~ Past Events (2002) ~

Christmas Caroling (Service)
December 21, 2002

Christmas is one of the most joyous times of the year. To continue with CASA's tradition in helping the Asian American community, CASA members visited the Monterey Park Convalescent Home on December 21, 2002. To bring some joy and holiday spirit to the residents at the home, CASA sang Christmas carols to a room full of senior citizens. Not only were the Christmas songs accompanied by piano music played by Anne Tam but also by the wonderful sounds of the seniors clapping their hands. All the volunteers had a wonderful time during the visit and left the hospital with a big smile. Special thanks to Peter Fang for organizing this great event and to Anne Tam for playing the piano. However, above all else CASA would like to thank all of the volunteers that were able to take some time out of their busy schedules, especially during the holiday season, to spend some quality time with the seniors. This event would not have been made possible without all of your help. This was a great event to end the year 2002.

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Thanksgiving Time! (Service)
November 23, 2002

For the month of November, CASA members joined other organizations in helping the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank in cleaning, sorting and repackaging donated food, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank serves as a network for thousands of charities in fighting hunger, serving abused and abandoned children, battered women, the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, those afflicted with AIDS and the working poor.

CASA members can be found sorting and cleaning anything from bottled water to cereals. Everyone had a geat time as members shared laughs with each other . It was truly a fun & rewarding event. After the service event, CASA members went to have lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Koreatown. Thank goodness the lunch was buffet style. Everyone was so hungry from working at the event that few CASA members even thought about eating the very food they were cleaning. Once again, kudos to Jenny Wong for organizing this event!

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Kids Care Fair 2002 (Service)
August 17 & 24, 2002
photo gallery

CASA once again continues its commitment to the children living around Chinatown by participating in the 13th annual Kids Care Fair. Over 27 CASA volunteers came out to help the Chinatown Service Center and medical volunteers from UCLA in providing free immunization and health screening to the kids. Over 75 kids received health examination just in time for school. Besides helping to provide health services to the kids, CASA volunteers also got a chance to interact with the kids by giving away free toys. Special thanks to Jenny Wong for coordinating this special CASA event.

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Anniversary Dinner (Social)
August 3, 2002
Slide Show

CASA celebrated its 4th Anniversary in style in a night marked by great feasting and merrymaking. The fun began with a magnificent dinner consisting an unending stream of mouthwatering beef, chicken, duck and seafood entrées. There were so many CASA members in attendance that there was barely enough room in the reserved section of the restaurant. After dinner, president Frank spoke about how CASA had grown tremendously over the past year, expanded its partnerships, and provided great service to the community. And, needless to say, the CASA members had a grand old time in the process! Dinner was highlighted by Dave's comically historical slide show of CASA through the years. Some 20 CASA members headed out afterwards for a night of rockin' karaoke.

The CASA crew belted out tunes in both English and Chinese for several hours, with an impressive array of oldies and pop tunes. The group performed so well that rumors of a CASA band were beginning to emerge by night's end? Stay tuned!

Special thanks to David Wong for putting the slide show together.

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Lotus Festival & A3M (Service)
July 13, 2002

At the 2002 Lotus Festival, CASA members came out and help the Asians for Miracle Marrows Matches in locating bone marrow donors. Bone marrow transplant requires the patient and the donor having matching tissue traits. Except for family members, the patient's only other chance is someone who is from the same racial or ethnic group. The National Marrow Donor Program currently has 4.2 million registered donors, only 254,000 of those registered donors are Asian Pacific Islanders. With much enthusiasm and willingness to help, CASA members passed out flyers and recruited 18 potential bone marrow donors at the Lotus Festival. Who knows, maybe one of those donors may end up saving someone's life!

More information about the bone marrow donor program can be found at www.asianmarrow.org

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4th of July at Hollywood Bowl (Social)
July 4th, 2002

Orchestral classics, colorful explosions, and guitar favorites...The 4th of July Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl featured patriotic music, fireworks, and, surprisingly, a James Taylor concert! He sang some old favorites, as well as a few new diddies, as the audience celebrated America's birthday. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music, and some were surprised to learn that James Taylor sang those songs. John Williams even played a few movie favorites at the end. And things got even cushier with free bench cushions from Target!

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Summer BBQ (Social)
June 29, 2002

Everyone had heard of Frank Wang... leader, organizer, and oracle master. But no one knew what to make of Frank Wang... chef extraordinaire? On 6/29/02, CASA members came from far and wide to Frank's humble dwelling to get together with friends, enjoy the summer weather, and to put Frank's culinary skills to the test. The host did not disappoint. Everyone was treated to a stunning variety of BBQ delights including Korean short ribs with special sauce, burgers, hot dogs, salads, chips, and as many beverages as one could drink. Afterwards, partygoers frolicked in the backyard pool, while others chose to serenade Frank's neighbors with musical selections from his karaoke library. All in all, it was a perfect way to spend a summer day and thus ensuring that this event will be an annual gathering? Many thanks go out to Frank and his family for doing such an outstanding job as hosts. With thoughts of our next get-together, the drive to the Valley just doesn't seem so bad.

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Citizenship Workshop (Service)
June 22, 2002

Over 20 dedicated CASA members came out early on a Saturday morning to help potential US citizens in filling out long and complicated citizenship applications. The morning started out with Mark Yoshida of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center giving CASA members an explanation of how the citizenship application process works. The training continued with detailed explanations of each of the questions on the application. With our diverse language skills,the applicants (mostly seniors) received a better understanding of the application process and were very appreciative of our help. In addition to helping out with the application process, CASA members also helped out with registration, taking photos, and making copies of the necessary paperwork. After the workshop, everyone gathered together for some pizza and soda, and shared laughs. CASA survey sent after the event revealed that almost all of the members thoroughly enjoyed the event. 16 potential US citizens were helped during this event. As Mark puts it after the event, "... that's 16 more people who will soon pledge their allegiance to the American flag and add to the societal and economic fabric that makes our nation stronger."

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Kayaking (Social)
May 25, 2002

There was a rare CASA sighting in Orange County on June XX as Newport Beach played host to a day at the beach for 25 or so members. It was a good mix of new, old, and prodigal members that ventured out to Balboa Island for kayaking in the morning, an impromptu pizza party at BJs for lunch, and a leisurely stroll down the pier afterwards. Despite being landlocked for much of the year, CASA took to the water like fish to the sea. Some teamed up to tackle the waters in tandem, others were confident enough to go solo. Before long, everyone was racing up and down the lagoon. Only 1 kayak was capsized the entire day (the identities will be withheld to protect the innocents). Famished after the morning workout, CASA descended on an unsuspecting BJs Pizza Parlor where we swarmed an entire floor of the restaurant for food, fun, and even some suds. CASA finished off the trifecta with an afternoon on the boardwalk of Newport Pier. It was like being in Venice Beach, with the quaint gift shops, ripped roller-bladers, and lazy ambience, but only cleaner. The only thing that could have made the day any more perfect would have been convenient parking. But we'll take it with a smile.

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SNAPY Youth Olympic (Service)
May 19, 2002

Sunday, May 19th marked the second year that CASA has helped out at the 8th Annual Youth Olympics which was held at UCLA's Drake Stadium. This event, which was organized by APEX and SNAPY, allows inner city kids the opportunity to interact with one another through such group activities as dodge ball, flag football, as well as many other sporting events. Even though the day started out with a little drizzle, that didn't stop the kids from attending this festive event. Volunteers from various organizations served as team leads and referees for the various games. All in all, the day turned out to be a great success.

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Hiking (Social)
April 27, 2002

Saturday was a great day to enjoy the outdoors. Good thing CASA (Chinese American Society of Accountants) happened to plan a hiking event that day. 12 daring outdoorsy types braved the wilderness for a good 3 hours and had a great time. There was even a rare appearance from some members of CASA's elite inner circle (who knew?). After getting our bearings at Chantry Flats we headed out for a 2 mile trek over explored and charted territory on our way to Sturtevant Falls. The trail was fairly easy and we weren't forced to leave anyone behind (that I can remember) so all 11 of us got to the waterfall after about 1 hour. As advertised the view was breathtaking... water and gravity can work wonders. Some people brought food, so we didn't have to resort to drawing straws to see who we would eat first (we were deep in the heart of the mountains after all.) After lunch we hiked back out along the same route and saw much of the same stuff we saw on our way in, gorgeous foliage,a meandering brooke, beautiful flowers, small cabins which looked like the home of the uni-bomber... Anyway, all 10 of us finally reached civilization alive and well but still a little hungry so we all decided to go to eat at Noodle Whirl in Alhambra. Some very deep and interesting topics were discussed concerning Asian American issues; this was truly a good time. After downing our fill of stomach lining in soup we decided we had such a great time that we just didn't want the day to end... so of course we went to karaoke (K100 in Alhambra). We got a huge room and sang for hours, belting out tunes ranging from Faye Wong to Fivel's Song ;) and speaking of Faye Wong, certain members of CASA are just an agent and a record contract away from stardom, ( for the sake of discretion I won't name names... but her first initials are T.T.). Special thanks to Catherine for being such a great social activities planner...and also one hell of a great singer.

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Christmas in April (Service)
April 20, 2002
photo gallery

Dedicated CASA members woke up at the crack of dawn to participate in the
annual Christmas in April event to give a long needed face lift to a
rustic, old house in San Gabriel. With our paint brushes in hand and hard
work in mind, we gave the home several new shiny coats of paint. We even
did the trim and painted the chimney! Several other CASA members assisted
in clearing out the ancient artifacts stored in the dusty, creaky garage.
During lunch we gathered under the cool shade, enjoyed the soothing spring
breeze, and discussed plans for the next service event.

Special thanks to Peter and Karen for putting together yet another very
successful event.

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Indoor Rock Climbing (Social)
March 23, 2002
photo gallery

CASA invaded Rock City in Anaheim Hills for 2 hours
of gravity-defying excitement- indoor rock-climbing! CASA members were
first taught basic safety procedures to ensure that the climbers were
belayed properly and were not at risk of injury. Then, up they went! Each
CASA participant scaled several walls, each of varying degrees of
difficulty
ranging from a moderately challenging beginner level through an extremely
tough expert level that would give American Gladiators a run for its money!
In the end, every had a great time and got a solid workout. Later on, a
smaller group extended the fun into the late evening, hitting The Block at
Orange for some fine dining with some great company.

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Paul Revere Middle School (Service)
March 9, 2002

More than a dozen CASA members flocked to the Paul Revere Middle School to help construct a new nature park and trail. After dividing up into teams, we raked leaves, wacked weeds, and shoveled compost all morning long. With hoes in hand, Frank and Ken worked at clearing and blazing a better half of the nature trail while others tended to a garden overrun by weeds. Dave, Jenny, and Peggy stood out for their formidable green thumbs, while Gene, Peter, and Ray tackled the numerous bins of neck high Grade-A, pro-quality compost.

After a long day's work, we looked back and noticed what a big difference we've made to the nature trail and gardens. Even the volunteer coordinator remarked that CASA members were the "hardest working" among all who came to help out that day. Special thanks to Jenny and Karen for organizing yet another great service event. A shout out also goes to Joyce and the other non-local CASA members for making the trek up to Brentwood. This was truly a great event.

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CASA Annual Ski Trip (Social)
March 1 - 3, 2002
photo gallery

The annual ski trip to Bear Mountain was a blast this year despite the warm weather, last minute dropouts (and you know who you are), and damn blasted L.A. traffic. But with the beer cold, the chicks hot, and the slopes inviting, CASA members had great fun skiing, 'boarding, and falling on our soft and supple behinds all day. At night, we played games, drank, drank some more, and somehow ended up not naked. We also had a blast getting down and dirty, shakin our bootie at a local dance club. On the final day a few of us went hiking along a crystal clear lake, shot a few mallards with our digi cam, and wished that the weekend would last just a little longer.

Special props to Ken, Catherine, and Jeff for keeping putting together one fine weekend of fun in the snow. Special thanks to TeeTee for keeping the groove going strong, Bernie for his fine sense of direction and picking up the key, and Ray for getting everybody lost. Thanks A LOT, Ray.

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Convalescent Home Visit (Service)
January 26, 2002

Fifteen CASA members came together on a Saturday afternoon to spend quality time with sweet senior citizens at the Alhambra convalescent home. CASA members joined the seniors with several fun games of BINGO. Prizes were awarded to winning seniors. It touched many CASA members' hearts to see the smiles on their faces and to know how appreciative they were of us coming to visit and play games with them. The program director was thankful and asked the CASA members to visit again in the near future.

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Chinese New Year Parade (Service)
January 16, 2002

The 2002 Chinese New Year Parade drew a large crowd of spectators to Los Angeles’ Chinatown. Local political figures, including the Mayor, and celebrities paraded down Broadway and Hill, led by a spirited performance of the Lion Dance. CASA was on hand to provide crowd control, language assistance and VIP guest transportation throughout the event. CASA wishes each and everyone a Happy Year of the Horse with much happiness, good health and great prosperity.

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Games Night (Social)

In a warehouse big enough to hold a small army, where climate control seemed a distant memory, at its peak, the CASA game night lured over a dozen brave members into the gripping jaws of a night of creatively enriching interactive fun. It was the perfect night for all those closet clay sculptors, word junkies, and trivia freaks to shine! Notable highlights of the evening: 1) My Oscar winning performance of Frankenstein silently waking up from the dead 2) Lau Family Hummer's Chorale serenading us with Bruce Springstein's Born in the USA. 3) World renowned modern clay sculptor, Michael Wang, with his breathtaking interpretation of the human anatomy.

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