NEWS & EVENTS
July 27, 2024 | Eugene, OR | Asian Celebration
Alton Baker Park
Very large local crowds turned out for the 39th annual Asian Celebration today at Alton Baker Park. It was a sunny temperate 83 degrees with a gentle wind on occasion. Celebration hours ran from 10:00 in the morning till 9:00 in the evening. The day was long but was eased by a supportive family who helped booth-sit, and a visit by my four favorite grandchildren who livened conversations for us all.
Earliest celebration goers started arriving as early as 10:00 and grew to a steady flow of fair goers throughout the day.
The atmosphere was festive, and with a gaggle of food vendors of the Asian mood ready and present to serve delightful delicacies, and a bank of Port-a-Potties ready and waiting, all was set for the celebration of all things Asian here in Eugene.
My booth, titled Two Faces: The Book, was one of 72 booths of a multitude of sellers and hawkers of a host of things Asian. Our neighbor on one side was a seller of all things “Hello Kitty,” a magnet for children fair-goers, and across the way was an organization teaching English as a second language. I didn’t stroll away from my booth to sample the variety of attractions, but I believe it was extensive.
My day was spent mainly talking about our book, about the friendship of a ten-year-old white girl and a ten-year-old Japanese boy whose lives were disrupted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Our story relates the turmoil Nina’s family undergoes as her father joins the Army Air Corps and is stationed in England during the war. It illustrates the disruption visited upon thousands of American families as the father goes off to war, with Nina and her mother having to move in with her grandparents.
My part of the story elaborates the tragedy of my family’s forced removal from our home and incarceration in a concentration camp in Colorado because we happen to look like the enemy.
Being friends, we stay in touch through letter-writing as our two families struggle to deal with our own difficulties.
My time throughout the day was spent in sharing the story of Two Faces and answering questions and listening as individuals shared about their families that had been interned, or friends who had, and one who had lost a friend who one day just disappeared and was never seen again. Many of the encounters were very emotional with both of us tearing up – In all, it was a day filled with feelings, for me as well as for the visitors to my booth. This was a good thing.
One highlight encounter was with a young man of perhaps 19 years of age, possibly early 20s, who was excited about remembering me from a presentation I made to his third-grade class at Meadow View Elementary School about my family’s evacuation and incarceration in a concentration camp in Colorado. He described himself as a fidgety kid at the time, but my talk totally fascinated him, and he remembers it vividly. He even brought up a selfie photo of himself, another student, and me he had on his cell phone taken that day. He was truly excited that he remembered me and left floating on air. He returned shortly after, still in an ecstatic state and asked if he could take another selfie with me, and I obliged him. Really, this was the highlight encounter that left me teary-eyed and very moved.
A second memorable contact was with a teacher from Medford with a deep interest in history. He was excited with the subject of Two Faces and enthused with possibilities of incorporating our story in his classroom. We are in discussion over the possibility of my visit to share my story with his students.
An interesting sociological quirk was exposed and played out throughout the day – In many sales I was asked if I took credit cards and when I indicated I only accepted cash, for some it was ok but for many it was a problem as they carried no cash. I was aware that in today’s transactions many don’t carry cash, but this was my first encounter where it mattered. We were at a crossroads until my son asked if they used Venmo. Most said they did, so we were able to complete the sale but on my son’s cell phone. My son has now facilitated my entry into today’s world of finance by installing a Venmo app on my cell phone for any future sales.
As for how the day went, I had no experiences to gauge how to think of the day except book signings with limited audiences. Today was an extended day with crowds in the thousands, and not a situated audience but people passing by like ships in the night. Only if my book display, the posters shouting out our book, and a banner across the front of our canopy announcing Two Faces happen to capture the eye of an interested passerby, was there an opportunity to talk.
As it turned out, the day went very well. I had a supply of 35 soft cover books and 20 hard covers to sell. Sales went slowly but steadily through the day and several hours before the scheduled closing time of 9:00 I sold the last soft cover book. We closed shop an hour earlier than the closing time and celebrated a fun-filled very successful Asian Celebration.