On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, AsianWeek threw a birthday party and welcomed the community to a seven-course banquet on Oct. 29 in San Francisco.
Guests were greeted by firecrackers and lion dancing as they made their way up to the ballroom where 700 people joined the party with noise sticks, party horns and monkey-doll souvenirs. The thunderous beats of taiko drumming brought the diners to attention as awards were presented to Olympians Sammy Lee and Tommy Kono by Florence Fang, chairman of the board for AsianWeek, and Dan Richards, senior vice president of Pacific Gas & Electric and a major corporate supporter. Partygoers who stayed till the end were treated to hip hop numbers by the youth group Chain Reaction.
“AsianWeek has significant meaning as an advocate since the APA population has been growing, with currently over 30 percent in San Francisco,” said Betty Yee, chief deputy to John Chiang of the State Board of Equalization.
“I usually get AsianWeek from a ramen shop in Japantown and [was] impressed by their detailed community information,” said Tome Dahte of Hokubei Mainichi newspaper.
“Major newspapers cover [fewer] social issues than AsianWeek,” said Esther E. Lee, district representative of state Sen. John L. Burton.
AsianWeek’s founder, the late John Fang, used to say the paper was published for the next generation. What kind of requests do young AsianWeek readers have?
Avid reader David Wong, a personal banker at Wells Fargo, wanted the paper to carry more classified ads. Darryl D. Chiang, corporate counsel for Hitachi America, requested more arts coverage. Actress Pearl Wong thought the paper would be more interesting with extra business news.
AsianWeek was joined at its 25th anniversary community dinner by a wide range of elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Mayor Gavin Newsom, District Attorney Kamala Harris, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, College Board President Lawrence Wong, San Francisco Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Bevan Dufty, and City Administrator Bill Lee. Lantos read his entry into the congressional record announced during the 108th Congress’ second session on Oct. 8.
Community groups that joined in the celebration included Asian American Recovery Services, Asian American Theater Company, Asian Inc, the Lions Club of San Francisco, Newcomer High School, the Boy Scouts, Chinese American Citizens Alliance, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, the Kearny Street Workshop, the Oakland Museum’s Asian American Advisory Council, San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the YMCA, Asian American Mental Health Services, the Asian Women’s Resource Center and many more.
“To realize the American dream, stay involved with us. With your support, we will serve our community for the next 25 years and more!”said James Fang, the paper’s president.