After a week of severe wind and rain, Mother Nature relented and bestowed good fortune on the town of Locke, transforming picturesque Main Street into a perfect backdrop for this year’s Locke Chinese New Year Celebration. 2019 – The Year of the Boar – marked the third year in which the Locke Foundation, helped by its team of volunteers that included CACS Council’s Douglas Hsia and Joyce Eng, funded and staged what has become a signature event for Locke: the largest, most complete example of a rural agricultural Chinese American community in the U.S.

Douglas Hsia Chaired and planned the gathering of various Organizations together at the Jan Ying Musuem to enjoy lunch and to welcome the Lunar New Year. Community leaders from over 16 organizations had opportunity to present overview of their missions and goals.

Hundreds of visitors, many of which were first-timers to the town, were given the opportunity to experience an event which presented numerous elements traditional to Chinese New Year celebrated in China. There was the Lion Dance, whose members blessed residences and businesses by devouring lettuce hung over doorways, then spitting the leaves three times into the front entrance, thus bestowing good fortune, prosperity and health. A martial arts demonstration followed highlighting skills of sword, spear, hands and feet. A trio of roving musicians performed traditional Chinese music on authentic instruments. Demonstrations included Chinese calligraphy, tea ceremony, silk painting and gambling.