first Yettem church service 100 years ago
When: 9:45 a.m. May 30
Where: St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church of Yettem, 14395 Avenue 384
Cost: Services are free and open to public, but banquet to follow is sold out
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