TONARI GUMI NEWSLETTER

Volunteer Appreciation Party
Our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Party was held on Saturday, July 11. For the last couple of years we have had BBQ parties, but this year, we decided to have a bowling party at Grandview Lanes. There were about 50 volunteers of men and women of all ages ? from people in their 20’s to people in their 90’s. Volunteers who rarely meet during the week were divided into eight teams and enjoyed the game. Some young volunteers from Japan were not very familiar with 5-pin bowling, so everyone on the team tried to help each other with the game. We think that regardless of his or her age, everyone who attended the event had a good time. It is because of the help of these volunteers that Tonari Gumi’s programs are in place. We take this opportunity to send our thanks to all of our volunteers ? those who came to the party and also those who could not make it. We look forward to working with you again!

Powell Street Festival
This year, the Powell Festival was held at Woodland Park instead of the usual Oppenheimer Park. Although our staff was a bit anxious having to deal with the logistics of a venue change, the event was a big success thanks to the nice weather and the help of many people. We had a big turnout at the food booth with our popular cold noodles, inarizushi (sushi rice wrapped in fried bean curd), daifuku (sweet rice cake), iced coffee, barley tea, and this year’s new item, sushi lunch box. Perhaps it was the hot weather, the cold noodles was very popular. All of our food items were sold out on the two days. Over at our craft booth, everything from Japanese style greeting cards, dried flowers greeting carsd, and other small Japanese style accessories and bags all handmade by our senior craft club members sold quickly. We greatly appreciate the help of more than 100 volunteers who worked under the record high heat on the days of the festival and helped with preparation leading up to the big weekend. In addition, we would also like to say a big thank you to our sponsors and everyone who stopped by our booths at the festival.

Walk Across Canada Celebration Party
We held a celebration party for Walk Across Canada on Friday, August 14th. Everyone who attended had his or her picture taken at a ceremonial finish line with ribbon and received a participation medal from Tonari Gumi staff. After crossing the finish line, walkers were able to find out their race results. In first place was Toshiko Narumi who, between May 1st and July 28th, walked a total of 721 km. This is the equivalent of walking from Tokyo to Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Following the results ceremony, everyone chatted together over lunch then had a rousing game of bingo. Our Walk Across Canada event began in Vancouver on May 1st, with participants aiming to walk the combined equivalent of the distance across country to St. John’s in Newfoundland (7428 km). We reached our goal a month early, on June 29th. We then set a second goal of walking the equivalent of the distance from Vancouver to Alaska (3788 km), which we achieved on July 28th. Our third goal was to walk the length of Japan (8293 km). We started in Tokyo, and as of August 17th, have made it as far as T?ya in Hokkaido. We aim to reach this third goal by early October, when the weather is still nice.