The gloomy, dull weather outside was a sharp contrast to the many happy faces inside the Crystal Banquet Hall in Scarborough, Ontario on October 5th.
Three hundred people were in attendance. Families with small children, elders with their grown up children and grandchildren as well as people from other cultures such as Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh were present.
Mr. Deputy Mayor of Markham, Mr. Heath, and City Councillors Chiu, Ho and Shore were there representing Markham.
Representatives from two school boards, Toronto District School Board and York Region District School Board were present and gave short speeches.
Mr. Shi, Xiaoguang from the Chinese Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Toronto attended and spoke to the assembled guests at this proud moment of thanksgiving for the first year anniversary of Optimistic Me to We Cultural Organization and the publication of their book, for which I was the English editor and Xiao Bu Sun was the Chinese editor.
Naiwang Sung, a retired ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher with the Toronto District School Board, started this group and in a short period of time (one year) it has blossomed into a centre to serve the needs of Chinese speaking seniors in Markham, Ontario.
It was well covered by the Chinese media which included Fairchild TV, WOW T.V. and Ming Pao Daily News.
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| Naiwang Sung - organizer and leading light! |
The buffet tables were filled to the brim with scrumptious food and guests took full advantage of this delicious meal. The wait staff were very attentive and everything was very clean and attractive.
The programme commenced with all standing and singing" Oh Canada" which delighted me as we don't sing our national anthem enough in my opinion.
Many greetings were sent by by dignitaries such as the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and many Members of the Provincial Parliament and Councillors from Municipal governments.
There are just too many people to mention in this short article who participated in this well run programme.
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| Representative of China's consulate - Mr. Shi,Xiaoguang |
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| Some of the authors in the book - the gentleman beside me is in his 98th year and he wrote a story too! |
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| group picture |
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| Naiwang Sung and unknown gentleman |
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| The youngest performer - so cute |
There was a solo by Helen He and a very good male singer whose name I did not catch, a fashion show, ballroom dancing, two different choirs, the Red Fan dance, role play in English, a piano played by Abraham Chen and lucky draws.
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| Dance group |
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| Mrs. Zhuy Liu - accordian player |
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| Ms. Helen He - Soloist |
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Choir |
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| Abraham Chen |
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| Soloist |
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| Wilma Seville - English Editor and Naiwang Sung - Organizer |
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| Wilma Seville giving speech, Niwang Sung translating into Mandarin |
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| A beautiful choir |
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| Young people performing |
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| Role playing on travelling to Canada |
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| Dance group |
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| Youth volunteers being recognized by their school principal |
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| Choir |
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| Red Fan Dance |
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| Spanish Dance |
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| Fashion Show |
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| Ballroom dancig |
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| Fashion show |
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| Fashion Show - Mr. Li, Shiju was the M.C. for many performances |
I cannot adequately express what a wonderful occasion this was and how much happiness it brought to so many people. I was honoured to be invited.
I wish this group every success in their second year and onward.
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