Happy Fall!

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying the lovely fall colors!

For those who attended our 10^th birthday party, thank you! We're jazzed that more than 200 folks had a great time playing Asian games, getting their fortunes read, making origami dragons and noshing on savory appetizers, multiple course Chinese meal and birthday cake. Special shout out and thanks goes to Presenting sponsor MillerCoors and our Associate sponsors: American Family Insurance, Hsu Family Foundation, Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk and Katz, Look & Onorato, P.C.

During the party, we launched two new videos that tell different stories about the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. Much appreciation goes to Lockerpartners, LLC, Lam T. Nguyen and Huan Manton for donating a lot of time and their expertise in helping us capture the essence of CDBF.

On the dragon boat race front, below you'll see how two of our race teams are raising the competitive bar by bringing home wins and putting Colorado on the map as serious dragon boat race contenders!

On a separate note, through the month of October, the Aurora History Museum had an exhibit titled "Amache: Colorado's Internment Camp." I was fine looking at all the photos, artifacts and even listening to the heart-wrenching video that played in the background. There was a board filled with hand-written note cards where visitors could share their thoughts and experience. All notes were quite moving, however, one in particular stood out. The handwriting was almost child-like and simply read, "I was born in an internment camp on 02/04/44."

That's when I cried.

After I composed myself, I grabbed a note card and wrote, "This is very emotional for me. I can feel the shame and pain my parents, grandparents and great-grand parents all endured." We all carry some of pain from the previous generations. And, that's why the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is so important - it provides a platform to educate about Asian and Asian American Pacific Islander history not covered in the classroom. Huge kudos to the Aurora History Museum and to the curators and volunteers -- it was an excellent exhibit! We hope to have a similar exhibit at the 2011 festival.

Thank you for your continued support and know you're supporting more than a fun event...