Dear Friends and Members,
My Best Wishes to you and your families for a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year, and welcome to the Year of the Red Monkey!
2015 was a truly historic year for the CACS Board, with Joyce Eng and I celebrating the Chinese contribution in California history by planning the festivities for the 100-year anniversary of the town of Locke. CACS directors also participated in the 150-year anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad events at the California Railroad museum and rode the Union Pacific train through the Sierra Nevada. In April, we enjoyed a bus trip to San Francisco to tour the Alcatraz prison and the artist Ai Wei Wei’s exhibit there. Ai Wei Wei is a political prisoner in China and his artwork shows a global message for the struggle of human rights.
In October 2015, CACS hosted our Gold Mountain Celebration at the Asian Pearl Restaurant, presenting California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye with the Frank Fat Founder’s award and conducting Sylvia Sun-Minnick into the Frank Fat Hall of Fame. Through the successful planning and outreach of co-chairs Anne Luong and Franc Martinez, more than 450 people attended our wonderful dinner and were serenaded by the Marhorlika Lions singing “old school” and popular music. CACS thanks our friends, many volunteers and the partial list of sponsors who supported us to enrich the community programs: Fat Family; Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Union Local 46; Cache Creek Casino Resort; Thunder Valley Casino Resort; Locke Foundation; City of Sacramento; Sharif Jewelers; Artist Ning Hou; Eva and Clarence Chu; Michael David Winery; Mark Wilson; Moon Cafe Art Gallery (DR Wagner, Russell Ooms, and Joe Chan); Target in Folsom; Trader Joe’s in Folsom; Walmart in Folsom; friends from the town of Locke; and CACS Directors. We wish to also thank our community partners who are listed in the GMC program book. This GMC dinner and others events that CACS attended during the past months are in this newsletter.
CACS directors continue to cultivate collaborative partnerships with API and other organizations to educate the community about Chinese culture and heritage. Cathy Wei, CACS vice-president, volunteers each year to support the Shen Yun classical Chinese dance program and encourages the public to enjoy the beautiful program. The Chinese New Year Celebration at Hiram Johnson High School continues to grow each year. Both programs are highly attended and promote Chinese culture through music and dance. During this Lunar New Year festivities, I hope you find time to enjoy the symbolic foods served to bring good luck and harmonious life.
I thank Past President Kingman Louie for his unsurpassed leadership at CACS. He will be leaving CACS and will continue to serve the boards at the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation and at the FBI Academy while maintaining his optometry practices. Kingman has also been instrumental to take care of the PA system at all CACS events to ensure we have the most positive sights and sounds. Please see our website at www.cacs.org for more information and get involved early! I hope to see you at our next author lecture dinner, bus trip, or GMC. If you have any suggestions about the programs for CACS, please contact me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected]
Respectfully,
Honey Lum, President