Chinese New Year Celebration Set for Sunday

A celebration of the Chinese New Year will be conducted Sunday at St. Bernard High School as part of an effort to bring native Americans and emigrating Asians together to better understand each other’s culture.

 The event, a traditional Chinese celebration which features such events at the Lion Dance and the Dragon dance, is hosted by the Chinese American Cultural Assistance Association. It starts at 11 a.m.

The Chinese New Year started Feb. 3 .The new year starts on the first new moon  of the first day of the new year and ends with the full moon 15 days later. This is the year of the rabbit.

Namie Tedford, a member of the cultural association, said the new year signals a new beginning as well as an expression of thanks for the past year, much as is the case with the traditional American new year. The Sunday celebration serves that purpose but it also is designed two bring people together.

“The association tries to build relationships between the two cultures,” Tedford said. “Many Chinese don’t trust a lot of people. Americans don’t understand how the Chinese, or Asian, culture works, and the Chinese don’t understand how the American culture works. We try to make each other understand. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

In previous years, an average of about 500 people have attended the celebration.

Among other things, the Asian Performing Arts Group will perform the Lion Dance, Dragon Dance. There also will be martial arts, Chinese cultural music and dancers. A Tai Chi group will perform for about 15 minutes.

During an intermission, a Chinese buffet prepared by Chen’s Restaurant in Uncasville will be provided at a small cost.

Following intermission, 13 Tibetan girls attending Montville High School will perform. Finally, a Chinese children’s school will have students singing and dancing for about 15 minutes. There will be a number of other events, including face painting.

Hallie Wong, another member of the cultural association, said that in New York or Boston Chinatowns, the new year would be celebrated with fireworks and a parade. “We’re trying to capture a little bit of that feeling,” he said.

 The Asian community has grown considerably during recent years with the opening of the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos.

 Tedford said many Asians who come to the United States are physicians, lawyers, school teachers and other professionals.

“Here they may be a janitor at a casino or a dealer at a casino,” she said. “But the reason they come is to give their children a better opportunity.”

 The cultural association is nonprofit with all money coming from donations and fund-raising.