The Dragon's Head Blog: Chinese New Year Reception and Banquet in Portland, Oregon!
The Portland Oregon Branch held its annual Chinese New Year Reception and Banquet on February 27th
Approximately 200 participants and guests came together to celebrate and to welcome honored guests, Aide to US Senator Ron Wyden, State Representative Lew Fredrick, and VA Recreational Therapist Nancy McFarland who is helping us make Taoist Tai Chi available to veterans.
We joined together to prepare, serve and enjoy a fantastic banquet prepared by our kitchen team. The evening was enhanced by beautiful decorations, and enlivened by the friendly competition of a silent auction featuring dinner parties, bed and breakfast stays, sailing adventures, theater tickets and themed gift packages donated by participants and local merchants. During the pre-banquet reception we visited with our friends, enjoyed hors d’oeuvres prepared by the Oregon City location, visited a well stocked Wine (and juice) Bar and tried our luck picking a high value bottle from the Wall of Wine. During the meal we heard brief presentations from our honored guests, were inspired by Tom from the Vancouver, WA location who gave a testimonial about the Taoist Tai Chi® arts helping him overcome PTSD, watched a demo of the set, cheered as raffle winners claimed their treasures, and were toasted by the BC as they greeted each table. Even the clean up was fun and completed in record time by a still smiling crew.
The Year of the Fire Monkey is off to a great start at the Portland, Oregon Branch.