Families with Children From China (FCC) celebrated 2004 Chinese New Year
By Scanews Staff
American families with adopted Children from China held a party to
celebrate the Chinese New Year on Sunday afternoon, February 22 at the
Maryland Height Community Center. 2004 Chinese New Year was ushered in by
the zodiac symbol of "Monkey" and started the year of 4702 on the Chinese
Lunar calendar. The very old tradition took a very new meaning.
There were over 350 FCC members of 96 families participated in a 3-hour
gala. Adorable children donned with Chinese costume together with proud
parents who in turn, transformed also themselves into Chinese attire. The
Chinese flavor was even more apparent than in China! There were booths
with arts and crafts in addition to many special artifacts and souvenirs
for silent auction. A successful fund-raising brought in more than $2600, over twice amount of previous years.
A special treat for everyone was the performance by the St. Louis Circus
Day Foundation. Their dazzling acts of Chinese acrobat lasted for 45
minutes, engaged everyone's attention with Chinese Lion Dance, Chinese
yoyo, juggling and balancing, somersault and tumblers, etc. Jessica
Hentoff, President of the Circus Day Foundation, started to employ
Chinese acrobatic skills into American circus a few years ago. She invited Master
Xiao Hong Weng to teach Chinese circus arts to St. Louis youth in 2002.
She considers that circus and life are both about juggling your
responsibilities and balancing your priorities. They are about
cooperation and communication.
A Chinese New Year celebration would never be completed without delicious
Chinese food. Mr. Shi, owner of Mei Hua Chinese Restaurant on Olive,
delivered the food himself to the location. Egg rolls, crab rangoon,
cashew chicken, beef with broccoli and others to be consumed using
chopsticks, and topped with almond cookie and fortune cookie. What a
delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon !
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