96th Anniversary Armenian Martyrs' Month Dinner April 5, 2011

A screening of “Mount Ararat Expedition” will highlight the 96th Anniversary Martyrs’ Month Dinner of the First Armenian Presbyterian Church Men’s Fellowship.
The dinner and screening of Hacob Khodaverdian’s acclaimed 2010 documentary will take place on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at the FAPC Fellowship Hall, 430 South First Street at Huntington Boulevard, Fresno.
The evening will begin with ethnic appetizers at 6: 30 p.m. and will be followed by a barbecue steak and chicken dinner at 7 p.m. Reservations are $12 per person and may be made by calling George Karkazian at (559) 434-9009.
Fresno Engineer Vatche Soghomonian, a member of the “Armenian 11” climbing team that ascended ancient Armenia’s historic peak, will present the film and answer questions about the team’s 2010 expedition to the Caucasus.
A native of Kessab, Syria, Soghomonian grew up in Lebanon and received his early education at the Armenian Evangelical High School of Beirut. He immigrated to the United States and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science degree from the University of California.

Upon completion of his higher education, Soghomonian took a position with Beckman Instruments in Fullerton, California and received patents for In Vivo Ion Detection (an accessory apparatus to the kidney machine) and a flow through cell used in double-beam spectrophotometers. He later joined Digital Equipment Computer Company and served as an executive consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in Alameda County, California.
In recent years, Soghomonian relocated to Central California and established Compuware Company, a computer business, in Fresno. He is a member of the Armenian Athletic General Organization (HOMENETMEN) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Fresno-based Armenian Technology Group (ATG).
In 2001, he founded a charitable bike-a-thon to benefit the agriculture of the Republic of Armenia. Married to dermatologist Jane F. Kardashian, M.D., Soghomonian has two children, Lisa and Armen.
Chartered by 40 Armenian immigrants on July 25, 1897, FAPC today is a multigenerational, multilingual congregation of 400 drawn from the Old and New Worlds.
Reverend Mgrdich Melkonian is the Senior Pastor, Reverend Eric E. Thompson is the Interim Associate Pastor, and Edward N. Esajian is the Chair of the FAPC Men’s Fellowship Executive Committee.

FAPC is a transitional member congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America. The 2011 theme of the congregation is “A New Community.”