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President’s Message
Greetings everyone,
As we welcome summer, I feel so fortunate that we live in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Ar-ea, and how lucky we are in par-ticular to live in Marin County, where the sun seems to always be shining as you break through the fog while driving north on the Golden Gate. As thankful as I am for the natural wonders that are here, I am even more grate-ful for the phenomenal people in our community - that means YOU! Each member of this or-ganization contributes greatly to our mission to celebrate our leg-acy and keep our culture as Chi-nese and Chinese-Americans thriving.
We are all especially fortunate for one of our members in par-ticular, who was just recognized for his momentous service to Marin County. Our very own Ben Chuck was honored by As-semblyman Marc Levine, Mayor Gary O. Phillips of San Rafael, Supervisor Susan Adams, and Congressman Jared Huffman in recognition of his dedication to our community in a surprise presentation to him at our annu-al Chinese New Year Banquet. Go Green—Newsletter now Available by Email
See back of newsletter for details
J u n e 2 0 1 4 馬 連 縣 中 國 文 化 會 貳 零 壹 肆 年 陸 月
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
President’s Message 1
Chinese New Year’s Celebration
2
Forever Ginling Scholarship Awardees
3
New Years at the BADM 4
Food Booth Fun Traveling Mandarin
5
Classes 6
Volunteer Opportunities 7
The Purpose of the MCCA is to promote the understanding, appreciation and preservation of all aspects of Chinese culture, including the language, history, customs, music, art, and cuisine of the Chinese and Chinese-American people.
In fact, in the city of San Rafael, Feb-ruary 22nd, 2014, was declared Ben Chuck Day! Amy Jonak put together a fantastic video that illustrated his achievements throughout the years in stewarding our award-winning and re-gionally recognized Lion Dance Team. Ben, his wife Vicky, and their son Greg have given their all throughout the decades and MCCA would not be what it is today without their profound contributions. Thank you to the Chuck family!
With summer comes one of our big-gest community events - the Marin County Fair! This year is from 7/2-7/6. As with past years, we'll be organizing our famous food booth offering Chi-nese-American favorites to fair-goers, and we can't do it without your help! All are welcome to volunteer. It is always a rewarding way to meet new mem-bers of the organization, and raise money for our events and educational programs such as our summer camp, our popular adult Mandarin classes, and scholarships. Please contact Kim Luu at [email protected] if you'd like to help out!
Go out and play,
Denise Wear
Copyright MCCA—All Rights Reserved
A Warm Welcome to the MCCA’s Newest Members
Loraine& Robert Berry & son Noah
Lynn Brinton, Dan Cohn & daughter
Willa
Crystal Chang Cohen
John & Snow Chew & children
Samantha & Zoey
Lydia Fong
Orthodontists Gorton & Schmohl
Chong He & Matthew Muller
Christine Hom, Kristoffer Karevoll &
daughter Laura
Rachel & Scott Jensen
Katherine Jue, Paul Ho & children
Kristen & Kately
Wendy and Wellman Lee & children
Crystal & Jasmine
Del Lyons
Sara & Jim Oser & children Carol
and Rose
Tammy Vong, Steve Wright &
children Jackson & Tyler
Jeanny Wang & children Annika &
Maya
Laura Wong
Anthony Wright
Fiona & Joe Xu &
daughter Stephanie
Art Yee
Nancy Yee-Fox & John Fox
MCCA Newsletter June 2014 Page 2
Chinese New Year Celebration
by David Wong The Marin Chinese Cultural As-sociation (MCCA) celebrated their Chinese New Year 2014 Year of the Horse in style! The event, held at the San Rafael Community Center on ]\Saturday February 22nd, was filled to ca-pacity. More than 370 people en-joyed the delicious food catered from Yet Wah while they were treated to an unforgettable night of entertainment. Guests were able to browse a wide selection of items in a silent auction to support the Asian Scholarship Fund (ASF) while taking photo opportunities with Chinese-American superstar Crystal Lee, the reigning Miss California and Miss America Runner-Up. The evening’s entertainment started off with beautiful
Erhu music performed by Xiaofung Zhang followed by a special recognition of Ben Chuck for his 35 years of lifetime achievement and contributions to MCCA. Several honored guests gave recognition and proclamations
including Board of Supervisor Susan Adams, and Assemblyman Marc Levine. San Rafael Mayor Gary Phi-llips declared it “Ben Chuck Day!” The program continued with the announcement of the MCCA schol-arship awards going to two very deserv-ing MCCA students. Chelsea Coppock received the Rodney Chin Memorial Scholarship and Danielle Blake received the May Lee Memorial Scholarship.
Two traditional Chinese dance performances were beautifully and graceful-ly performed by the talented Miss California, Crystal Lee. Her dance and speech inspi-red all of us and left a memo-
rable mark. The audience was then treated to “Tamaka and the Empress,” a magic show that mes-merized all especially the children and young adults. Finally it was fitting, that on “Ben Chuck Day,” the evening was concluded by another spectacular performance
by the “Not Yet World Famous MCCA Dragon and Lion Dance Team.” A big thank you to all our volunteers for ma-king this such a successful event. A special thanks to Board Member David Wong for being our Master of Ce-remonies and Board Mem-ber Kim Luu for coordina-ting the event.
A big thank you to our sponsors at the New Year Dinner: Pearl Sponsor: Gorton & Schmohl Orthodontists Bamboo Sponsor: Sylvia & Michael Barry Bamboo Sponsor: Lynn Brinton & Dan Cohn Bamboo Sponsor: Stephanie Lum Also, we would like to thank the following busi-nesses, restaurants and places for their gener-ous donations of Raffle prizes to MCCA: Golden Horse Bank $500 cash to Joy Reagan 1 Year Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM)
Family Membership to Jane Benelli 1 Ping’s Restaurant (San Rafael) certificate for
$100 to Fritz Wong 2 Ping’s Restaurant (San Rafael) certificates
for $50 each to Jim Vaught and Curt Wear 2 China Palace Restaurant (Novato) certifi-
cates for $50 to Nancy Fox 2 Harmony Restaurant (Mill Valley) certificates
for $50 each to Ken Vix and John Hutchinson 2 Yet Wah Restaurant (San Rafael) certifi-
cates each to Brent Vallat and Theodora Yee 1 House of Lee (San Rafael) certificate for $30
to James Dairi 2 Peking Wok Restaurant (San Rafael) certifi-
cates for $20 each to Ayame Lee and Marcus Lee
1 Chrysanthemum Restaurant (San Rafael) certificate to Maggie Haack
Page 3
iconic episode in the trail of atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Military during WWII. During the period 1931 to 1945, between 30 and 50 million victims, mostly civilians, were murdered by the Japanese Imperial armed forces on main-land Asia and island nations of the Pacific. The world, and the US in particular, took little notice of these events in Asia until the 1941Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. After the performance, the audience and cast members participated in a “question and answer” session and had a dynamic dialogue and discussion. Many shared their own family memories and stories of the Asia Pacific War. This became a deep reflective experience for the audience especially the MCCA members, family and friends. The Mojo Theater was not in the best condition for a San Francisco stage play, but despite the low budget for this performance, the general public had a good opportunity to learn about the Nanjing Massacre, perhaps for the first time. Congratula-tions to the Foundation Honoring Nanjing Massa-cre Survivors! Their next presentation, another stage play, The Crimes of Hirohito, is scheduled for March 27, 28, 29, and 30 in San Francisco, and April 5 in San Jose. For more information about this perfor-mance and other activities, contact David at: [email protected]
MCCA Supports History Education in the Arts by Jean Chan The Foundation Honoring Nanjing Massacre Survi-vors premiered Forever Ginling, a stage play depict-ing the story of a courageous American missionary, Minnie Vautrin, who saved over 10,000 women and children during the 1937-38 Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing, China from the Japanese Imperial Military during WWII. MCCA purchased 25 tickets for re-sale to members at a discount for the January 18th performance. Tick-ets for members went fast; almost all sold within 24 hours of the announcement by e-mail. In addition to 25 current MCCA members, four for-mer MCCA members also attended by purchasing tickets on line. MCCA's participation at the Mojo Theater was the first time MCCA took a stand on the historical importance of the Nanjing Massacre, the
Novato School of the Arts senior Chelsea Coppock received the Rodney Chin Memorial Scholarship, granted each year in partnership with Yet Wah Restaurant to a well-qualified student who demonstrates an interest in and commitment to Chinese/Asian culture. Chelsea is a 9-year veteran of our MCCA Lion Dance team. She has studied both Mandarin and Cantonese. Chelsea plans to continue pursuing both Chinese Language and Lion Dancing in college. In fact, she is specifically seeking out schools that have active Lion Dance programs.
Louisiana State University (LSU) freshman Da-nielle (Dannie) Blake received the May Lee Memorial Scholarship, which is granted to a well-qualified student who demonstrates a com-mitment to community and community service. Dannie has been a member of MCCA’s Lion Dance team for 12 years. She has been an avid volunteer in her Marinwood Community, at Marin Catholic, and now with LSU’s Community Bound program.
Congratulating MCCA Scholarship Awardees— by Amy Jonak At this year’s Chinese New Year Banquet, MCCA presented $1,000 scholarship awards to two very deserving MCCA students.
MCCA Newsletter June 2014 Page 4
Chinese New Years at the Bay Area Discovery Museum 2014
by Meg Dufficy-Kang The Year of the Horse got off to another great start at the Bay Area Discovery Museum's Chinese New Years Celebration on February 17th, 2014. This was the MCCA's 12th year to participate in this an-nual event which occurs each year on President's Day. MCCA volunteers arrived early to help set up the ever popular MCCA Chinese Restaurant, ready to be opened to the public at 10 a.m. Marcus Lee provided the catering services. “Denise the Great” arrived with her huge Ford Expedition packed to overflowing with supplies. The restaurant was a big hit, bright and festive with lots of New Years decora-tions, fresh blossoms and flowers. MCCA volun-teers worked tirelessly to serve the hungry crowds lined up most of the day. Within the restaurant, Yee Coliera, helped by some young volunteers, enthusi-astically provided a hands-on sweet wonton making demonstration. Just outside the Chinese restaurant, the indomitable Sue Lim Yee, delighted the children with her wide selection of Chinese trinkets for sale, including Chi-nese fans, animal tattoos, book marks and Chinese Astrology Animal charts. There was also a Chinese musician, Ms. Xiaofeng Zhang who played the erhu outside to the great delight of many people including
a couple of very young children who gave their own improvisational dance interpretation of the music! They were precious! The event got under way around 10 a.m. with a fan-tastic performance by the Dragon Horse Lion Dance team of San Francisco. MCCA's Lion Dancers of Marin performed at 2:00 p.m. and were, as always, a pure delight to watch! Both performances, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background were magi-cal, to say the least! The weather was perfect...sunny and warm and there appeared to be a record crowd of enthusiastic kids and parents from Marin and all over the Bay Area. Rose Kelley, the Discovery Museum coordi-nator of the event, said that there were at least 3000 people in attendance!!. As a special addition to the already wonderful children's activities that the muse-um offers, children were able to learn and practice a little traditional Chinese painting with the highly accomplished Chinese Brush painter Alan Cheng, who teaches at the College of Marin, Kentfield Cam-pus. There were also a small group of Chinese cal-ligraphers who wrote out New Years couplets for the everyone to take home. For those of you who were not able to make it this year, I hope that you will join us next year on President's Day to celebrate Chi-nese New Years at the BADM (Bay Area Discovery Museum)! A big thank you to all the volunteers!
Whistlestop Volunteer of the Month. Our Board Member YEE LEE! Way to Go!
Throughout childhood, her family owned a restau-rant so she is very comfortable working in the Jack-son Cafe. She began volunteering at Whistlestop about six years ago and likes to help older adults make new friends and socialize. It’s a pleasure to work with Yee on the Asian New Year Celebration. You can always count on her to get things done and her enthusiasm is contagious!” said Vicky Voicehowsky, Whistlestop Program Manager.
Asian Scholarship Fund By Jean Chan
The Asian Scholarship Fund (ASF) held another successful silent auction at the MCCA Chinese New Year celebration on 2/22/2014. Auction proceeds was $4254, with 25% ($1063.50) going to our MCCA Education Fund. ASF is sincerely grateful to MCCA for promoting the auction as part of the New Year event. Thanks also to many generous donors who gave hundreds of items for auction. The bidding was lively, and all for a good cause! The ASF Awards Luncheon for this year's scholars will be Sunday, June 1, 2014, at Ping's restaurant, 817 Francisco Blvd West, San Rafael from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $35.00 per person. Scholarship winners, their proud parents, ASF Committee members and many community
supporters will be on hand for the celebration. The May and Bob Lee Family scholarship will be one of the named scholarships to be awarded. Everyone at MCCA is cordially invited to this event. Send reser-vation checks to ASF treasurer Carol Nelson at 427 Miller Creek Road, San Rafael, CA 94903 by May 27th.
Page 5
Fair Play: MCCA Teens Find Food Booth Fun— by Amy Jonak One scoop of pork fried rice, one scoop of crispy chicken, one vegetarian spring roll. Don’t forget to top the chicken with a ladleful of veggies and pineapple in sweet and sour sauce. Napkin. Fork. Soy sauce on the counter by the customer pickup window… Ask just about any teenager in MCCA. They’ll tell you—without even having to think—that this is the Combo #1 at MCCA’s Marin County Fair food booth. For five very long and very fun-filled days, MCCA members—many of them teens—serve up hundreds of these Combos as they volunteer to sell food and drinks from our spot in the Marin Nonprofit Food Court behind the Ben & Jerry’s stage. It’s lots of work. (Even though Yet Wah does the cooking, there’s plenty of selling, serving, scrubbing, and salad-tossing to be done all day every day, 10 am to 10 pm.) But once they know the ropes, our teens have learned how to make these days at the Fair a lot of fun, too. There’s the 11 am dash to the midway—when all the rides are running but the visitors are still lined up at the gates. MCCAers can squeeze in several free rides before the lunch crowd has even made it to our counter. There are Pavillion concerts and acrobat shows, fireworks and food swapping (Yay! Funnel cakes and chocolate bananas!). And, on one night this past July, there was an impromptu percussion explosion, when the entire food booth crew turned dishwashing into a Stomp-style concert of pan lids, mixing bowls, steamer pots, and metal spoons. Not something our nonprofit neighbors will soon forget! Whether you’re a County Fair fan or not, the MCCA food booth is an experience every MCCAer should have… especially the teens. Have fun, meet new friends, eat free food, and even acquire some actual skills—all while collecting community service hours! Sign up for your shift(s) today. You’ll be glad you did!
Helpful Phrases while traveling in China by Emily Peng and Jie Zheng
Asking for help--
1. 對不起! 您(你/妳)可不可以幫我們照相? Duì bù qi!
Nín (ni) ke bù ke yi bang wo men zhào xiàng? Ex-cuse me! Could you take a photo of us?
2. 我迷路了。妳可以幫我嗎? Wo mí lù le. Ni ke yi
bang wo ma? I’m lost. Could you please help me?
3. 不好意思， 请问你， 厕所在哪里？ Bù hǎoyìsi,
qingwèn ni, cèsuo zài nǎli? Excuse me, may I ask you, where is the bathroom?
Finding specific places--
4. 對不起!請問,博物館 (銀行) (超市)在哪裡? Duì
bù qi! Qing wèn bó wù guǎn (yín háng) (chao shì) zài nǎ li? Excuse me! Where is the museum, (the bank) (the supermarket)?
Looking for a good restaurant—
5. 對不起!請問,你知道哪裡有好飯店/飯館/餐廳/餐
館? Duì bù qi! Qing wèn ni zhi dào nǎ li you hǎo
fàn diàn/fàn guǎn/can ting/can guǎn? Excuse me! Do you know a good restaurant?
6. Fúwùyuán, ni néng bùnéng tuijiàn yixiē diǎnxíng
dì dìfang fēngwèi cài? 服务员， 你能不能推荐一些
典型的地方风味菜. Waiter, can you recommend
some typical local dishes?
7. 我吃饱了， 谢谢。Wo chi bǎole, xièxiè. I am
full, thank you.
8. 小姐， 请买单。Xiǎojie, qing mǎidan. Miss,
check please.
9. 你們收信用卡嗎? Ni men shou xìn yòng kǎ ma?
Do you accept credit cards?
Shopping--
10. 请问， 这个多少钱？ Qingwèn, zhège
duoshǎo qián? How much is that?
11. 太贵了, 有没有便宜一点的? Tài guìle, you
méiyou piányi yidiǎn de? Too expensive, is there anything cheaper?
MCCA Newsletter June 2014 Page 6
Tai Chi Classes Tai Chi Ch’uan is the ancient art of “Meditation in Mo-tion.” This slow, relaxing exercise helps people of all ages manage stress and develop their physical and mental awareness.
Guang Ping Yang Style Tai Chi will be taught by Sifu Francis Wong, assisted by Simu Elaine Wong. Sifu Wong was instructed by Grandmaster Henry Look, a senior disciple of Master Kuo Lien Ying, who intro-duced Guang Ping Yang Style Tai Chi to the United States. The one-hour class will begin with warm-up exercises and end with a cool-down period that in-cludes Chi Kung (Breathing and Movement) and I-Chuan (Mind Exercise).
Tai Chi classes are held Sunday mornings from 8 - 9 am
at Terra Linda High School in the courtyard at 320 Nova Albion Way, San Rafael. These classes are free to all MCCA members. If you have any ques-tions or would like to sign up to attend classes, email Sifu Wong at [email protected].
College of Marin’s Department of Community Education, Lifelong Learning, and International Education is pleased to join with the Marin Chi-nese Cultural Association (MCCA) in presenting courses that promote awareness and under-standing of Chinese culture and history.
Traditional Chinese Brush Painting Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world! Students will learn how to use a Chinese brush and ink to paint dif-ferent animals, flowers, leaves, and bamboo. The connection of the brush and ink to the paper is both satisfying and challenging. Students cre-ate their own painting after the first class, and improve their painting skills and creativity throughout the session. 7 Mondays, 9:10 - 10:30 am, June 16-July 28 CRN# 65017
Conversational Mandarin for Beginners This course is designed to teach the basic skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing in Mandarin Chinese to students with no prior background in the Chinese language. The emphasis of this course is to help students develop “functional language ability” – the ability to communicate in appropriate ways in real life. The course begins with basic Chinese pronunci-ation with Pinyin and tones practice. Then, stu-dents will learn the basic common phrases and short sentence structures to communicate with one another in a practical situations inside and outside of the class. 6 Thursdays, 6:40-8:30 pm, June 19-July 24 CRN# 65083 MARIN’s Got Talent - Discover The Perform-
ing Artist Inside Of You! This movement class is designed for adult begin-ners with no prior dance experience. The main focus of this class is to help students acquire the basic concepts and techniques of Chinese dance. Students are introduced to the basic forms of body movements that produce the rhythms and characteristics of Chinese dance. We will explore a specific ethnic dance each class and its cultural aspects, such as Han, Man-chu, Uyghur, Mongolian, Tibetan, Korean and Taiwanese Aboriginal. Materials fee will cover fan and ribbon that will be distributed in class.
6 Mondays, 5:10-6:30 pm, June 16-July 21 CRN# 65094
Asia Pacific War History Featuring lectures, personal histories, and films, this course is an introduction to one of the most signifi-cant periods of the twentieth century. Because this history is largely unknown in the U.S., and because the Asia Pacific War has had such a profound impact on the U.S., this course aims to present a vital addi-tion to general knowledge for educated citizens. The course instructors have made several trips to China and Japan to study this subject, collect background information and interview Asia Pacific War survivors. 4 Wednesdays, 8:30am - 12:30pm, July 9-July 30 CRN# 65101 For more information or to register: Call: 415.485.9305 Visit: www.marin.edu/CommunityEducation
Marin Chinese Cultural Association Educational Programs
Page 7
Mandarin Classes MCCA continues to offer free Mandarin classes to its membership. The classes are held at 30 North San Pedro Road, Suite 290 in San Rafael in the office complex just east of highway 101 near the Marin Civic Center.
MCCA Beginners Mandarin taught by Jie Zheng, a Sonoma State University graduate stu-dent will be on break throughout the summer but will start back in the fall, beginning the first week of Sep-tember. The time and date to be determined.
MCCA Advanced Mandarin is taught by Emily Peng, MA in Chinese from San Francisco State Uni-versity. Meeting time: Every Monday, 6:30-8:30pm
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Conversational Mandarin for Beginners offered by the College of Marin. Both classes follow a textbook; classes are informal and interactive and can accommodate students at
different levels. Not only will you learn Mandarin, you will also learn about Chinese culture in China, Taiwan and in the Bay Area. Come and practice Chinese conversations in a fun atmosphere. En-thusiasm continue to run high with 8 students in the Beginners class and 9 students in the Advanced class. If you are interested in attending these clas-ses, please contact Shirley at [email protected]. (The office building doors are locked after 6 pm so you need to contact Shirley if you plan to attend these classes.)
New Conversational Mandarin for Beginners Class
(For more information see College of Marin article on page 6, with description and times.)
We are an organization of volunteers! Can you help?
Upcoming Events Needing Volunteers:
Marin Country Fair Food Booth July 2,3,4,5,6, 2014 Wed through Sunday First Shift - 9am-3 pm, 6 people Second Shift - 3 - 9 pm, 6 people Responsibilities include any or all of the following: Set Up, Clean Up, Taking Orders, Cashier, Servers, Salad Makers, Dishwasher, Replenishing supplies, etc. Looking for volunteers who might enjoy interacting with people, volunteering, and having some fun. All Volunteers have free entry to the fair that day with a meal included. All are welcomed and encouraged to invite their friends to volunteer with you. CONTACT: BOB, [email protected], 415-987-5561 or KIM, [email protected], 415-892-5161
China Camp Heritage Day August 23, 2014, 10 am - 4 pm
Volunteers needed to help set up for the event, set up food, clean up. CONTACT: ED, [email protected], 310-365-0629
Other Volunteers Needed: Newsletter Committee If you would like to be a reporter on MCCA events or write articles for the MCCA newsletter, CON-TACT Harold [email protected] 415-785-1143 or Shirley at [email protected] 415-461-8043
Volunteer Committee We are looking for people to help recruit for new volunteers of all ages in our membership or not; computer skills would be greatly appreciated. CONTACT: SANDY at [email protected] 415-258-9270
Teaching a Class Do you have an interest/hobby or a talent/skill that you could share with our members? Come and teach a class! CONTACT: DENISE at [email protected] 415-892-5161
2014 MCCA BOARD OFFICERS
Denise Wear Co-President
Bob Chin Co-President
Kim Luu Treasurer & Membership Chair
Amy Jonak Secretary
Jean Bee Chan Publicity/Asian Scholarship Chair
Ben Chuck Lion Dance Coordinator
Shirley Lee Newsletter Editor
Harold Hirsch Newsletter Editor/Layout
Sandy Wong Volunteer Coordinator
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS
Yee Lee Coliero Ed Lai
Meg Dufficy-Kang Marcus Lee
Sam Wear David Wong
Francis Wong Jie Zheng
Jason Lau Liz Hom
Elizabeth Hom Jason Lau
Marcus Lee Harold Hirsch
This newsletter is published three times a year.
We welcome submissions in the form of articles, reviews, news, calendar events, recipes, photos, or drawings from any interested members or their children. Submissions should be made by
August 1, 2014.
We also wish to acknowledge the businesses of
our members. If you would like your business listed in the next newsletter, please submit it by
August 1, 2014
Please send submissions by email to
The MCCA newsletter can now be delivered to
you as a .pdf file by email. If you wish to save a tree and receive the newsletter by email instead of USPS, please contact us at:
[email protected] Check us out on Facebook… www.FaceBook.com/MarinChineseCulture or the web at www.MarinChineseCulture.com
Please Note: The MCCA will mail out a new membership roster to members in the 2014. Members
who have not paid their 2014 dues will not receive the new roster. Questions? Contact: [email protected]
Marin Chinese Cultural Association
P.O. Box 2053
Novato, CA 94945-2053
