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Eugenes rich and diverse Asian-American cultures
collaborate on an event to strengthen relationships
BTMIVIT Ul/Mir
PULSE REPORTER
From Chinese to Japanese, from
Hawaiian to Tahitian, the Asian
community has been a part of Lane
County for more than 100 years.
Although separate backgrounds have
pushed each culture into its own
ethnic group, this weekend's Asian
Celebration atthe Lane County
Fairgrounds will allowthem to come
together under one roof.
Originally conceived to help Asian
Americans connect with their com
munity and each other in a festive en
vironment, the Asian Celebration also
allows attendees to learn about
cultures outside America.
"(The Celebration) is a way to
allow the Asian community with dif
ferent backgrounds to work with one
another in putting on this cultural
event for the community," event co
chair Tony Lum said. "It's also a
great opportunity forfriendship and
a wayfor harmonious relations
among all people that represent ac
tivities or at least emulate an under
standing of Asia and Asian cultures.
You don't have to be Asian by birth;
you can be Asian by education, or
you can be Asian by being a trans
plant and picking up their culture."
A core group of individuals took
small steps to build the Asian
Celebration into what it is today.
"About 30 years ago, a small
group of us gottogether and said,
'You know, our kids are going to
grow up without any exposure to
Asian culture, so why don't we try to
gettogether and have potlucks and
talk about stuff we could do in the
community?'" co-chair Ken Nagao
said. "So we looked in the phone
bookfor Asian-sounding names, we
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