Armenian Church in Fresno to mark 390th anniversary of Thanksgiving tradition

PanARMENIAN.Net - An annual autumn food bazaar at a Fresno church this year will salute the 390th anniversary of the Thanksgiving tradition in North America.

First Armenian Presbyterian Church will recognize the Pilgrims' celebration of the good harvest of 1621 at its Merchants' Lunch and Country Store bazaar on Thursday, November 17.

The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Mgrdich Melkonian, in his greetings and prayers at the event, will recall that autumn feast of the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Native Americans. First Armenian Presbyterian Church is California's oldest Armenian church.

The Merchants' Lunch includes traditional Armenian cuisine. The lunch is available on a dine-in, take-out or drive-through basis.

The Country Store offers holiday shopping for ethnic delicacies. It also will sell a revised printing of the Fidelis Women's Society Centennial recipe book, "A Hundred Years and Still Cooking." It includes recipes by the pioneering Armenian women who first settled in the Valley more than 120 years ago, Fresno Bee reported.