Heritage Park

Visitors to Glendale’s Wilson Mini Park on a Sunday afternoon may stumble upon a small slice of Armenia. After nearby St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church empties after services, folks who hail from the ancient country nestled alongside Turkey, Iran and Georgia gather at the park. Men cluster around board games and play cards while smaller groups of women talk with each other in quiet earnest, keeping an eye on their children, who frolic nearby. Residents of Armenian heritage constitute nearly one-quarter of Glendale’s 180,000 inhabitants. Most of them are endeavoring to work their way into the American fabric. And on Sunday afternoons in the park, the talk is not only of what was left behind, but what awaits.