Successful CFAA 10 Year Anniversary Celebration
On Aug 27, 2006, Chicago Fudan Alumni Association (CFAA) held a 10 Year
Anniversary picnic at Deer Grove Park in Palatine, IL. Around 160 alumni, family
members, guests and friends attended the gathering. Some alumni drove hours from
Wisconsin and UIUC. People met old friends and made new friends. There were also
volleyball, soccer, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, jump rope, kite and other games. The
spirit was high and the atmosphere was warm. The event was well received by
alumni and it also raised the profile of CFAA in Chicago Chinese Communities.
First let us thank Prof. Woo Pengyung for his continuous strong support.
Prof. Woo gave his full support to the picnic team and we thank Prof. Woo for
his devotion to CFAA.
Next our thanks go to a group of professional social event organizers.
They are Chicago Chinese Computing Association Vice President Zhou Jiangang
(Stanley), Association of Chinese Scientists and Engineers in USA (ACSE) Vice
President Xu Xiangdong, Greater Chicago Chinese Tennis Association (GCCTA)
cofounder Shi Yu (Sunny, currently in semi-final of GCCTA Championship), and
ACSE Vice President Yu Zhiguang (George). Stanley and Xiangdong are both picnic
experts. Stanley reserved the picnic site, put down road signs, put up the
banner, decorated the tables, put food in everyone’s hand, and arranged prize
drawing to excite attendees. Xiangdong is an expert on game and entertainment
activities. Xiangdong set up volleyball net, brought other games and played
Fudan Centennial Celebration DVD on laptop computer. Xiangdong also helped to
distribute food. Sunny used his technical skills to automate the registration
process. This enabled us to have an information driven process for the picnic.
Food purchase and food distribution was all based on information gathered from
registration. George has great presentation skills and is an expert working with
professional organizations. George interacted well with other community leaders
and his speech left a deep impression with the audience. Been there, done that,
their expertise contributed significantly to the success of this event.
Our thanks also go to board members. Yuan Jian purchased drinks for the
event. Yang Jie came early to work on registration. Liu Weizhong brought camera
to take photos. I also asked Qi Xiaohe to come to help. The thinking goes like
this: at least Xiaohe could help on name tags and other issues, also his wife
Rhonda (she is not from Fudan) is very capable and warm hearted, maybe Rhonda
could support Yuan Jian. Upon their arrival, Rhonda was immediately persuaded by
Yuan Jian to work on payments and Rhonda performed brilliantly. Xiaohe, we don’t
want to owe you even more in our next picnic.
Other picnic team members played a pivotal role in the success of the event.
Fudan High School alumnus Chen Yun surveyed the picnic site, attended discussion
and gave suggestions. On the day of the event, Chen Yun didn’t feel well in
terms of health condition. However, she was cheered up by the huge crowd and
worked hard on registration. Xu Bo bought pizza and worked diligently to
distribute food to everyone.
Our volunteers for leading committee fully demonstrated their volunteer
spirit in the picnic. Zhang Zhiyi (Jerry) and Chen Ye came early and worked
together to carry 120 boxes of food, 120 cups of soup, 120 egg rolls, cakes and
steam rice, napkins, chopsticks and spoons from Lao Sichuan Restaurant. After
put food on the table, Jerry and Chen Ye worked nonstop to put food in people’s
hands. Xin Zhili kept a sharp eye and made sure that tables were cleaned. This
is a great start and I am sure that leading committee members will contribute
much more to CFAA in the future.
Bosses became workers. Venture Capitalist Huang Weiqing and Entrepreneur
Li Xiaofang who owns chemistry business both in US and China, rolled up their
sleeves, carried many boxes of food and distributed even more. UIC students came
early to help carry huge quantity of bottle water. Many other alumni
spontaneously lent a helping hand at the picnic site and contributed greatly to
make the picnic a smooth and successful event.
I was invited to both Beida and Tsinghua picnic. I am proud to tell you that our
picnic was similar in size to Beida and Tsinghua picnics. An important purpose
of this picnic is to promote CFAA in Chicago Chinese Communities. Beida and
Tsinghua Alumni Association leaders were amazed at the high registration rate of
CFAA picnic. Over 90 percent of people who registered came to the picnic, and
among people who came to the picnic, 80 percent of them had already registered.
CFAA already has an admirable community spirit, let us keep it and make it even
stronger.
In the following web page please find newspaper report about Fudan Aug 27
Picnic.
http://www.fudan-chicago.org/reports/picnic060827.htm
Wang Jian