By Xinming Li, bostonese.com
Boston, Sept. 2, 2016, — As the Asian American Day Festival is to take place on Sept. 10 in Boston Common, Boston City Council has declared Sept. 10, 2016 as Asian American Day in Boston. The proclamation is signed by Michelle Wu, president of Boston City Council. This is the first such proclamation by a major city in the nation. Over 1,000 signatures were collected in a petition to declare the second Saturday in September as Asian American Day in Boston and the state.
Mr. David Bai(right) hands the Asian American Day Petition with over 1,000 signatures to attorney Ye Edward Huang, president of the board of Asian American Association of Boston.
The Sixth Asian American Day Festival is a day long event in Boston Common. The opening ceremony will take place at 10:00 AM on the main stage near Charles Street. Cultural performances by different art groups, 30 food vendors and 80 cultural and business booths will attract over 50,000 spectators for this event. According to Mr. David Bai, this event will be open and free to the public.
Two concerts will be held at Cary Hall in Lexington, Mass. on Sept. 11 featuring distinguished dancers and musicians from US and China. Tickets to the concerts can be purchased at the following nine locations.
1. Empire Auction House, 166 Lincoln street, Boston MA02111, 617-9363128 （April ）
2. Shing Hong Trading inc, 70 Kneeland Street, Boston, MA 02111, 617-482-2373
3. Dr. Wu Clinic, 65 Harrison Avenue, Suite 308, Boston, MA 02111，617-338-9889
4. Kakkoii Sushi and Ramen, 60 broadway, Malden， MA，781-605-2439（Lisa）
5. Sichuan Garden II, 2 Alfred St, Woburn, MA, 01801 , 781-935-8488
6. Kam Man Foods, 219 Quincy Ave., Quincy, MA 02169，617-328-1533.
7. Success Driving School, 70 Billings Road, Quincy, MA 02171，617-460-3898
8. New Star Community Art School, 392 Hancock St. Quincy, MA 02171, 857-222-7559 （Mr. Lin）
9. Sweet Thyme Bakery, 1837 Mass Ave, Lexington, MA, 781-860-8818
Speech by Attorney Ye Edward Huang at Asian American Day Festival News Conference
First, on behalf of Asian American Association of Boston, and preparatory committee for the sixth Asian American Day Festival, I thank you all for taking your valuable time to join our press release conference on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank our partners, sister organizations, and supporters for their selfless contribution to our past and ongoing events. Let’s give them a round of applause. Also, special recognition of our newly elected Directors for the board of Asian American Association of Boston, Dr. Tianqi Wang and Mr. Pat Cao. And, our newly elected Executive Director, Mr. David Bai, thank you for your leadership in organizing and managing the upcoming Asian American Day celebration in September. Truly a great start!
Mr. Klysler Yen, the founding father of Asian American Association of Boston, is the spirit of Asian American Day. Unfortunately he is unable to join us today, as he is in New York, coordinating Asian American Day Boston-New York 9-11 memorial performance.
My four years old son thought I was as strong as a giant, and I still enjoy watching Mickey Mouse with him. He told me yesterday that one day he will be stronger than me, so I said to him “if you can dream it, you can do it.” Yes, I said that. But I am pretty sure Walt Disney said it before me. He also said, “Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.” We formed Asian American Association of Boston 6 years ago from scratch. I remember we used to do press release conference over a ping-pong table, and we had Asian American Day celebration in China Pearl Restaurant. In the last 6 years, we had many partnerships and made a lot of friends, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans, and Cambodian Americans, just a few examples, friends from North End, Connecticut, New York, and overseas. Last year, we celebrated our 5th Asian American Day with over 2,000 visitors in Burlington Marriott, it was a big success. This year, we are expecting 30,000 or more visitors in our 6th Asian American Day celebration in Boston Common, the oldest public park in the nation. We will also formally announcing our petition to the government and legislation to legally recognize Asian American Day as a holiday in Boston, in Massachusetts, and nationwide. So far, there are over a thousand supporters who have hand signed the petition. These will all be the historical events for our communities.
With the help and support of every one of you, I have no doubt that the sixth Asian American Day Festival celebration in Boston Common and Lexington will be another huge success. And I have no doubt that our children, children’s children will continuously celebrate Asian American Day, a national holiday in this great country, the United States of America.
If we can dream it, we can do it!