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President: |
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Happy New Year to everyone! I wish all of you a happy, prosperous year during this coming Year of the Horse. Thanks to everyone's support, I've been elected again as the president of RECA. This is my sixth year serving as the president. I will do my best as usual and try to accomplish our goal of building our cultural center. Without everyone's help, I can't carry out this great mission, so please do your best to support our efforts. Our yearly big event, the Chinese New Year's Celebration, is coming on Feb. 23, 2002. Please bring all of your family, friends and neighbors to have fun in this fund-raising event. You will find all the details in the newsletter on the upcoming events page.   NEW OFFICERS The ballots have been tabulated, and RECA has a new set of officers for the year 2002:
Thank you to all of the officers and board members who served in 2001, and to all who have volunteered to serve for 2002. Many of the officers and board members have volunteered their time and efforts for many years, and it would be great to have some new people joining them to help with all of RECA's activities. Right now, we need help with the Chinese New Year Celebration coming up on Feb. 23, in all areas from decorations to food service to clean-up. If you can spare some time to volunteer, even if it's just a few hours, please contact any of the officers or board members. RECA SATURDAY MORNING CHINESE LANGUAGE CLASSES Our Language Classes are pleased to announce that we have purchased a new copy machine for RECA. We have been depending on old, donated machines that have finally been used beyond repair. Our beautiful new machine is fast, quiet and actually works each time the switch is turned on. With 50 to 200 copies each Saturday, this is a great help in preparing lessons and personalizing the materials for each student's needs. Our new semester has started, which means that those who have paid for only one semester, your tuition is due. Most students this year have paid for the entire year, saving a substantial amount. If you are interested in enrolling, there is some room in the advanced class where conversational Mandarin is used with emphasis on improving language skills, reading and writing. There are also a few openings in the adult beginner/intermediate class where some basics in Mandarin are requested but not required. Our Cantonese class is filled to overflowing, as is our young beginner's class. Please see the next article on a proposal for added classes. If interested in enrolling or in having more information, please contact Judy Cheung, 528-0912 or Nancy Wang, 576-0533. PROPOSED NEW MANDARIN AND VIETNAMESE CLASSES By Judy Cheung Chinese language classes are so full that we are considering opening an afternoon or evening Mandarin class. So far, we cannot confirm a teacher with a day of the week. However, it is beginning to look like Tuesday evenings from 4:00 to 6:30 or 6:30 to 9:00 PM is our best probability. Tuition will be based on Saturday morning class rates, with consideration if fewer sessions are scheduled. Curriculum will be based on the Saturday morning curriculum, with the usual addition of material depending on the composition of the class. All ages are welcome to enroll. Until this year, we have had classes mixed with all ages, so it will be nothing new. If two distinct groups are interested, we will try to find a second teacher. Also, if you are interested in Cantonese, let us know. If there are enough people, we will see if we can accommodate a class if a teacher can be found. We have also been having many requests for Vietnamese language classes from within RECA, from Families with Children from Asia, and from the community. Now, we have some possible teachers. If you are interested, or know people who are interested in enrolling in Vietnamese language classes, please let us know. Our tentative plans are to have classes on Tuesday afternoons or evenings at the same time as the additional Mandarin class. All ages are welcome. To start with, curriculum will be based on the materials used in the beginning Chinese Mandarin classes, until we find some excellent texts for Vietnamese. Tuition will be based on the Saturday Chinese Class tuition with consideration for fewer classes. Our summer program for adopted Vietnamese children was a great success. We hope to start classes in February. Please let us if you are interested. We cannot plan if we do not know who and how many want to attend. Also, if you want to attend, but cannot come on Tuesday, please let us know what day of the week is best in case we can change our tentative plans. If you are interested in enrolling in an afternoon or evening class, please contact Judy Cheung at 528-0912 or Nancy Wang, 576-0533. RECA/JACL JOINT POTLUCK The annual RECA/JACL joint potluck will be held on Saturday, April 27 at 6:00 PM at the 4-H Center, 6445 Commerce Blvd., Rohnert Park. The 4-H Center is located behind Albertson; look for the driveway to the left of the store as you're facing it. This event always brings a lot of people and good food, so we hope you will join us and make some new friends. Please bring a dish to share that is sufficient to feed your own group plus 4 to 6 other people, and try to focus on main dishes rather than desserts. Here is a warning for those who may be visiting the RECA Center during the rainy season: please do NOT go into the field. The soil gets very soft after it rains, and your car may get stuck. Stay on the pavement or on the side of the road with one wheel on the edge of the road. Waiting for a tow truck can be a long, cold and wet wait. WIN A TRIP TO HAWAII! In addition to getting your Chinese New Year admission tickets early (see page 3; there will be no tickets sold at the door), you might also consider purchasing raffle tickets for our Grand Prize drawing to Honolulu, Hawaii. It's a six-day, five-night getaway for two people and includes airfare and hotel accommodations. Tickets are $5 each. You get a special deal of 3 tickets for $10 if you buy them before our New Year event on Feb. 23. We will draw the winning ticket that evening. (The winner need not be present to win.) Second prize is 2 nights at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno. Third prize is a $100 gift certificate to Kyoto Restaurant in Rohnert Park. Contact Nancy Wang at 576-0533 or Mary Lowe at 528-8712 x18 or any other board officer (listed at the top of this newsletter) for tickets. YOUTH GROUP CHANGES We are very sad to announce that Lisa Kong will not be able to continue as RECA's Youth Group leader due to other obligations taking up her time. However, we would like to thank Lisa for her fantastic work in getting our Youth Group organized and energized. They have accomplished an amazing amount since she took over, and have helped make many RECA events a great success. We hope that momentum will continue with Mark and Azy Heydon, who have volunteered to be the new leaders of the Youth Group. For more information about the Youth Group, please call Mark or Azy at 575-9541. CULTURAL GROUP ACTIVITIES With the celebrations for Chinese New Year this month, RECA will be spending a lot of time sharing our culture with the community. Here is a list of the performances and presentations that have been scheduled: Feb. 7 Santa Rosa Junior College Museum: Gu-Jun (musical instrument) performance RECA LIBRARY NOW AVAILABLE By Judy Cheung Thanks to long-time member Donald O. Nassie, RECA now has a lending and research library. Don had to leave his apartment in Santa Rosa and move to San Francisco where he can receive full-time medical care. While preparing for his move, he donated his library on China and Chinese language to RECA. In addition, Don also donated a PC with Chinese language software, a printer, and a computer desk. Thank you Don! The works offered to us by Don include both books and videos. Some of what is now available include the Yale textbooks for learning Mandarin Chinese, a book on American/Asian business practices named "The Asian Mind Game," an historical video made by the U.S. Dept. of Defense in 1946 named "The Battle for China," which is complimentary towards the Chinese people during war. Although we do not yet have a card catalogue of our library books, we have a checkout form for those of you who would like to borrow some of our new acquisitions. If anyone would like to donate more books or borrow some of what we now have, please contact Nancy Wang at 576-0533 or Judy Cheung at 528-0912. INS FEES INCREASE ON FEB. 18 For those individuals interested in applying for U.S. citizenship, fees will rise February 18 as follows: Citizenship for Adults, from $250 to $310 (this includes fingerprints. Also, the N-400 application form has changed from 4 to 10 pages); Citizenship for Children (N-600), from $160 to $185 (if you are low-income and a Sonoma County resident, Catholic Charities has a trust fund to pay child application fees). Call Mary Lowe at 528-8712 for more information. Immigration fee increases include Renewal of Green Card (I-90), from $110 to $130; Petition for Relative (I-130), from $110 to $130; Adjustment of Status (I-485), from $220 to $255. Call Catholic Charities Immigration Services at 578-6000 with further questions or to make an appointment. If you have quick questions, their office offers free information meetings Tuesdays at 4:30 on a first-come first-served basis at 2325 Montgomery Drive in Santa Rosa. No advanced appointment is necessary. HOW TO TEACH YOUNG CHILDREN MUSIC By Dr. Robert Yee Six demonstration classes on "How to Teach Young Children Music" will be held beginning on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2002 at 10:30 AM in the preschool room at the Presbyterian Church of the Roses. We will be demonstrating techniques on how to teach young children from age one day to five years to sing, read, and play violin. These demonstration classes are sponsored by the Asian American Fellowship Group of the Presbyterian Church of the Roses to help parents teach American cultural literacy. Our goal is to help parents form Music Learning Circles in their neighborhoods, meeting in homes. Learning Circles will also meet at the church to sing songs, tell stories and play instruments that parents are teaching to their young children at home. Home Learning Programs: Young children learn by participation and modeling their parents. Everyday parents listen to CDs, sing along with the CDs, read stories aloud, and practice musical instruments, always inviting their young children to join in the play. One of the lessons in this program is to demonstrate how young children learn. We have all been taught that young children's brains are like "sponges," but most of us forget that this extraordinary ability to rote learn information (visual as well as auditory) is partially lost by age 5. If it is not used, it can be completely lost by adulthood. Multi-Cultural Parenting Discussion Group: We realize that there are many ways of parenting. We are presently developing a discussion group, which may be put on the church's Web site. You can join the parenting discussion group by sending your e-mail address to drrobertyee@aol.com to be included on the list. Robert Yee, MD is the discussion facilitator. He has taught psychology and Multi-Cultural Studies courses at Sonoma State University. Cost: No cost, the "How To Teach Young Children Music" demonstration classes are underwritten by the Asian American Fellowship Group. Call the church at 542-4272 to register, or e-mail drrobertyee@aol.com. The Presbyterian Church of the Roses is located at 2500 Patio Court in Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa. The Asian American Fellowship Group is a family-oriented multi-ethnic, multi-cultural social group. We are English-speaking first and second generation Americans. Mostly we get together to EAT and socialize, and we do sponsor a service project. We are always recruiting new members who are interested in children's issues and multi-cultural issues. Dr. Robert Yee is the group's spokesperson. Dr. Robert Yee is the chairperson of the Bay Area region Presbyterian Church Self-Development of People Grant Committee which oversee grant funding for groups bound by poverty and oppression. One time grant money is available to new groups organizing themselves to address social and economic issues. Dr. Yee is also available to help groups qualify for Self-Development of People grant money. RECA YOUTH DEBUT AT XMAS SOCIAL RECA's Youth Group made their performing debut with our organization by playing piano solos at the Christmas Potluck/Social in December at the Senior Center in Santa Rosa. Using Patty Lok's keyboard, the youths - Patty, Jae Likitcrakong, Jing Chen, and Philip Mah - presented holiday melodies to the delight of parents, relatives, admirers, and an attentive audience of 100 folks. Afterwards, the kids from Chinese School and the Families with Children from Asia sang a song in Mandarin called "Hua" (flower). They were so cute and enthusiastic in their festive outfits that they practically stole the show!
Special guest speaker Yancey Forest-Knowles, principal of Bellevue Elementary School in Santa Rosa, spoke on the value of education and his candidacy for Superintendent of the Sonoma County Unified School District in the March 5th election. (RECA member Carl Wong, who made a presentation at our January board meeting, is also vying for the same position.) And what would Christmas be without Santa? Many thanks to Joe Wang who posed with kids for free polaroid photos. Each child also got a candle cane. For those who brought a present, we held a gift exchange for participating young and big adult "kids." Thank you to Judy Cheung for decorating RECA's Christmas tree and to Winston Lee, Sr. for stringing up Christmas lights to create a festive mood. Our appreciation to Patisserie Angelica at 525 Mendocino Avenue in downtown Santa Rosa for providing us with brownies, gingerbread and other yummy pastries in exchange for their picking hydrangeas (those big round flowers with purple clusters) from RECA's front yard. Another event well coordinated by Mary Lowe and Social Chair David Chung. SHARING CULTURE AT SCHOOLS By Jean Gee Every year, Winston Lee and Jean Gee have visited classrooms in several schools around the community in order to educate the students about Chinese New Year. The children especially like the calligraphy with Winston, who writes their name in Chinese for them, and they enjoy sampling a variety of authentic Chinese sweets and other goodies.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER FASHION SHOW By Sandy Bartholome and Patti Sullivan, Families with Children from Asia Imagine our surprise when Phi Phi Dang asked us to be models in a fashion show along with our daughters. Well, of course, we all knew our daughters would make perfect models, but as for ourselves, we just did not feel like the super-model type. After several practices, where Nancy Wong and Phi Phi taught us how to carry ourselves, spin, and play to the crowd, we began to feel more confident in our modeling ability. Phi Phi's hard work paid off; the gowns were beautiful. Using only a photograph, our measurements, and her own creative talent and imagination, she transformed each of us. Our daughters looked lovely in their matching green velvet and cream satin dresses. It was a packed house. Everyone enjoyed the show and the food. The production was very professional, from the M.C.'s to the music and lighting. The tables were beautifully set with handcrafted arrangements. RECA's youth group did a wonderful job serving the delicious dim sum. It was very rewarding to participate in the fashion show. Thank you Phi Phi for making all of us look our best. (See photos on our Recent Events page.) LI BAI'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH POETRY By Judy Cheung Although we do not know the day the famous Chinese poet Li Bai was born, Taiwan celebrated his 1300th birthday on February 5, 2002. In conjunction with Taiwan, RECA joined with Artists Embassy International, Poets of the Vineyard and Alameda Island Poets to have a local celebration. Because the poetry organizations have recently been involved in festivities regarding the 800th birthday of St. Francis, it was a combined poetic party. About 15 people from Hong Kong to Utah attended the event held at the RECA Center. After a sumptuous feast, 4 formal presentations were made. RECA Life Member Judy Cheung spoke about the life, times and poetry of Li Bai. Mary Rudge of Alameda talked about some of the similarities of Li Bai and St. Francis. Natica Angilly of Richmond danced to poetry, with an added surprise of doing a dance with Misha Heydon, which they composed during the first two presentations. RECA Life Member Lillian Ozorio read poems by Li Bai and Tu Fu, comparing and contrasting the style and content of the two friends. The evening ended with each person having the opportunity to read their own poems or the poems of others. Su Juen Armstrong translated a poem by Li Bai that Phi Phi Dang then sang in Mandarin. The evening finished with Natica Angilly dancing the Peace Poem by St. Francis, which Mary Rudge read.
ELECTION FOR SONOMA COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS One of RECA's members, Dr. Carl Wong, is running for office in the upcoming March election for the office of Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools. The following is his candidate’s statement: I am running for County Superintendent of Schools because I believe our students deserve a quality "world class" education. As the County Superintendent, I will involve teachers, parents, business and local citizens to share responsibility and accountability for student success and achievement. We need a countywide collaborative partnership so that every school in the county is a great school where all students can learn. We must attract, retain and support the outstanding teachers and principals necessary for providing quality education. I believe I have the experience and excellent service record required of this position. For the past thirty years I have devoted myself to public education, having served as a teacher, counselor, principal, and currently as Superintendent for the Petaluma City Schools District. I am a member of the Sonoma County Business Education Roundtable, County Supervisor's appointee to the Workforce Investment Board, Sonoma County School-to-Career Board, Petaluma Boys & Girls Club Board and the Governor's 2002 appointee as Vice-Chair of the State Youth Education & Employment Council. I respectfully ask for your vote, allowing me the continued opportunity to serve and support quality education for all students in Sonoma County. I thank you for the consideration and for your support for Sonoma County schools. Note: RECA does not officially endorse political candidates as an organization, but many individual members support Carl in his campaign. We urge all members to be educated voters and to take the time to vote in the election. ADVERTISEMENTS
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 © Copyright 2002 Redwood Empire Chinese Association |