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Living Treasures Celebration - November 14, 2003

 
 

Over 120 people joined together on Friday evening to honor and celebrate BCC's Living Treasures. Undeniably one of the best events of the year, the BCC community enjoyed an evening of friendship and cultural celebration. Thanks to all the people who make this such an extraordinary gathering especially Carol McKee and Judy Woo who both worked tirelessly to make this come together. It was great to see all of you and your beautiful families and friends join together for this great occasion. Hosted by Sayumi Irey, Kim Pollock and Donna Meek, the evening got off to an auspicious start with the naming of the Living Treasures.

 
Our own Phil Lucas has produced, directed and/or written 107 films. His films chronicle and document the American Indian experience and have won an Emmy, numerous awards from the American Indian Film Institute, and various film festivals across the country.

Phil, assisted by his son Jesse, performed the smudging or burning of sage to create a cleansing smoke bath to purify  the people, ceremony, and  space. The burning of herbs is a practice held sacred by many indigenous cultures.

 

Dr. Hossein Omoumi is considered one of the world's foremost performers of the Ney or bamboo Persian flute. Dr. Omoumi has been invited to teach at UCLA's Department of Ethnomusicology, Wales University and Sorbonne University and now teaches in the Ethnomusicology department of the University of Washington in Seattle. He performs to sold-out concerts at numerous prestigious venues around the world including the San Francisco World Music Festival 2000 and 2001, the Getty Center, the Schoenberg Hall at UCLA, the Modern Arts Center in San Francisco, the Theatre de la Ville in Paris, and the World Music Center in New York. He was the featured Ney soloist in the soundtrack of the movie The Sweet Hereafter.

Dr. Omoumi performed in the spiritual tradition of Sufi mysticism to honor our Living Treasures.

 

 

 Throughout the evening, Dr. Iraj Paydar, Ash Biria, Vafa Mostaghim, and Ahmad Usef Beegie performed beautiful music on the sitar, tar, drum, and daf & tombak for the enjoyment of the celebrants.

Thanks to Adam Burke for handling all the technical (and last minute) requirements for the evening's program.

 
Fabulous food was the order of the day. Thanks to all the BCC gourmet chefs who took the time to make "Close to the heart" food for our Living Treasures. Louis and Georgia Watanabe offered delicious tapas cooked on the spot. Karen Godfrey, Donna Meek, Scott Irey, Kim Pollock, Stella Williams, Myra Van Vactor, Norm Choo, Carol McKee, Judy Woo, Tom Neilsen and Asha Nelson all contributed main courses. Rumor has it Phil's buffalo chili was so delicious even the vegetarians were eating it. Bev Reil, Amy MacNeill, James Torrence, Nora Lance, Sharon Foster, and Robin Jeffers gave us the sumptuous salads and breads. Incredible desserts were provided by Stephanie Sloan, Leslie Lum, Wendy Brault, Pat Andrus, Lee Buxton, Barbara Brodsky and Cora Nixon.

 

 
 

Thanks to Ruthann Kurose, whose incredible eye caught the spirit of our Living Treasures in a series of beautiful portraits. Ruthann took the time out of her busy schedule to complete most of the portraits (which was supposed to be a year-long project) before the Living Treasures celebration. The BCC community will be seeing more of these portraits throughout the year.

Thanks also to Kiku Hayashi who designed and created the invitations for our Living Treasures.

 
Our gratitude to all the people who volunteered to set up and clean up. We thank you, Stephanie Sloan, Nora Lance, Cheryl Vermilyea, Pat Andrus, Teresa McClane, Sayumi Irey, Scott Irey, Louis Watanabe, Georgia Watanabe, Asha Nelson, Robin Jeffers, and Kim Pollock.You transformed the cafeteria into a beautiful place and cleaned it up in record time.

 

Thanks to Jamie Dye, Terri Halsey, Bob Stoll, and Bob Southard for assisting us with the logistics. We couldn't have done it without you.