Having been advised that feeding a red envelope to the lion brings good fortune but that one should exercise caution near the dragon's mouth, ARDEC Director of Financial Management, Mary Manser, approaches the lion with trepidation. Manser was one of...
PICATINNY ARSENAL (Feb. 12, 2014) -- Expressing a new year's greeting in Chinese, Armaments Research Development and Engineering Center Director, Gerardo Melendez, said "Gung Hay Fat Choy," to welcome nearly 200 employees to the 2014 Picatinny Chinese Lunar New Year Luncheon on Jan. 24 at the Qin Dynasty restaurant in Parsippany.
The luncheon took place one week before the first day of the year 4712 in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, a day that is celebrated in the Asian cultures that follow the lunar calendar as the Spring Festival, Melendez explained.
As China's most significant annual celebration, the Spring Festival is celebrated in many parts of Asia. This year, it is symbolized by the seventh zodiac symbol, the horse.
Had the event taken place five years earlier, such an explanation of Chinese traditions would likely not have been deemed necessary, because the annual Picatinny event would have been comprised of only Asian Americans, explained, the event's organizer, Alan Kong.
In the last few years, however, "attendance began to take off" as many non-Asian personnel began attending to enjoy learning about Asian culture, said Kong.
"It isn't just an Asian celebration, it's a Picatinny Celebration," said Project Director for Joint Services, Col. Stephen F. Cummings a guest speaker representing the Program Executive Office for Ammunition.
For the duration of the event, attendees from diverse backgrounds were immersed in Chinese culture.
Two martial artists from the local Wushu Kung Fu Academy, together wearing a decorative lion costume, danced to the beat of accompanying percussionists while collecting red envelopes from attendees for good fortune.
Attendees also feasted on an eight-course sampling of Chinese cuisine, while impromptu lessons in chopstick technique took place at various tables.
Also, academy members conducted a high-flying demonstration of martial arts that with a combination of grace, aggression and swordplay generated "oohs and ahhs" from the crowd.
Theodore Hom, Branch Chief for Precision Futures, International Logistics, told his family story, explaining that his family, like many other Chinese immigrants, endured hardships.
Hom's family first immigrated to the United Stated because of a massive civil war against the Qing Dynasty in Guongdong Province, China. Many miners, laborers and domestic servants left the chaos to America, "and I'm sure many of you have lineage there," said Hom.
The immigrants participated as laborers in the California Gold Rush and in the transcontinental railroad projects, sending money home to their families. "Many never saw them again," he said.
During that Gold Rush period from 1848-1855, Hom said his great grandfather settled in Portland and worked as an herbologist. He visited China frequently and while in China, Hom's grandfather was born in 1911.
During the period immigrants faced local and state discrimination, said Hom , and also the Chinese Exclusion Act, "the only federal law to ever prevent immigration on the basis of race."
The law denied Chinese people the ownership of land, citizenship, naturalization and bringing their wives and children from China.
Hom's grandfather, however, immigrated to the U.S., and settled in New York City where he worked at a dry cleaner. He was drafted by the U.S. Army, and during "R&R" (rest and recuperation) Hom's grandfather went to China, met his grandmother and married.
Hom's father was born there in 1931. It took years for Hom's grandfather to return to the U.S. with his family due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, but he did return with his family when the law was repealed in 1946.
While in New York City, Hom's father was drafted into the U.S. Army. He would fight in the Korean War, and meet his future wife while on R&R in Hong Kong. Hom and his sister were both born in the United Stated in the 1960s.
"It took four generations for my sister and I to get a college degree," said Hom referring to the 90 years since his grandfather first arrived in the U.S. "If my family had not been persistent and proactive, I would not have the opportunity to be at Picatinny to share this story with you."
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