Monday, January 14, 2008
Westminster City Council may vote to co-sponsor Tet Parade
Council members must decide Wednesday whether to give $40,000 to help revive the Tet Parade and the Founder's Day Parade
By DEEPA BHARATH
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
WESTMINSTER – The fate of a newly resuscitated Tet Parade and a long-defunct Founder's Day Parade may now rest with the City Council.
Council members on Wednesday will vote on whether to allocate $20,000 for each parade.
A group called the Vietnamese Heritage and Cultural Foundation of America based in Little Saigon and headed by Hung Nguyen, a Vietnam War veteran, announced in November that it was going to bring back the Lunar New Year parade on Bolsa Avenue after a three-year hiatus.
The parade will take place on Feb. 9, the opening day of the annual Lunar New Year celebrations put on by the Union of Vietnamese Student Association in Garden Grove. The last Tet Parade took place in 2004 when it was run by now-Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen.
Mayor Margie Rice said she would support the city's co-sponsorship of the Tet Parade as long as the Founder's Parade is revived.
"Both parades are a nice way for us to bring the communities together," she said.
If the City Council votes in favor of approving the money for both parades, it would automatically revive the Founder's Day parade, which came to an end in 1977 when the parade committee ran out of steam and money, said Community Services Director Greg Johnson.
"But we'd limit it to something controlled and simple," he said.
It would be held in conjunction with the Founder's Day festival held for the first time last April to commemorate the city's 50th anniversary.
Hung Nguyen said the cost of the Tet parade has been intimidating so far and that the city's co-sponsorship would help offset the high cost of putting on this parade.
"It's a cultural event, not a political one," he said. "And this is a celebration for all of the community, not just for the Vietnamese community."
Nguyen said he already has a list of eight floats and promises of some corporate sponsorship. He is also hosting a fundraiser Friday night at the Paracel restaurant in Westminster to benefit the parade.
The group is in the process of acquiring permits from the city and the police department and has already secured a $2-million liability insurance policy, Nguyen said.
Rice said the city should have a say as co-sponsor on how the parade is run.
"When the city partially runs it, there is less chances of personality clashes and political issues arising," Rice said.
Councilman Andy Quach said he would have no problems forking over the money for both parades.
"These are events that bring the entire community together," he said. "The city has sponsored community events in the past. This would be no different."
Johnson agreed.
"It could help bridge gaps among cultures in communities, especially in ours, because we have a sizeable Vietnamese population,'' he said.
Contact the writer: 714-445-6685 or dbharath@ocregister.com
No comments:
Post a Comment