CACS would like to express our sincere appreciation for our valued members and volunteers, for your continued support. Join us and enjoy a delicious meal, meet our 2014 Board members, guests and VIPs from our community.
On behalf of CACS, thank you for supporting our charitable programs and endeavors; with your help we are making the Sacramento Chinese community a better place!
Holiday Villa Restaurant
7007 S Land Park Dr, Sacramento, CA 95831
(916) 392-9630
RSVP: No later than March 10, 2014. Advance Reservations Required. Open Seating
Please make check payable to CACS and send to P.O. Box 22583, Sacramento, CA 95822.
Contact person: Cathy Wei, [email protected] or 916-371-2912
Greetings CACS Members, Friends, and Sponsors…
It is unbelievable that 2013 is coming to a close! I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for participating and supporting CACS and its projects throughout the year. Without you, CACS would not be able to fulfill its mission and serve the community.
It has been a very busy 2013 – CACS remains connected to the community by supporting a number of other CBOs and community programs by participating in their events. They included: AAJA Sacramento, ARI, APAPA, APSEA, CAPITAL, Florin JACL, My Sister’s House, OCA Sacramento, SCCSC, Locke Foundation, History Day Project, Sacramento History Consortium, and Pacific Rim Street Festival.
2013 CACS highlights (see articles in this newsletter):
I would like to extend my personal appreciation to the CACS Board for all the hard work and dedication they put in to make things happen in 2013 and to lay the foundation for the future of CACS. They are indeed special people!
A happy and safe holiday season to you and your loved ones!
Alex Eng, President
SAN FRANCISCO CHINATOWN
A Guide to Its History & Architecture ($15.95)
Philip P. Choy, author
Publisher: City Lights, San Francisco, 2012 SB, 224 pages; illustrated
ISBN 978-0-87286-540-2
Philip P. Choy’s latest book is an excellent resource; it’s an insider’s guide to San Francisco’s Chinatown – learn about its buildings, the people, and its history. Well written; it includes photographs, maps and walking tours. A must for your library!
–Alex Eng
By Brenda Fong
One of CACS' commitments to the community is helping the children in South Sacramento through our "Cares for Kids" Program. Working in partnership with the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center (SCCSC) we donated much-needed school supplies and sporting equipment to two after-school programs.
On Thursday, September 26th, two fully-loaded cars of supplies were taken to Camellia Basic Elementary and Caroline Wenzel Elementary. CACS members Merlayna Yee-Chin, Franc Martinez, Brenda Fong, and helpers Brian Fong and Frank Chin, were met by Anne Luong of SCCSC and respective school staff members.
A dozen or more very happy students, from their after-school programs, helped unload the many boxes of school supplies and sports equipment. The kids were more than happy to pose for photos and expressed their thanks to CACS. It was a fun afternoon and very rewarding to see how our funds helped these two schools and their students. A big thank-you goes to Dr. David Young, Chairman for this project, for again giving his time and effort in shopping for all of the school supplies and playground equipment.
We want to express our thanks to you, our members, for supporting CACS' "Cares for Kids" summer program!
By Brenda Fong
On a beautiful summer day this past July, CACS hosted a bus trip with 50 guests to Angel Island State Park. Angel Island has much to offer visitors such as touring, hiking, bicycling, camping and boating, but our main reason for visiting the Island was to visit the U.S. Immigration Station, which is now a National Historic Landmark.
The Station processed nearly a million immigrants from 1910 to 1940. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Chinese were excluded from immigrating to the United States and those 175,000 immigrants were detained for three to ninety days, but a few were held for at least two years.
One of our guests, Andy Noguchi, shared his impressions of the day by saying: "We greatly appreciated going on the CACS tour of Angel Island last Friday. It was an eye-opening visit vividly showing the racial discrimination against Chinese-Americans and other immigrants that still holds lessons for us today as our country debates fair immigration reform. Docent Sam Louie's insight and personal experiences especially brought it all to life for us as he led our walking tour through the detention center."
After the tour of the Station we walked outside to enjoy the beautiful view of San Francisco bay and a visit the Immigration Heritage Wall.
We thank not only CACS members, but members from the Sacramento Historical Consortium and those from the community who supported this trip – we hope you had a good time. A big thank you to Mr. Kenneth Woo for snapping the great pictures and capturing the day's activities.
Also, many thanks to our Board members, Joyce and Alex Eng, Honey Lum, and Karun Yee for their help in making this trip a success!
If you wish to learn more, read the book "Angel Island, Immigrant Gateway to America" written by Professor Judy Yung and Professor Erika Lee. CACS will keep you posted on activities for 2014!
On October 4, 2013, the Chinese American Council of Sacramento celebrated their 9th Annual Gold Mountain Celebration (GMC) at the Happy Garden Seafood Restaurant. GMC success was due to the many corporate sponsors and community-based organizations that have supported CACS over the last 26 years.
The proceeds from this event funded the many projects sponsored by CACS, including the Cares for Kids Program, Operation Santa Claus, Locke Foundation, APAPA & APSEA scholarships, as well as the many historical and cultural programs supported by CACS.
Special thanks to our level sponsors: Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Carpenters Union Local 46, Frank Fat Family & Restaurants, Asian Community Center, Sacramento City Council Members Darrell Fong, Steve Hansen, Kevin McCarty and Bonnie Pannell, Cache Creek, and Hefner, Stark & Marios, LLP.
See you next year for our 10th Annual GMC scheduled October 3, 2014.
By Joyce Eng
On a bright sunny day on Saturday, October 26th, President Alex Eng, Joyce Eng, Cathy Wei and Steve Pederson headed down to Walnut Grove, Jean Harvie School for the Locke Foundation's Annual Harvest Moon Festival. Alex and Joyce annually volunteer at this event. In addition, Joyce sits on the Locke Foundation Board representing the Chinese American Council of Sacramento.
This event raises funds for the Locke Foundation to educate the public about Locke's history and legacy, as well as to preserve the history of the town that was predominately inhabited by Chinese back in the early 1900s.
The Harvest Moon Festival is a day in which we provide cultural entertainment, food, Silent Auction, Mah Jong games, and raffle prizes. This event was attended by over 150 visitors and friends of the Locke Foundation. CACS encourages our members to visit the Locke Boarding House Visitors' Center to learn more about the history of Locke.
By Karun Yee
I asked the chairperson if it would be possible to have a booth in the conference to represent CACS, sell our "Canton Footprints," and foster our presence at this important event. They agreed to have us set up a booth late Friday evening and this is how it all began.
The conference started at 8 am Saturday morning on October 12, 2013, with 22 genealogy booths and lectures throughout the day. Cathy Wei and I made many contacts with various groups represented who were very interested in a Chinese presence. We were able to get a new member for CACS.
The Chinese are known for respecting their ancestors so this topic was well received.
Christine Deville was the guest speaker relating her own experiences and difficulty in finding her roots. The Chinese fact finding genealogy was especially difficult because of language barriers, lies, paper son process, restrictive immigration laws, etc.
Deville researched and found information on marriage and birth certificates, funeral notices, boat documents, San Bruno records, head stones, red egg party notices and distant cousin and relative contacts.
During our last board meeting, we thought this topic would be of great interest for those seeking ancestral knowledge. Hopefully we will be able to put together a future Author Lecture Dinner together next year featuring Christine Deville.
