Clergy Corner . . .Greetings on the eve of our celebration of St. Mary's Centennial! These past

months have been delightful, as we receive notes, letters and phone calls from our extended community, giving thanks for St. Mary's and her ministry these past 100 years. I look forward to seeing so many of you on May 27th as we celebrate, with our diocesan bishop, The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno and other friends.

The Book of Common Prayer provides a special Litany of Thanksgiving for a Church, which we will use in place of the usual prayers of the people at our May 27 celebration. The Litany includes these thoughts:

"Let us thank God whom we worship here in the beauty of holiness. Eternal God, the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, much less the walls of temples made with hands. Graciously receive our thanks for this place, and accept the work of our hands, offered to your honor and glory. // For the Church universal, of which these visible buildings are the symbol, We thank you, Lord. // For this place where we may be still and know that you are God, We thank you, Lord... For the blessing of our vows and the crowning of our years with your goodness, We thank you, Lord. // For the faith of those who have gone before us and for our encouragement by their perseverance, We thank you, Lord...." And I add my own prayer: For the faith of those who still gather faithfully here each Sunday, for all of us who lift our voices to the glory of God at St. Mary's in the year 2007 and who will continue to do so in her second century to come, and for those who will continue to make God's Word manifest in the world after we are gone from this place, I thank you, Lord.

As I look with great joy toward our gathering on May 27 I give thanks for all these things. I give thanks for Tom Guzman, chair of the Centennial Committee, and Faith Ichida, consultant, and the many other people who have labored so that we may celebrate in fullness and abundance. I give thanks for the many of you who have given generously of your time, treasure and energy in this effort.

I am also looking forward to the second and concluding celebration of our centennial year. This luncheon will be held on Saturday, October 20, at Almansor Court. Mark your calendars now to save the date -- and look for more details as we publish them throughout the summer.

Blessings to you all. Faithfully, Alix+

Upcoming Events . . .

St. Mary’s Centennial Celebration!Sunday, May 27, 2007, 9:45 a.m.

at St. Mary’s Episcopal ChurchCatered luncheon in Parish Hall to follow

Casual or Hawaiian attire

Very limited parking, please carpool!!!For transportation to event, please call Bruce/Kaaren Hoffman (310) 541-4002

Please return reply form (below) to church office by May 10

St. Mary's Centennial Celebration Reply FormSunday, May 27, 2007, 9:45 a.m., luncheon to follow

The following people plan to attend the luncheon at St. Mary's: _______________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

Contact person _____________________________, phone ( )______________________

(please return form to office by May 10)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Centennial News . . .SUPPORT OUR “VIRTUAL BAZAAR”!

Imagine you are walking across an urban parking lot, the strains of “Nanatsu no Ko” filling the air, crowded with food and game booths and many people having a great time. You get a whiff of teriyaki smoke and your mouth begins to water. You reach into your pocket, only to find that your once-fat wad of scrip has dwindled down to a few sheets. You can’t deny yourself another taste of that famous teriyaki, so you head over to the booth near the glass doors, where some friendly faces are willing to sell you more scrip. You reach for your checkbook . . .

Wait, this is 2007!! We aren’t having a “real” bazaar this year so we can focus our energies on the upcoming Centennial Celebration! However, you can still reach for your checkbook and support the Building and Grounds Fund with a check to “St. Mary’s Bazaar”. You might not get a taste of that famous teriyaki this year, but you’ll still support a great cause (and it’s certainly less calories this way!) -- Carolyn Morinishi

MOTHER’S DAY CORSAGE SALEWe will be selling corsages and floral arrangements for Mother’s Day, May 13,

featuring the beautiful orchids of George Oshita and other St. Mary’s members. There will be a workshop on Saturday, May 12 to make these items. All proceeds will be used to offset our Centennial luncheon expenses. To place an order, please contact Faith Ichida, lfichida@aol.com, 818.882-2590 home, 818-678-3411 work. -- Faith Ichida

SILENT AUCTION FOR THE OCTOBER 20 LUNCHEONWe will be having a silent auction at the October 20 Centennial luncheon and we need

your help. Silent auctions in the past have included handmade quilts, collectibles such as autographed basketballs and beanie babies, televisions and tickets, china and crystal, jewelry and gift certificates, and, yes, a giant candy bar. Some of our most actively pursued items have been quite unusual -- be creative!

If you are interested in contributing items to the Silent Auction, please contact Fifi Newcomb at 213-215-3883 or Gayle Kawahara at 213-384-1956. Proceeds from the Silent Auction will go to St. Mary's Building and Grounds fund. -- Fifi Newcomb

Parish News . . .LARRY WONG AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION RAFFLE

We will once again be selling raffle tickets for the Larry Wong American Heritage Foundation. Last year, St. Mary’s received over $900 from the foundation. Please buy and help sell the tickets. Last year’s grand prize was a 2006 Mustang. This year, besides the 2007 V6 Ford Mustang, the prizes will be: 2nd place - $1000, 3rd place - TV, and 4th place - VCR. We need your help to make this a good fundraiser for St. Mary’s. Please call Larry Higa at (626) 307-1833 for more information. – Larry Higa

FESTIVE AND DELICIOUS EASTER BREAKFAST ENJOYED BY MANY!On Easter Sunday, St. Mary's youth and young adults, with help from Vestry

members and other adults, prepared a delicious breakfast for our enjoyment in the Parish Hall. Scrambled eggs, fried rice, chili with rice, pastries, juice... it was all yummy! Many thanks to Alda & Troy Cabral who did the grocery shopping; and to the following folks who helped prepare and/or serve the breakfast: Alda, Troy & Travis Cabral, Tanishia Dixon, Keisha, Monisha, Tom Guzman, Larry Higa, Gayle Kawahara, Ryan Kuroiwa, Shalene & Sharon Miguel, Tory McKinstry, Champage Murillo; Glenn, Garrett and Kendall Nishibayashi, Craig Stewart, John Tokeshi. Also, thanks to Paula Nishibayashi for attending the Easter Basket and Fig Jam sale table.

Thanks to the Women of St. Mary's for coordination the Easter basket workshops and sales; to Hiro Hishiki and Cindy Abrams for preparing the fig jam. Dave Iwataki (on keyboards) played fabulous jazz music during the breakfast, joined by musicians Don Littleton, Larry Steen and Dino Durand. Thanks to Dave for bringing this talented group together for our enjoyment. Faithfully, Alix+

PALM SUNDAY & EASTER KUDOS

Thank you Jimmy Ito of Garden Arts who arrived at the crack of dawn with many varieties of palms and three beautiful woven palm frond sprays. For Palm Sunday, the begin-ning of Holy Week, the following Altar Guild members gathered to veil all the crosses and religious artifacts in red chiffon and to decorate the church with palms: Yo Guzman, Marian Kubota, Asae & George Oshita, Fusa Sugawara, Kazumi Suzuki, Fukiko Tauchi, Maxine Yamamoto and Irene Yoneshige. A special thank you to Carlos Ramirez for climbing the very tall ladder to place a red shroud on the wooden cross. Thanks to your hard work and artistically placed palms, St. Mary’s celebrated Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

After the events of Jesus’ suffering and death came the glory of Easter. Thanks to Norman Naito of Tropical Gardens for the potted lilies and the decorative pot covers. Thank you, Marian Kubota, Esther & Carolyn Lee, and Isao Sakurai for the calla lillies, and Fusa Sugawara for the yellow irises.

A big thank you to the following people for Easter basket donations: Faith Ichida, Kim & Marian Kubota, Ida Kunitsugu, Toshi Kurihara, Laura Ridnor, Mary Sata, Kazumi Suzuki, Irene Yoneshige and Margaret Yuki. Many kudos to the faithful Easter bunnies, who not only decorated the church, but cleaned and put together the candles for the Easter vigil, assembled the Easter baskets and made corsages from George Oshita’s gorgeous orchids: Faith Ichida, Marian Kubota, Margie Leong, Fumi Miyatake, Asae & George Oshita, Fusa Sugawara, Kazumi Suzuki, Fukiko Tauchi, June Toda, Maxine Yamamoto and Irene Yoneshige. Again, thanks a million to each of you! – Margaret Yuki

WELCOME TO THE NEWLY BAPTIZED!

On April 29 St. Mary's celebrated the baptisms of eight children, all from households that have been long-term members. We welcome the following new members of the Church:

From the Adachi extended family: Christian and Kendall Gerber, children of Darrin and Lynn Gerber, grandchildren of Kumi Gerber; Haley Suzuki, daughter of Erik and Judy Suzuki, granddaughter of Kazumi and Ro Suzuki; Kyle Suzuki, son of Sean and Wendy Suzuki, grandson of Kazumi and Ro Suzuki; Brennan, Sidney and Ryan Bowe, children of Roy and Kristen Bowe and grandchildren of Anne and Fred Morisaki.

Also, from the Cabral extended family, we baptized Jeremiah and Ervin, Jr. , son of Ervin Theus and grandson of Sharon Miguel; and Collin Blease, son of Debbie and Collin Blease. Best wishes to all of these children, and their families, with peace and blessings. Faithfully, Alix+

about our members . . .

INTO ETERNAL LIFE

EDNA YASUKO OKUI, 75, passed away on April 2 after suffering from cancer. She is survived by her husband Michio; sons, Mark Jiro and Glen T. Okui; sister, Kinue (Horst) Kleinschmidt; brothers-in-law, Tosh (Joyce), Mas (Aki), Yukio, Kunio (Patti) and Tadao (Lois) Okui; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. Edna and Michio were married at St. Mary's 41 years ago. A memorial service celebrating Edna's life was held at St. Mary's on April 14, Mother Alix officiating. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Cancer Society.

TOSHIO “IGGY” YOSHIMURA, 88, passed away on April 7 following a brief illness. He is survived by wife Midori, daughter Ann Kumata; granddaughter Krissy (Benson) Wong; sister, Tomi Shimamoto; brother-in-law Taro "Buddy" (Fumi) Kasai; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. A funeral service for Iggy was held on April 14, with Mother Alix as officiant and Fr. Van Horn, homilist. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to St. Mary's Endowment Fund.

“May they rest in Peace and may Light Perpetual shine upon them . . .”

HILLSIDES COMMUNITY ANGEL AWARD

STEVEN NISHIBAYASHI was honored with the Hillsides Community Angel Award at a celebratory gathering at Hillsides on April 12. Steve received this award for his many volunteer hours in the Hillsides community as well as the greater community of Los Angeles. He was described by John Hitchcock, executive director of Hillsides as “a blessing to Hillsides and the world of children.” Congratulations, Steve!

TRACK & FIELD NEWS

NAOMI GUZMAN, age 9, granddaughter of Tom and Yo Guzman and daughter of Glenn and Bobbi Guzman placed second in her Long Jump division (8' 9") at the Lakewood All City Track and Field Meet. She moves on to the Southeast Regionals in May. Congratulations, Naomi!

STATE CHAMPION

MELISSA MORINISHI, granddaughter of Marian Kubota, competed at the Missouri State Women’s Gymnastics Championships on March 30. At USAG Women’s Level 5 (age 11) she took 1st place in the All-Around (36.65), 2nd on Vault (9.25) and 2nd on Floor (9.15).

JUSTIN MORINISHI, grandson of Marian Kubota, competed at the Missouri State Men’s Gymnastics Championships on March 24. At USAG Men’s Level 10, he placed 2nd on Pommel (8.35) and High Bar (7.8) and 3rd in All-Around (47.1). Congratulations, gymnasts!

J-TOWN BRONZEVILLE SUITE – MAY 11, 2007, 7:30 P.M.

A year after its premier at The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, the "J-Town/Bronzeville Suite" by Dave Iwataki will be performed again, at the Harold M. Williams Theater at the Getty Center on May 11 at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets will be released on April 19, the first day you can call for reservations. Each person can reserve up to 4 tickets. Reservations can only be made by going to www.getty.edu or call 310-440-7300.

The suite musically represents Little Tokyo in the time period before, during and after WWll, and includes original music written for koto, shakuhachi, and jazz quartet. The performance will start at 7:30 pm, but your reservation allows you to visit the entire Museum and beautiful grounds, so arrive early to enjoy all the beautiful Getty Center has to offer. There are 2 cafes and one will remain open until 8 pm. So make it a full Friday evening out, and get a glimpse of a little known piece of Los Angeles' colorful history!