- Happy Fall Festival For Phoenix YEES
- 亞利桑那首位華裔州參議員 余艷芬
- November 6, 2012: Kimberly Yee becomes first Chinese Woman Elected to the Arizona State Senate
- Phoenix YEES Savor SEATTLE
- PHOENIX YEES IN THE “TRUE NORTH”
- 風塵僕僕話懇親
- Rep. Kimberly Yee is featured as one of Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women in New Book
- Phoenix Yees Welcome 4710 – Year Of The Dragon
- Give Hope A Chance!
Happy Fall Festival For Phoenix YEES
For the third year now, the Phoenix Yee
Fung Toy Family Association gathered at the City of
Phoenix (Mayor) Margaret T. Hance Park near the Japanese
Friendship Garden in the heart of the metropolitan area
to celebrate with considerable joy indeed the return of
cool weather with the annual Autumn Picnic. Each year,
nearly half the time will be seasonally warm and then
seasonally unreasonably so; thus, while the rotation of
the Earth may bring a regular occasion for Spring
Festival, the formal name in Chinese for the Lunisolar
New Year, renown throughout the world for the color and
felicity of that premier holiday: in Phoenix, Arizona,
the sentiments of families and friends on this occasion
is truly quite comparable.
The fare has always been bi-cultural
even if the weather element is singular: as
Chinese-Americans, we all naturally enjoy the
hamburgers and hot dogs along with side dishes that
recall our hearths and homes across the Pacific with
veggies, rice and noodle preparations, and of course
the sweets that cannot but make cookies and cakes take
second billing. To savor the foods and the aromas when
pleasant breezes can waft along the scent of mown
grassy fields in a setting not less pleasing to the
eye only enhances the occasion.
Moreover, as word gets out about it,
the Japanese Friendship Garden has become, rightfully
so, a further attraction; at the expense of $5
millions from governmental (city and federal) as well
as major corporate donations, the extensive site with
the sense and serenity of East Asia for a stroll is a
unique additional benefit for the occasion. Thanks to
Association former president David M. Yee, who serves
on the Board of Directors for the Japanese Friendship
Garden and has been for many years a prominent
supporter thereof, free admission tickets are
available for those attending the Yee event. (To be
sure, while Chinese and Japanese aesthetics are not
identical, and sometime can be quite divergent, there
cannot but be a certain shared sense of kindred spirit
in gardening for how botanical and aquatic life can
combine with architectural touches.)
Each annual event of the Association
is only feasible through the diligent and dedicated
volunteers who ensure that the invitations are issued,
the furnishings moved, the food arranged, the set-up
orderly, and the clean-up completed. The Hance Park
site provides for the Picnic ample fixed seating under
ramadas, properly fenced in for relative privacy in a
public space. The very young have adequate playground
equipment; and there would be ample area for field
sports but to gain that additional element will
require more attention and attraction of youngsters by
the Association leadership. Every success, after all,
naturally only invites more effort to attain to yet
brighter achievements.
Numbers of community leaders have been
attending Association events – the Spring Festival
banquet of course, but the Clan Hall Anniversaries,
and now the Picnic as well. This is a mark of the
contributions which many Yees continue to make to the
betterment of all Chinese-Americans in the greater
Phoenix area.
Now, as that November 4th occasion
fades to happy memory, and the holiday season sets in
with its busy schedules, we Yees in Phoenix can look
back on 2012 as another high stepping-stone well
climbed, and can be looking forward to more steps
ahead with 2013.
亞利桑那首位華裔州參議員 余艷芬
大選日余艷芬與父親余哲夫在投票點合影
Kimberly Yee is pictured with her father Mr. Jack Yee at a voting center in Phoenix, Arizona on Election Day November 6, 2012.
2012 年 11 月 6 日又成為亞利桑那華裔參政具有歷史意義的時刻，原首位亞利桑那華裔眾議院余艷芬在瑪麗庫帕第20區獲得了超 過 52% 的選票，成為亞利桑那州首位華裔女參議員。
根據亞利桑那州秘書處消息，余艷芬的最後投票結果遠遠超過她的其他兩個競爭對手。
余艷芬在加州和亞利桑那州贏得了豐富的政府工作經驗，近年被選為首位華裔女眾議院，在眾議院切實地為亞利桑那市民服務。
余艷芬說：“我非常感謝市民們的鼎力支持，特別是華人社區的大力支持。
我很榮幸能代表我們小企業，以及那些努力工作的家庭。 再次表示榮幸，能夠繼續在州參議院內繼續為大家服務。”
余艷芬是鳳凰城華裔夫婦余哲夫（Jack Yee），鄧淑珍（Betty Yee）
的女兒。 同時也是馬英華（Nelson Mar）醫生的太太。
November 6, 2012: Kimberly Yee becomes first Chinese Woman Elected to the Arizona State Senate
Kimberly Yee is pictured with her husband Dr. Nelson Mar at the Arizona Republican Party Victory Celebration
in downtown Phoenix at the Hyatt Regency on November 6, 2012.
Phoenix, Arizona - November 6, 2012
became another historic date in the records of Arizona
political history. Current state legislator, Kimberly Yee,
was elected as the first Chinese woman to the Arizona
State Senate.
Yee captured over 52% of the votes
in Maricopa County’s Legislative District 20. The final
tally of votes for Kimberly Yee far exceeded those of her
two competitors vying for the same district seat,
according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.
After serving and gaining experience
in various capacities of governmental service in Arizona
and California, Yee follows her current elective term as
the first Chinese woman to serve as a member of the
Arizona House of Representatives.
“I am thankful for the amazing
support that I have received from our Chinese community.
It is a sincere honor to represent you, our small
businesses and our hard-working families. I will serve you
honorably in the State Senate,” Yee said.
Kimberly Yee is the daughter of Jack
and Betty Yee of Phoenix, Arizona and the wife of Dr.
Nelson Mar.
PHOENIX YEES IN THE “TRUE NORTH”
Reflections on the 2012 World Yee Convention in Vancouver, BC
Taking the occasion of a trip to
cool and wet Northwest out of sunny and sweaty Arizona, I
and my brother, Chapter President Joe with his wife Mayen,
arrived in the evening of Wednesday, August 1st, a couple
days ahead of the 5th World Convention of Yee Fung-toy
Family Associations. Our accommodations were at the Hotel
of the River Rock Casino and Resort right on a riverine
waterfront; as in all such venues, these were top-notch
for facilities and amenities. (Convention planners, take
note!)
Thursday, Chapter Adviser David Yee
with his wife Stephanie and daughters Meghan and Emily,
arrived to join us, along with another Chapter Adviser,
Rudy Yee and his wife Mary Ann. We all then boarded for a
very scenic ferry ride out to Victoria (on Vancouver
Island), the capital of the Canadian Province of British
Columbia. After viewing the deservedly famous Butchart
Gardens, we toured downtown sights – museums, government
buildings, and Chinatown – concluding with dinner aboard a
cruise ship and then back to River Rock.
On Friday, the excellent light rail
system of Vancouver afforded us a chance for convenient
sightseeing and shopping at Aberdeen Centre, where,
afterwards, for dinner, we were joined by Ms. April (Wu)
Taylor, a local Phoenix community leader, with her sister
Barbara and two Korean friends at the Fisherman’s Terrace
Restaurant. Seafood in the Pacific Northwest is justly
appreciated for freshness and excellence.
The first event of the Convention
was the Saturday night banquet at the Continental Seafood
Restaurant in the adjacent suburb of Richmond. Grand Elder
John M. Yee, and Chapter Vice President Cheak Yee, along
with Jack Yee with wife Betty, and Brenda (Yee) Fung with
husband William, were able to be present by this time.
Formalities of course commenced the
Convention on Sunday morning; in this case, a Chinese
Pavilion at a local cemetery in Vancouver was the site for
the customary ancestral veneration rites. Then, everyone
headed to the local Yee Fung Toy Association Hall in the
Chinatown district, which of course on this occasion was
filled to overflowing for opening ceremonies.
A dim sum style luncheon at the
nearby Floata Seafood Restaurant (largest available for
banqueting) was followed by meetings and sessions in
breakout rooms, photography, and then some free time to
shop before dinner. On this occasion of a Yee worldwide
celebration, no less than half a dozen lion dance troupes
choreographed quite an exhibition and a local celebrity
newscaster performed as Mistress of Ceremonies.
Monday and Tuesday was the period
during which the Canadian Yee associations convened their
own national meeting; we were thus free to tour Vancouver
and Chinatown. A highpoint was literally at Queen
Elizabeth Park with its stunning views of the city set
along its complex harbor amidst tree-clad mountains.
Additionally, we had an opportunity briefly to visit the
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Gardens, modest in size but memorable
for loveliness laid out in the style of the famed gardens
in the city of Suzhou, south of the Long River, the
ChangJiang (the “Yangtze”) between Nanjing and Shanghai.
Similarly, Stanley Park and the kitschy Granville Island
rounded out the bus touring.
Dinners on Monday night was hosted
by the local Mah Family Association, in honor of the
long-standing close kinship/cooperation between the Mah’s
and the Yee’s, hailed as four centuries long. (This
cousinly relationship also extended to the Tse’s…)
Tuesday afforded a day long trip
into the nearby Canadian Rockies – to Whistler and Shannon
Falls; a ski lift ride was enjoyed by a few of us so
inclined to dizzying heights of beauty. On the way back, a
brief stop was made at Britannia Beach, and the evening
concluded with another banquet at Continental Seafood in
Richmond.
Time was taken on Wednesday to
visit the Villa Cathay Care Center, which specializes in
providing assisted care to Chinese elderly, as this is a
facility that will no doubt become more and more of
interest to the Phoenix community in due course. Grand
Elder John M. Yee had a chance to visit with a dear friend
of his own, and then treated all of us to a dinner at the
Anytime No. 9 Restaurant to conclude a memorably pleasant
excursion.
The Vancouver area had especially
received extensive immigration out of Hong Kong before
that British Crown Colony reverted to China in 1997; thus,
not only is the cultural and cuisine scene in the area of
highest quality, but Chinese-Canadians routinely achieve
electoral office, especially in the suburb of Richmond.
The Vancouver Yees definitely have a lot to showcase, and
there can be little doubt not only that their efforts for
this event were deeply appreciated, but that many of us
will visit again whenever feasible with fondest
anticipations.
Rep. Kimberly Yee is featured as one of
Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women in New Book
Phoenix, Ariz. – State
Representative Kimberly Yee (R-District 10), who
represents the legislative district areas surrounding
Glendale and northwest Phoenix, has been named as one of
Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women of Arizona and will be
featured in a centennial coffee table book now sold in
select bookstores. Yee is the first Asian American woman
ever elected to serve in the Arizona State Legislature.
“It is truly an honor to be named
with the trail blazers, the history makers, and the
outstanding women who are recognized among these 47 other
women in this book,” Yee said. “As a native Arizonan, I
appreciate the history of my home state. With each page of
this Arizona centennial celebration book, I relate to
every personal story shared in the book and the
contribution each woman has made to the legacy of this
great state.”
Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women
is a part of the Arizona Centennial Legacy Project which
celebrates the State of Arizona’s centennial, marking 100
years since becoming the 48th state. The selected honorees
hail from all walks of life, from a jail minister and a
bullfighter to a municipal judge.
Partnering with the Arizona
Historical Society and the Arizona Community Foundation,
the 48 Women project was created to honor women from
diverse backgrounds whose leadership and commitment in the
workplace contributed significantly to the betterment of
our wonderful state.
The complete list of honorees,
including Yee, are listed on the website www.48women.org. Some
familiar political names noted among the honorees include
former Arizona Governors Rose Mofford, Jane D. Hull and
Janet Napolitano, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor, and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
“Individually, the 48 Women
governing board knew there were many Arizona women who are
working hard every day to enhance the lives of others and
to make Arizona the best state it can be,” said Connie
Robinson, chairperson of the 48 Women project. “The level
of statewide involvement and the number and quality of the
nominations confirmed that. In fact, the scope of their
work and commitment is remarkable.”
A
coffee table book titled “Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing
Women,” which tells the women’s stories in words and
photos, was launched at a luncheon in Phoenix. The book is
now available for sale at select book stores and locations
throughout Arizona.
Phoenix Yees Welcome 4710 – Year Of The Dragon
Incoming Phoenix YFT President, Joe Yue, delivering his welcoming speech at the Spring Banquet
National YFT Grand Vice President, Alan Yee, addresses the Phoenix YFT with warm wishes
Az Rep Kimberly Yee presents an award to David M. Yee, outgoing president of Phoenix YFT, for his exemplary clan and community leadership over many recent years
Calif State Senator Leland Yee conveys congratulatory certificates to incoming President and VP of Phoenix YFT for 2012, respectively Joe Yue and Cheak Yee
A further special note of long-distance recognition was accorded by California State Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D., who had conveyed congratulatory certificates from his chamber to the incoming President and Vice President of the Association for 2012, respectively Joe Yue and Cheak Yee.
YFT Scholarship winners
Mr. Jack F. Yee was again the adept bilingual Master of Ceremonies, and this year had again the additional pleasure to introduce to an appreciative audience his very own daughter, Kimberly Yee, the first Asian American woman ever elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. Rep. Kimberly in turn had the opportunity to convey the greetings of the legislative chamber and to present an award to David M. Yee, outgoing president of the Association, for his exemplary clan and community leadership over many recent years.
| In high school – | Zachary
Yee, son of Jon and Anna Yee Emily Yee, daughter of David and Stephanie Yee |
|
| In junior high – | George
Yu, son of Mr. & Mrs. Kebin Yu Derek Yu, son of Mr. & Mrs. Jian Xin Yu Taylor Yee, son of Jon & Anna Yee |
|
| Chinese School – | Derek Yu, son of Mr. & Mrs. Jian Xin Yu |
YFT officers/advisors/elder toast the Phoenix YFT
The Lunisolar New Year’s Day in 2012 fell on the relatively early date of January 23rd. In 2013, it will fall on the relatively late date of February 13th. These represent the approximate extremes that the Chinese calendar, set into its basic regularity during the Han Dynasty in 104 B.C.E., can have the Spring Festival occur. Another local custom in Phoenix is that the Association, regardless of these lunar (and often intercalculary) variations, will always target the first weekend in March for its banquet, and so everyone can anticipate enjoying another such occasion with regularity.
Again and again, through the cycle of the clan and community Spring Festival banquets of 2012, a year of the Water Dragon, the good wish will be expressed repeatedly for Lung Ma Jingshen: “[May you enjoy] Dragon and Horse Lively-spiritedness” – for these are creatures uniquely full and emblematic of energy and power and spirit. Surely everyone who attended with the Yees in March will have had an evening of all such blessings, as an augury hopefully for a full year of nothing less.
Vice President,
Phoenix Yee Fung-toy Family Association
Give Hope A Chance!
Jeremy Lin’s first five games gave him an average of 23 or more points per game for a total of 136 points. This is the most points scored by a player in his first five starts since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.