President’s Message

Hi Everyone!
Well it’s been an amazing February and March in Vancouver with the World descending upon Vancouver and Whistler for the Olympics and the Paralympics. To me it has been wonderful to see the patriotism exhibited by Canadians and Japanese. Although I was not able to attend many of the events, due to the costs involved along with the large crowds and waiting time associated for the Olympics, I did manage to get to a few, especially when either Canada or Japan was playing.

During the Paralympics, the true excitement was when Japan defeated the heavily-favoured Canada team during the sledge hockey game at the UBC Thunderbird Arena. After Canada’s lose, we all turned our hopes on Japan defeating the USA team. It was unfortunate that Japan lost in the gold medal game, but at least Japan achieved a silver medal. Everyone I knew was supporting Japan’s sledge hockey team’s athletes.

I am so glad that Vancouver and Whistler had this opportunity to showcase to the world what a beautiful place we live in here. Even though we did not receive all the snow that we needed for the Olympics, we did show the world that we have amazing mountains, the ocean, and the people—all the things that make living here wonderful and special.

On Saturday March 20th, the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association held its Annual General Meeting at Nikkei Place. Although the attendance was small, the GVJCCA will be able to form a good solid base for the coming year. The following make up the GVJCCA Board of Directors for 20010/2011:
Ron Nishimura
Shag Ando
May Hamanishi
Mieko Amano
Harry Aoki
Gary Matson
April Shimizu
Lily Shinde
Masa Kagami
Yukiko Matsumoto
Gabe Nutley
I’d like to thank all the returning incumbents for their ongoing support. I’d also like to give a special, warm welcome to our new directors. It’s always invigorating to bring new people on board with their ideas and fresh energy.

Upcoming on June 13th at Meadow Gardens, the GVJCCA Golf Tournament will be taking place for all the avid golf enthusiasts in our community. This is not a professional tournament, so all you avid golf amateurs should sign up and enjoy the company of your fellow golfers. It will be an opportunity to play with like-minded souls and have a great time. Please contact Shag Ando via email shagando@hotmail.com or call Alison at the GVJCCA office at 604.777.5222.

The Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association will start taking applications for the following summer student positions (dependent on funding from Human Resources Development of Canada): Administrative Assistant; Special Projects Co-ordinator; and Historical Research Archivist Assistant.  Please submit your resumes to gvjcca@shaw.ca or fax 604.777.5223.

Ron Nishimura,
President GVJCCA