Hi everyone!
On June 18 and 19, the 16th Annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival was held in Burnaby, BC. Every year the organizers of the event invite a guest country to take part, using that country’s culture as the theme of the festival. This year, Japan was the guest country and Mieko Amana was kind enough to be one of the Festivals Committee members, helping to organize the event for this year. Nikkei participating organizations included the Consulate of Japan in Vancouver, which provided an array of information on Japan and the Japanese Canadian community. The Sakura Singers, NAV Chorus, soloist May Ikuko, sopranist Kaoru Henry, Ayako Komaki plus others provided some wonderful singing. There was Okinawan-style taiko drumming from Yuaikai Ryuku Taiko, and various arts and crafts from participating organizations. BC-JERF was on hand, collecting donations for Japan Earthquake Relief. It was wonderful to be part of a multicultural event in bringing the Japanese community together with the Scandinavian community.
The 50th Annual GVJCCA Golf Tournament was held on Sunday June 13 at Meadow Gardens. The GVJCCA thanks all for participating and we hope that you all had a good time. Please join us again next year. Thanks to Shag Ando and her faithful committee for once again organizing such a wonderful event.
The 35th Annual Powell Street Festival will take place on the BC Day weekend, July 30 and 31, at Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver’s east side, the historic home of BC’s Japanese Canadian community. Once again, The Bulletin/Geppo will serve as the program guide, providing Festival information to everyone attending this wonderful event. As BC’s longest-running ethnic festival, The Powell Street Festival has, over the past three decades created an amazing blend of Japanese Canadian arts, culture, and heritage. This is one exciting event that brings together the many Japanese Canadian groups and organizations for a weekend—a time to reconnect and enjoy a sense of community. As we have every year, the GVJCCA will provide the Salmon BBQ but in a moderated form with hopefully a new menu addition as well. Funds raised from the Salmon BBQ at the Powell Street Festival enable us to run our programs and activities in the Japanese Canadian community. See you at Powell Street Festival 2011!
Thanks,
Ron Nishimura
President, GVJCCA
