Volunteer Schedule

The schedule for the Japanese-American Heritage Days event at Old Fisherman's Wharf has been nailed down so now we know what our specific volunteer tasks will be.

The event is Saturday-Sunday, May 3-4 with activities running from 11:00AM to 4:00PM both days.  Each activity will need a minimum of two volunteers, but there certainly can be more.  (You may need to double-click the image to view it more easily.)

From the schedule below, please choose one or more activities and the times you can attend.  Let me know by email so I can create a master schedule.  If you don't care which activity, but you can come at certain time, tell me the time, then come to the Information Table.  I'll insert you somewhere.  It is important that we are visible, particularly the students.

There will be a leader from the Japanese-American Citizens at each of the activities instructing us what to do, but in general, our tasks are:

Information Table: hand out event schedules and answer questions from event attendees.  I will be at this table most of the time throughout the event.  This will be our check-in/checkout point.

Gyotaku Fish Painting (printing): assist "artists" with paint, paper, fish, instruction, and so on.  Here is a video of what this is all about.

Origami: assist with paper, instructions.  We'll be learning, then helping people to fold sailboats, helmets, cranes, and chopstick holders.

Abalone Races:  assist the "abalone wrangler" with the abalone and contestants.

Wharf Theater Guides: be a "living sign" directing people to the events inside the Wharf Theater.

Wharf Cruisers: walk up and down the wharf handing out event schedules and directing people.

Procession:  At 4:00PM on Saturday we will take part in a procession from the Information Table to the JACL Building on Adams Street next door to Cages Batting Center across from Jacks Park.  Two Junior Wingers (one boy, one girl) have been asked to carry the flags (US and Japan) for the procession.  We are all invited to the reception that will follow our arrival.

Sunday will be a repeat of the Saturday schedule; however, there will be no procession.

For a full list of the events, see the event write-up on the Old Fisherman's Wharf website.

Call for Volunteers at Japanese-American Heritage Days Festival on May 3-4

Junior Wings has been invited to participate in the First Annual Japanese-American Heritage Days festival at Old Fisherman's Wharf on Sat-Sun May 3-4.

The festival needs volunteers to staff various activities and the information booth from 10AM-5PM.  Specific duties for volunteers will be clarified as we get closer to the date, but in general we are to help distribute signs, direct foot traffic, staff the information booth, and help with "gyotaku" (fish-painting), abalone races, origami, and other activities.

We have also been invited to participate in the 4:00PM Saturday procession from Fisherman's Wharf to the Japanese-American Citizens League Hall on Adams Street (very near the corner of the Sports Center and Jacks Park) and stay for the reception.

The Japanese Consulate General from San Francisco, Mayor Chuck Della Salla, Former Mayor (and great supporter of Junior Wings) Dan Albert, and representatives from Nanao, our sister-city, will be present.

I will be posting more information in the coming days with specific activities and volunteer time slots for sign-up so please save May 3-4 to come learn about and support the Japanese heritage of our community.  It should prove to be interesting and a lot of fun.

April 16 Bake Sale

Great job on the Bake Sale at the Colton Open House last night, particularly on such short notice!  There were lots of goodies for sale and a steady stream of customers.  We earned $216!

April 15 General Meeting

We had a great first meeting.  Thank you all for coming and being so energetic, particularly with the self-introductions!  Your pronunciation sounded great by the end.  It was the first time for Junior Wings to meet in the preschool room at the Monterey Youth Center.  It worked out well and I am looking forward to our future meetings there.

For those of you who couldn't make it, here is a link to the presentation.

Students, your research projects by the next meeting:

• Find 5 interesting facts about Japan (cite source)
• Visit Kids Web Japan and learn the 14 greetings and useful words
• Make name placard, roughly 11x17", include email address (be sure it is big enough to read!)
• Apply for your passport.  If you already have one, please make a photocopy (color, if possible) and bring it to the next meeting
• Complete your Student Profile and bring it to the next meeting.  You can find another copy on our Documents & Links page under Handouts.

See you all again on April 29, 6:30-8:00pm at the Monterey Youth Center.

First Up!

Our first meeting will be Tuesday, April 15, 6:30-8:00pm and the Monterey Youth Center.  Please come excited and ready to learn!

After a brief reintroduction to the program, our tasks at the first meeting will be:

• Self-introductions
• Logistics of the program
• Passports
• Timeline
• Costs/Fundraisers
• Calendar
• Photos
• Next Steps

We will also need to begin collecting information from you, including a self/family profile that will be used to help match you with a partner in Nanao.  We will also be asking for your T-shirt size, your height (in centimeters), birthday, and general family information.

We will end each meeting with a simple and entertaining homework assignment for you to research before the next meeting.

What do you need to bring?  Please prepare a 1" three-ring binder with about 25 sheets of notebook paper and a pocket or two.  You will be given handouts that you will need to keep and you will need to take notes.  While smartphones are great and can be very useful, pencil and paper are still the best way to capture information quickly.  Bring your notebook and pen/pencil to every meeting!

Last, our first fundraiser opportunity is already here: The Colton Open House on Wednesday, April 16.  We will be selling baked goods as dessert to the pizza being sold by the Colton PTA.  Details will be discussed at the meeting, but please prepare some kind of baked good, such as cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and so on that we can sell during the Open House.

Contact Dana with any questions at 831-601-1592

This is going to be an exciting program year and I am looking forward to spending it with you.  See you all on Tuesday!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the eleven successful applicants selected for the 2014 Junior Wings Program.  Competition is always very tough and this year was no exception.  Thank you to all of the applicants for your interest in the program.

For those applicants that were not selected, please understand that the logistics of the program when traveling to Japan is what limits the number of applicants that can be selected.  We regret that we are unable to take everyone.  If you are still truly interested in Japan, please consider joining the Japan Friendship Club at school where you and your clubmates will learn and experience a lot of fun things about Japan.