Asian Cultural Fair, April 27, 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Opening ceremonies at the Buddhist Temple of Salinas, 14 California St.
Wellington Lee, R.I.P.
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Wellington Lee, historian of Chinatown, friend, past Chairperson and long-time member of ACE.
Wellington was a stalwart of Asian Cultural Experience whose contribution to the Asian Community and Salinas Chinatown will be cherished and greatly missed. You can read our last interview with him in ACE’s recently published book, Our Salinas Chinatown, available through ACE, Downtown Book & Sound, and Star Market.
If you knew Wellington, you can contribute to his obituary book at Struve & LaPorte.
Our condolences go out to his family.
—Larry Hirahara, Board, and Members of Asian Cultural Experience
2023 MC GIVES!
Please donate now to help ACE develop our Salinas Chinatown historical archives, upgrade archival storage and our websites, and create a virtual museum incorporating portions of our archives for the public to view and consult for their own research. Go to our page on the MC Gives! website and donate today. Thank you!
Photos from the Caliva Postcard exhibit. Thank you to Alex Fabros, Jr. for providing the images.
Our Salinas Chinatown
Pick up your copy of ACE’s book Our Salinas Chinatown, short memoirs and art by people who have lived and worked in Salinas Chinatown. It will be available for $15 at the Salinas Asian Festival, April 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the ACE office, 21 Soledad St., Suite A. Thanks to the Arts Council for Monterey County for an Arts and Culture grant that made publication of this book possible! Thanks also to MP Express for printing the book, and to Alfredo Celaya for book design and type.
Salinas Chinatown Revitalization and the Republic Cafe
Did you see the article in the Monterey County Weekly?
“With Two Property Acquisitions, Salinas Starts the Engine to Revitalize Chinatown Neighborhood.” We hope you will JOIN ACE and DONATE to help revitalize Salinas Chinatown!
Stay tuned for revitalization developments.
An Update on the Recent Fire
We know you are wondering about the fire. It takes time for assessment of the situation to take place. The following is what we can tell you about it right now. When we know more, we’ll let you know. —ACE Board
Summer Newsletter
We are having a quiet summer and will resume most programs this fall. Nevertheless, a number of positive things have happened for ACE this Spring and early Summer. If you haven’t already received your email copy, do check out our current ACE Summer Newsletter! We are now using the Substack platform to send out all newsletters.
This fall we will feature a book talk, at the Confucius Church (), by historian and scholar Dr. Carol Lynn McKibben, author of Salinas: A History of Race and Resilience in an Agricultural City. If you haven’t already read the book, you should; there’s a lot of fascinating information there about Salinas Chinatown’s history and role in Salinas Valley agriculture. 1-4 pm, Oct. 29, at 1 California St., Salinas. The event is FREE. Parking available at Confucius Church and Salinas Buddhist Temple parking lots, as well as on California St.
Virtual Asian Festival
ACE’s Virtual Asian Festival is coming up on July 29th, and we couldn’t be more excited. Visit our ACE pop-up and get K-tacos on July 14, 4 – 8 pm at the Salinas Sports complex; then on July 29, order Asian food samplers for take out, pick up at the Salinas Buddhist Temple 4 – 7 pm, and watch our online festival from 7 – 8 pm. Thanks to Basic Lee for the beautiful Festival logo design, Carissa Purnell for flyer design, and to the whole Virtual Festival Committee (Dominic Dursa, Jason Agpaoa, and Chrissy Lau) for their hard work on ACE’s first virtual festival!
TO ORDER: www.bit.ly/salinasACE2021
Moving Day
We moved in to our new office/gallery space at Moon Gate Plaza! There will be a few more moving days. Thanks to Union Bank (Prunedale) for the furniture donation! And thanks to all who came to help out, including Michael Miller who is not in these pics. Shown in the photos below: Cathy Chavez-Miller, Larry Hirahara, Jason Galinato Agapaoa, Henry Gong, Charlotte Hirahara, and Larry White. Photos: Jean Vengua
There’s still a lot of work to do, and we’ll be calling on volunteers to help out. More recently, we held our first programming meeting. Coming up on July 28/29 is our Virtual Asian Festival. Among other things, we’ll be serving up sweet & sour chicken, Republic Cafe style, lumpia, teriyaki kabobs, rice, and more for take-out. Check out our ACE Facebook page for updates.
ACE will also resume our pop-up exhibits this year. We’re looking forward to meeting you and sharing stories of Chinatown.
AAPI Rally: April 24, Monterey
Join ACE on April 24, at a Unite Against AAPI Hate rally, 11 a.m., on the lawn in front of Monterey City Hall, 570 Pacific St., Monterey CA. ACE will have a table there. Stop by and say hi! Ask us about our project to create a Chinatown Cultural Center and Museum. Speakers include Congressman Jimmy Panetta, Vice Mayor/City Councilmember Tyller Williamson, ACE members Jason Galinato Agpaoa and Gerry Low-Sabado, Kaye Roberts, Ajit Abraham, Larry Oda, Nat Rojas, Eric Tao, and Angie Tran.
Be safe — wear a mask!
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