Camp Haiastan kicks off with “Hayr Mer” at McDonald's

by Tom Vartabedian

Published: Tuesday July 12, 2011

Haiastan campers taking a dip.

Franklin, Mass. - The scene is a typical McDonald's eatery in Franklin.

It's an ordinary weeknight here with clerks filling orders and youngsters slapping their fries around while moms attempted to restore some calm.

In walked a cluster of 60 teenagers, accompanied by 20 staffers, bent on filling their stomachs after an active round of bowling.

The management didn't know what to make of it. Not usually do 80 people walk in unannounced. But no ordinary group was this.

They came from up the street at Camp Haiastan and for them it was a night on the town early into the camping season. It looked like some high school post-prom party.

One by one, they placed their orders as all four bays tried keeping abreast. Some of these kids had voracious appetites. Two Big Macs, large fries, chicken sandwiches with the works, shakes, pies --- the works!

As the meals were being prepared and delivered, an unexpected formality took place. Suddenly, the group hovered in a circle, heads bowed, hands held, and began reciting the "Hayr Mer."

Heads turned up. Bodies turned around. All eyes were cast upon this cluster of teenagers praying in Armenian inside a fast food joint and asking God to bless this food that was being laid before them.

Those not accustomed to prayer weren't exempt. They joined the protocol. Others who were not familiar with the words simply mimicked along. In time, they will have memorized the words.

Even Ronald McDonald the company mascot was smiling at the gesture. His house with the golden arches had suddenly become a place of worship, thanks to a group of disciplined Armenian kids.

"It's something you wouldn't expect to see at a McDonald's," said Margo Dinkjian, a second-year camp director. "The kids have it ingrained in themselves that before every meal, they recite the ‘Hayr Mer,' whether it's in church, at a camp or a fast food place. It's the Armenian tradition in them that's talking."

And what an impression this made on the outside. The management came over and expressed his gratitude at how well disciplined these Armenian teens were and that more their age should follow such an example.

"You don't find enough families praying before a meal, especially inside a place like this," he said.

Deed done, they dug into their sandwiches and happy meals, filled their stomachs to content, and off they trekked, taking a shortcut through the woods and back to Camp Haiastan from where they came.

With all the talk about assimilation and church politics, all the nonsense of youngsters being out of control, here we had a moment of unity and Christian bonding. It may not change our world, but it certainly did justice in creating a better place for our society.

One night last week, I paid the camp a visit, bent on taking photos for a web-page gallery. The group had gathered on their own at the top of the hill before dinner and out came the "Hayr Mer," this time a vocal arrangement.

The impression they made was enough to fill Uncas Pond.