Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center Open House

Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008
6:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.

Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center
128 North Oneida Street
Appleton, WI 54911

Highlights

• Honor Roll of Donors
• Honor Roll of Volunteers
• Meet our Upward Bound Program Family with Craig Baker
• Visit the American Indian Center with Lisa Hurst
• Enjoy delightful conversations with Harmony Café Staff & Shannon Kenevan
• Meet & Greet our member organizations
• Experience community dialogue with various individuals
• Refreshments….

For more information, please contact Aditee Shet.

NEW Wolrd Cinema - Joyeux Noël

France 2005 Director: Christian Carion, rated PG-13
November 30 & December 1, 2008, 7:00 PM
Fox Cinema, 400 3rd Street, Menasha
Ticket $5

In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war was well under way. However on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal, and unauthorized, truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood. This film dramatizes one such section as the French, British and German sides partake in the unique event, even though they are aware that their superiors will not tolerate its occurrence.

Thia film was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 2006.

What do the reviewers say …

• “The story speaks to universal human emotions that transcend country and culture”. – Robert Butler (Kansas City Star)
• “Today's audience might find it hard to believe soldiers could shoot each other one day and play soccer together the next. Alas, this happened and Carion's screenplay is smart enough to make us believe ... even in the 21st century”. – Forrest Hartman (Reno Gazette)
• “A remarkable episode in the bloody history of what is still referred to - with increasingly sickening irony -- as the war to end all wars.'” – John Beifuss (Commercial appeal, Memphis)
• “It's a marvelously entertaining history lesson -- glossy, emotional and touching” – Roger Moore (Orlando Sentinel)

Hmong New Year celebration

when: Saturday, November 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
where: Appleton East High School.

Stop over and watch some of the festivities. It’s a great event to drop in on and catch what you can. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole day ... you won't regret it.

For more information, contact Jennifer Gaines Bates, Refugee Youth Coordinator, Hmong-American Partnership Fox Valley, Inc. at jennygbates@hotmail.com

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Holiday Party

Date: Tuesday, December 30

Time: 6-9 PM

Place: India Darbar Restaurant, 2333 W Wisconsin Ave, Appleton. We will have a private room.

Cost: $10 per person. Toward Community will pay $3 toward every meal so the cost for Toward Community members, including children and family members, will be $7 per person.

Scott Peeples and Tony Gonzalez will provide recorded music. You are all encouraged to bring a favorite reading or poem to share with the group.

RSVP:To Scott Peeples at peeplesscott@aasd.k12.wi.us or 993-8905

2009 Jane LaChapelle McCarty Unity in Diversity Award

PLEASE SUBMIT NOMINATIONS:

The 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee is accepting nominations for the 2009 Jane LaChapelle McCarty Unity in Diversity Award. This honor will be awarded to an individual in our community who has made great strides in bringing different people in the community together in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The award will be announced at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lawrence University Memorial Chapel in Appleton. The keynote speaker is Dr. Bola Delano-Oriaran, Assistant Professor at St. Norbert College in De Pere and 2004 recipient of this award. You will be inspired as she presents Beyond Dr. King’s Dream: Next Steps.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRY:
Mail or email by Friday, January 2, 2009. Nomination must be one page.

Nominations are to be submitted to:
JLM Unity Award
Attention: Roger Bertschausen
PO BOX 1791 Appleton, WI 54912
or email fvuufmin@new.rr.com

Yearly Report of Toward Community 2008

Submitted on November 16th

Regular Executive committee and General meetings-

• January 15th M L K Celebration
• February 28th – General Membership Meeting
• June 17th - Executive Board Meeting
• Annual Diversity Picnic - July 20th
• August 16th - Booth at Farmer’s Market and General Membership Meeting
• November 20th – General Membership Meeting
• December – Holiday Party

Participation in Community Activities -

• Healthy Day- YMCA
• Meeting with Kaukauna School Superintendent
• Participating in Planning of Hmong Association Conference of 2009
• Participating in planning of Seed folks Project with area schools and Appleton Library
• Participated in Multicultural Center’s program - Foods of All Nations

Financial Support to Different Organizations -

• Donation to NEWCA (Northeast Wisconsin Chinese Association) $100
• Donation to FCRMC towards their loan payment - $500
• Donation to Harmony Café - $250

Toward Community meeting THURSDAY

From: PEEPLES, SCOTT <PEEPLESSCOTT@aasd.k12.wi.us>

Dear Toward Community,

Please join us this Thursday, November 20th at the Appleton library at 6:30 p.m. As you know, we are only meeting quarterly this year so this is one of the few chances for all our members to come together.

We will meet in the lower level of the library.

Thursday, November 20^th, 2008-Toward Community Meeting Agenda

6:30 p.m.

I. Approval of Minutes of August 16 meeting (1 minute)

II. Toward Community Membership for 2009, mailing (5 minutes)

III. Treasurer's Report (4 minutes)

6:40 p.m.

IV. Holiday Party – date and venue (5 minutes)

V. Yearly report of the programs done by TC (10 minutes)

6:55 p.m.

VI. Future TC presence at Downtown Appleton Farmer's Market (5 minutes)

VII. 2009 Martin Luther King Celebration at Lawrence University (8 minutes)

VII. Planning next year's meeting dates (7 minutes)

7:15 p.m.

VIII. Topic for Discussion – "Election proves 'we the people' includes African-Americans," by Leonard J. Pitts Jr. 11/5/'08 (30 to 45 minutes)

VIII. Adjourn by 8 p.m

2009 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest Announced

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Young people who are inspired by Dr. King’s vision of a society free of racial prejudice are invited to enter the 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest.

Essay contest winners will be invited to read their essays at the 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration to be held on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lawrence University Memorial Chapel on College Avenue in Appleton. Winners in four brackets will be awarded $25 from Toward Community: Unity in Diversity and $25 from IndUS of the Fox Valley.

Contest categories by grade are: 2nd and 3rd, 4th through 6th, 7th through 9th, and 10th through 12th. Submissions may be in essay or poetry form and should not exceed one page. Writers should relate their essays to the theme of this year’s community celebration, “Beyond Dr. King’s Dream: Next Steps.” Dr. King’s dream for our world was that all people would learn to live together in harmony. Student entries should attempt to describe the responsibility young people have in advancing Dr. King’s message of equality and harmony among people of all races and all backgrounds. A panel of judges will critique the essays. Originality will be a critical factor in the judging process.

The deadline to enter the contest is 4:30 p.m. Friday, December 5, 2008. A sheet separate from the essay should contain the writer’s name, address, telephone number, school, and grade. Do not write names on essays. Please do not use staples to attach name and essay sheets. Send entries to: Toward Community: Unity in Diversity, 128 N. Oneida St., Appleton, WI 54911. Call Gayle Hardt at (920) 954-7211 with questions or if you need to arrange for drop off of an essay before 4:30 p.m. on December 5th. Winners will be notified by phone.

The keynote speaker for the 2009 celebration is Dr. Bola Delano-Oriaran, Assistant Professor of Education, at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. In addition, the Kaukauna High School Choir will perform.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is an interfaith, multicultural event sponsored by Toward Community: Unity in Diversity, Lawrence University, and a number of area churches, religious organizations, businesses, and social service agencies. The King Celebration has been a unifying tradition in the Fox Valley since 1992. It is free and open to the public.

Deadline to enter is 4:30 p.m. Friday, December 5, 2008

2009 UW-Fox Valley Ethnic Reading Seminar

This seminar is a unique opportunity to discuss experiences and thoughts on issues of ethnicity, identity, citizenship and society, by coming together in a shared reading experience.

This year's seminar will focus on "Lan Samantha Chang and the Immigrant Experience." Her stories set in the past and the present, in China and the US, depict intimate portrayals of individuals who long for so much, but above all, for connection, in an environment that is at once alienating and enticing. Hunger includes a novella and five short stories that explore the vulnerabilities of individuals and their relationships as they navigate the dislocations brought by immigration. Her novel Inheritance illustrates the complexity of the interaction between identity and heritage, memory and history.

"Sometimes I wonder if I would have become a writer if I had been raised in a larger, more diverse community ... My childhood in Appleton [WI] prepared me for writing -- for observing and recording -- because I grew up feeling like an outsider ... I can not remember a time when I was not conscious of being different from the majority of people around me."

Lan Samantha Chang has published short stories in Atlantic Monthly and Best American Short Stories Collection. She has been awarded numerous fellowships awards, including the PEN Beyond Margins Award in 2005 for Inheritance and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008. She currently directs the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. She will be speaking at UW-Fox Valley April 17^th.

The seminar is open to at no charge to members of the Fox Valley community. Sessions will take place from noon until 1:00 p.m. at the UW-Fox Valley campus on February 17, February 24, March 10, April 14 and April 21. The sessions will be in a discussion format.

There is no cost to participate. Participants may keep the books as part of their involvement in the seminar.

If you are interested in participating please contact: Jeff Kuepper: jeff.kuepper@uwc.edu . If possible, please try to respond by Thursday, November 6^th.

Toward Community November Meeting

Toward Community Meeting Agenda
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008
6:30 p.m., Appleton Library, lower level

1. Approval of minutes of Aug. 16 meeting, 1 min.
2. T.C. membership for 2009, mailing, 5 min.
3. Treasurer's report, 4 min.
4. Holiday Party, date and venue, 5 min.
5. Yearly report of TC programs, 10 min.
6. Future TC presence at Downtown appleton Farmer's Market, 5 min.
7. 2009 Martin Luther King Celebration at Lawrence, 8 min.
8. Planning next year's meeting dates, 7 min.
9. (Should start at about 7:15) Topic for discussion; Bringing the country together after the Nov. 4 election -- based on article Scott Peeples will present. 30-45 min.

Adjourn by 8:00 p.m.