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January 9th, 2005
JAO Ricksha Newsletter Vol. 53,
No. 06
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General Meeting
Date: Wed., Jan. 18 2006
6:30 pm Happy 1/2 Hour
7:00 pm Dinner
Venue: Yatsuhashi Restaurant
250 E. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA
Program: Shin-Nen Kai!!!
Happy New Year (O Shogatsu Omedetou Gozaimasu, for nihongo daijobu folks)!!!
Geez...it�s already been another year? I remember last year�s Shin-Nen Kai
like it was yesterday...lots of good food, no date, and everyone with their
rosy cheeks having a great time (and I don�t think they were blushing).
Well, whether you were there or not, this year�s gathering promises to bring
you more of the same...good food, everyone (curiously with rosy cheeks again)
having a great time, and me...with no date.
Come on out and celebrate the new year with all of your JAO family!!!
My Lil� Shpeel...
I hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday season, had lots of yummy
ozoni and got everything prepared to make 2006 their best year ever�honestly,
it�s the only year you�re gonna be able to do anything about anyways.
Fell down? Get up. Got hurt? You�ll heal. You�re powerless? Move on�
There�s no time like the present to do something exciting, to accomplish
something you never thought you could before...just do it, and have fun!
-Sky
Sheriff�s Round-Up
Wow, can you believe it�s 2006? As everyone approaches this new year
and reflects on the year past, I hope we can all try to make time to share
with those less fortunate.
Let�s all remember that this is also a time of great need within our
community. The little difference we try to make can make an
everlasting impression for a disadvantaged youth.
As the various committees are fervently planning for the new year�s upcoming
events, please come out, lend a hand or two, and join in the fun...
Happy New Year!
Jae
JAO President
Last Meeting...
Man, after being caught up in all of the end of the year excitement (or
madness, whichever suits you...), it�s hard to remember where we�d left off.
Hmmmm...let�s see... it had to be something christmasy, since it was that
time of the year.
Oh yeah, that�s right. The JAO gift exchange...
This year actually brought a more mild version of the JAO classic event.
Still, in recognition of the great respect we have for one another, we passed
out and exchanged gifts with our fellow members.
Sporting some new t-shirts that let everyone know whose the boss, Pres.
Jae Lee and IPP Terry Hara started us off with a fashion show,
clearly trying to send a message. (had to be there)
Pres. Jae was also gracious enough to bring everyone a bottle (or two) of
soju. I�m telling� you he ain�t a bad guy... :) Plus, in a very pc move,
he donated a very nice bottle of sake as well...which I ended up picking as a
gift (I saw the tag saying who it was from and I KNEW he wouldn�t let me
down...thanks man).
Honestly though, I think the biggest winners of the day had to be Roy
Hoshizaki and Marty Ono, who somehow both managed to come up on brand new
Viagra wall clocks! Congratulations guys, nobody deserved it more than you.
Now, as happy as I am for the both of them, I really wonder, did two
different people bring those in or is one person earning all of those
redemption points himself???
There were even a few gifts left-over...I suggested we donate them to a
church but we decided it might not be a good idea.
Once again it was another fun night to remember, with a few great pics for
the scrapbook and a few other great one�s that probably shouldn�t go in
there.
Announcements
Everyone should stand for a second and give a big round of applause for
Jeff Tani, Mike Hirahara, and Leiton Hashimoto. On December 17th. at
Maryknoll Church, JAO�s annual Christmas Party kicked off and turned out to
be one of the most fun and smooth running events of the year. Starting with
a fire safety demonstration by fire fighter Danny Wu and wanna-be Kenji
Ogawa, it was an incredible time with over 150 kids showing up to see the
JAO Santa, played by Sean O�Neill, the party sent all of the people in
attendance home with smiles from ear to ear. Chaired by the three individuals
mentioned in the beginning, the event was truly made successful with their
help, along with that of all of the volunteers (including many Nikkei Bridge
and other non-JAO members). Thank you to all of those who helped make it such
a special event for all of the kids...and all of us too.
I believe that there was recently a visitation to our District by the OI
President, Michel Listenberger. I�m sure it was a good time and a great
opportunity to meet and say hello.
I was actually out at the Rosemont Pavillion, helping coordinate, along with
a couple cool helpers, all of the thousands of volunteers that come out to
build and decorate the floats for the parade. IPP Terry Hara stopped
by one day with soon-to-be member Eva Hosoda. Clyde Kaneko also made
his annual visit to decorate and although it rained on the parade, who can
complain after 50 good years?
What I can complain about is what will now officially go down in the record
books as Black Wednesday. On January 4th, some team from Texas came in to
the Rose Bowl and watched the mighty Trojans of SC hand them the national
championship, ending both their streak of wins and national titles...as
bitter as I am, congrats Longhorns, it was a great game. (And Jae, would you
please stop wearing that cowboy hat?)
On the weekend of Feb. 11th & 12th, the OI District Quarterly is being held
down in sunny San Diego. Rumors speak of an open bar, so if you want to make
it down, let IPP Terry know before it�s too late.
February 1st will be bringing us our annual OI Essay Contest so keep your
calendars marked and come support some of these outstanding youth. This
year�s theme of, �I�m unique because�� should make for some very interesting
essays and I�m sure will make judging a difficult job...
Our Gang
It�s a new year and with it comes endless possibilities. What�ll happen, I
don�t know, but I can only write about it if I know about it.
As captivating as I�m sure my stories must be, I know some of you might
appreciate a change of flavors every so often (I know that I definitely wouldn�t mind...). I mean really, who just wants to have vanilla
everyday? Even if it is the greatest vanilla you�ve ever tasted in your
whole entire life...
So, what�d you do for the holidays? Anything interesting? How about to
start the new year? Do anything special? Wake up with an embarrassing
story?
These are all things you can share with your fellow JAO members to help keep
smiles on our faces. And remember, we�re laughing WITH you�
Seriously, anyone that would like to share any stories or bits of wisdom (if
there are still any of those laying around), please feel free to submit a
write-up to me and I promise that it will definitely have a somewhat good
chance of making it in the Ricksha. So get those submissions in...I�m excited to hear everyone�s stories and wish you all a fantastic 2006!!!
If you haven�t been out in a while...come on and join us. We look forward to
seeing you at meetings and events or just reading your comments from our
website www.jaoptimist.org
-your friend, Sky-
Not many requests have come in to stay on the hard copy mailing of the
Ricksha so I will soon be assuming that the rest of you are fine getting this
via e-mail. If not, please be sure to submit a request to me ASAP.
We appreciate your help in cutting the cost and time of these mailings and
still welcome anyone that prefers them.
Thanks again...
The Ricksha is published twice a month for members and friends of the Japanese American Optimist Club. News and comments are welcome. Send publishable (good) info to Sky Tetsuka, Ricksha Editor, [email protected]
| -Mata Sugu Ne-
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