|
By Garland Tenholder, FCC
(Families with Children from
China)
Rain or shine, the party was on and the Dragon Boat Festival proved to be a great event despite bad weather. After much speculation and waiting it out, we decided the day of the event to move it indoors. Forest Park would have been a great location to have the party but the weather wouldn't cooperate and we were rained out. At the last minute we were able to book a meeting room at St. Louis Mills Mall and it ended up being a great place for this event.
About 45 people braved the weather and came out to the mall to join the fun. While the parents had plenty of time to sit and chat with each other, to make new friends, and to compare notes, the kids were able to do a couple of crafts. In keeping with the dragon boat theme, Laurie Lambros came up with a craft to make a paper dragon boat. The kids colored the pattern, cut it out and glued it together and ended up with some great looking boats. Even the littlest kids had fun "coloring" the boats. In keeping with the idea of a picnic, and with the hopes some kids would be able to fly them, Laurie also planned kite making. Despite being indoors and not able to fly them, the kids all had fun decorating their kites. Some were very elaborate in their design while others just had fun coloring randomly on the kite.
Everyone brought something for the lunch buffet and it ended up being a great meal. Dawn Dixon brought the traditional food of the dragon boat festival, Tzungtzu dumplings. These are rice wrapped in bamboo leaves stuffed with ham, beans, bean paste, salted egg yokes, sausages, nuts and vegetables. We also had a variety of "picnic" type foods for our indoor picnic.
Once the meal was over the children all took to the floor and just ran around together. Complete strangers, these children gravitated towards each other and took off. For the last part of the party they just ran and laughed with each other while the parents mostly sat back and relaxed. It was a fun way to get to know some fellow FCC'ers and pass the time on a rainy, cold Saturday. Our thanks go out to Dawn Dixon and Laurie Lambros for their hard work in putting the event together and getting it moved indoors. Thanks also to the St. Louis Mills Mall for accommodating us so well at the last minute, and thanks to everyone whom came out to make the event a great success.
|
