logo

Review of 2009 Chinese New Year Celebration

The Chinese New Year Celebration was a spectacular success at the Intercontinental Ballroom in Kansas City January 25, 2009. Everyone rang in the Year of the Ox with great fanfare.

The evening opened with every guest being greeted by our student ambassadors from Avila University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri – Kansas City and Park University and Student Ambassador Committee Chair Mary Edith Lillis.

The Chinese New Year Celebration was a spectacular success at the Intercontinental Ballroom in Kansas City January 25, 2009. Everyone rang in the Year of the Ox with great fanfare.

The evening opened with every guest being greeted by our student ambassadors from Avila University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri – Kansas City, Park University and Student Ambassador Committee Chair Mary Edith Lillis.

The ballroom was filled with more than 200 guests who found a gift of gratitude at their place setting - a cashmere scarf from China, a token of friendship representing the warmth our sponsors, attendees and members enable us to provide to the An Shang, HanJiaPing, and Yu Kou Schools, and Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an, China each year.

To begin the evening, guests enjoyed visiting with friends old and new during the wine reception preceding dinner. Conversation flowed over the beautiful art on display for the silent auction from many local artists donating talent to support the Society.

Throughout the dinner, awards and acknowledgements were given for support and involvement in Society endeavors. Special thanks were extended by our event host John Phillips to longtime Society friends Jeannette Nichols and Michael Newburger, and to our Year of the Ox Sponsor DST Systems. Larry Moore accepted a special award for his continued support of the Society over the past 10 years.

We are sad that we won't be seeing our longtime supporter, Mistress of Ceremonies Surae Chinn as often now as she departs Kansas City from Channel 5 News. However, we are happy for her continued friendship from afar in her new role as News Anchor in Washington, D.C.

The evening highlight was Mary Eisenhower's keynote address as President of People to People International. Mary told a moving story of the difference each individual makes by reaching out to others in the spirit of friendship around the world. We are grateful for her inspirational words over dinner, as she touched on the emotion and purpose of the New Year for everyone.

The evening would not have been complete without our talented friends who danced and provided entertainment that moved so many of us after dinner. Dancers from the Jasmine Chinese Dance Group and KCCA Dance Group performed cultural pieces and our own Celebration Chairperson, Jinsong Zhang, performed a stunning swan solo dance. We are very lucky to enjoy such beautiful Chinese performances in our great city.

The children's Drum Roller Team, led by Daniel Xue perked up the ballroom with a rousing performance of rhythm and style on beautiful red Chinese drums. Sponsorship from the Society helped fund the drums, and we truly enjoyed the talented performance in return.



Copyright © The Society for Friendship with China, Inc. | All Rights Reserved | Photos by Linda Hanley | e-mail

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional Valid CSS!