Boston, MA – The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region will host its Fifth Annual Banquet at the Boston Seaport Hotel & Convention Center on Saturday, October 15, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Banquet will begin with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner and awards at 7:30 p.m. This marks the first year that the regional banquet will be held in the Boston area.

Every year, more than 300 Armenian American community members and leaders from the Eastern United States join prominent Members of Congress, statewide officials, and state legislators to celebrate the accomplishments of the dedicated activists and volunteers of the ANCA Eastern Region.

The ANCA Eastern Region will honor an individual with its prestigious Freedom Award for outstanding contributions toward the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and for pursuing other issues of importance to the Armenian-American community. Past recipients of the Freedom Award include former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, and the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

The Vahan Cardashian Award also will be presented to an Armenian-American activist who has exemplified the ideals and dedication of Mr. Cardashian, the founder of the Armenian-American lobby. Past recipients of the Vahan Cardashian Award include Mr. Vahe Amirian of New Jersey, Ms. Martha Aramian of Rhode Island, Mr. Bedros Bandazian of Virginia, Ms. Melanie Kerneklian of Virginia, and Mr. Tatul Sonentz-Papazian of Boston, Massachusetts.

This year the committee in charge of organizing the Banquet is Joshua Tevekelian (Chairman), Kristin Asadourian, Rita Bejakjian, Sabine Chouljian, Ari Janessian, Tamar Kanarian, Stepanos Keshishian, Tsoleen Sarian and Mariam Stepanyan. The committee is hard at work planning the festivities and looks forward to tremendous participation and a successful event.

Please reserve the date. More details will be forthcoming as they become available.

For more information about the Banquet, please contact Joshua Tevekelian at (617) 926-9169 or visit the website www.anca.org/erbanquet