The Cherry Blossom Festival SoCal (CBFSoCal) will present “Camp Stories Awards Show and Fundraiser – Do the Dream,” from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 2.
In a rare situation, the awards show and fundraiser is being held separately from the the festival, which draws 60,000 to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles for the past five years.
CBFSoCal celebrates the history and culture of Americans of Japanese descent and the culture of Japan through the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms.
Entertainment:
“Do The Dream” & “I Am An American” – Kathy Bee will perform her original songs
Jive to the music of the 1940’s with the Grateful Crane Ensembles’ Scott Nagatani & Keiko Kawashima
Multimedia presentations and the stories of “The Wedding Dress” & Photo Display
Reserved seats are $60. For VIP Tickets, sponsorships and group tickets, please contact Wendy at wowproductions2@earthlink.net or or 626-683-8243.
The schedule:
8:30 am: – Breakfast Reception & Auction in the Turf Club (Seating outside or inside)
10:00 am – Awards Program in the Chandelier Room
11:30 am – Walking tour of Santa Anita for those interested in this historical site
About 70 years ago Santa Anita Park was shut down and the park’s extensive grounds provided the massive space needed by the War Department to temporarily house thousands of people of Japanese decent. This venue was the nation’s largest assembly center, housing almost 19,000 Japanese Americans before they were relocated to camps. A plaque near the entrance is the sole reminder of the track’s place in World War II history as the nation’s largest assembly center for Japanese Americans on their way to internment camps.
Honorees:
Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Nisei Poet, Playwright & Actor – Detained at Tule Lake Segregation Center during WWII for refusing to answer registration questions he determined a violation of his civil rights as an American citizen.
Esther Takei Nishio -Test case in 1944 when she was taken out of camp to attend Pasadena City College where she faced extreme prejudice and hatred while her family was still incarcerated.
Patty & Emily (7 yr old) Kinaga – Thousand Hearts Benefit Concert for Japan. Emily, seeing the images of Japan with the Tsunami/Earthquake, wanted to help the children and asked her mother “what can they do?” What happened – a celebrity studded Thousand Hearts Benefit Concert sending funds and paper hearts to the children of Japan.
US-Japan Council, TOMODACHI INITIATIVE forged after the Japan Tsunami/Earthquake to invest in Japan’s next generation and deepen U.S.-Japan ties.
Manzanar Fishing Club – Documentary about internees at Manzanar who slipped away under the cover of night to find freedom and adventure, matching wits with the prized trout of the Sierra Nevada to bring fresh fish to internees.
Toyo Miyatake Studio – Founded in 1923 by famed photographer Toyo Miyatake best known for his collection of Manzanar Relocation Center image. Eventually his son Archie took over and today his grandson, photographer Alan Miyatake, runs the Studio.
American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization opened an office in Pasadena during WWII to aid Japanese Americans internees– reached out to colleges and hostels willing to receive evacuees and other essentials to aid the devastated Japanese American community. In 1947, AFSC was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Special Guest Presenter-Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry. Presenters include: Rose Ochi JD – Lane Hirabayashi Ph.D. – Rodney Kageyama – Mas Okui – Terry Hara – Lisa Sugimoto Ed.D.
The Cherry Blossom Festival is a project of the Pasadena Arts Council’s EMERGE Fiscal Sponsorship Program 501 (c) (3) charitable organization – EIN# 95-2540759
— By Scott Hettrick