ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS May—June

M/M Richard Hanki $ 100 Tobis Matsumura 38.48 M/M Andrew Lasko (in memory of Toyo Ishii) 1,000 M/M John Ishii (in memory of Toyo Ishii) 1,000 Sumiko Ida Fujimoto (in memory memory of Masao & Masato) 50 M/M Gary Kawaguchi 100 Anonymous 220 Chizue Ouchi 20 M/M Clifford Tanamachi 50 M/M Henry Nishizu 50 Art Nerio 100 Derek Nakagawa 100 Betty Yumori 100 M/M Richard Hanki 100 M/M George Kawamura 100 Terminal Islanders 100 June Sutherland 123.75 Thank you for your kind generosity and continuing support.

友

達

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center 14615 Gridley Rd. Norwalk CA 90651-0434 Website: www.SEJSCC.org 562.863.5996

Since publishing our form to “go green” in our May Tomodachi, many of our read-

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Hi everyone! Come join us for our Ondo practice on Mondays and Thursdays starting July 7th. Practice will be from7:30 to 8:30 pm at the Center. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, learn the dances, and get some exercise. The dates for the festival are Saturday July 23rd from 3:00 pm and Sunday July 24 from 2 pm. There will be plenty of good food, games and demonstrations by Kendo, Judo and Karate. Entertainment will include Na Wahine ‘O Kawena Hawaiian Hula, Kamaki’s Maika’I Jammers. Appearing on the outdoor stage will be Taiko drummers, Karaoke singers, hula and music accompaniment by other Hawaiian groups. Bingo will be played in the gym at 5:00 pm both Saturday and Sunday. The Festival is a good time to meet with old friends and enjoy delicious food. During the festival parking is a problem at the Center. On Saturday and Sunday when working at the Festival, we request that all workers park outside on the street. We would like to have plenty or parking for the handicapped, the elderly, visitors and honored guests so they don’t have to walk as far. Thank you for your cooperation. Just a reminder that SEJSCC is a NO SMOKING facility! Everyone please abide by the rules. When smoking outside of the facility, please do not leave your cigarette butts on the sidewalk or on the parking lot. Please be courteous to our neighbors. Pick up the butts and throw them in the trash can. Richard Shinomoto

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P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

Volume 17, Issue 4 Ju ly 2011 Newsletter

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center 14615 S. Gridley Rd. Norwalk CA 90651-0434 Website: www.SEJSCC.org 562.863.5996

TA S T Y F E S T I VA L F O O D S

Our biggest event is fast approaching and you’ll not want to miss it. It’s a time when we all work hard to convert our Center to a place of fun, social interaction, feasting on good foods, observing and learning from demonstrations and presentations, to try your skill at games, join the ONDO and most of all, to come relax and enjoy!! We have been practicing Ondo dances on Mondays and Thursdays from 7:30 pm; come join us and follow sensei Kathy Nishimoto under the balmy summer sky. Also Julie Koga teaches the energetic Soran Bushi dance!

JULY 23—24

Our organizations work hard to offer choice entrees at the festival. Regulars to our monthly Bingo games will attest that Kendo ladies do up a great dinner and Judo’s chef Johnson Long stirs up the best concoctions using the wok! Be sure to pick up a program at the Festival which lists all the foods that will be sold and purchase some to take home. Busy parents will appreciate that convenience. There will be many combination plates: Teriyaki Chicken Plate, Teriyaki Beef Plate, and Yakisoba Plate, BBQ ribs plate, Hawaiian fish plate, Orange chicken plate, Sweet shrimp plate, finger foods and a variety of individual portions of vegetable egg rolls, fried rice, cucumber salad, cold somen, somen salad, spam musubi, and desserts. Norwalk Youth Sports will be frying wontons and Okinawa dangos, serving refreshing shaved ice and drinks. Char Siu Baos can be ordered now for pick up at the Festival—the form is found on page 5 or limited amount will be available to purchase at their booth. Our Japanese school will offer sushi, chirashi, udon, corn and drinks available at the pass through window* in the gym. Plan to see your friends and enjoy an early dinner on July 23 and/or 24th. *if the kitchen is ready

What’s the Progress of our Center Kitchen?

After months of planning and input from our organizations, the kitchen renovation began soon after our Recognition Dinner in April. All old fixtures, sinks, tables were removed and replaced with new stainless and hardwood. Ted Yoshimura who basically designed the kitchen and has worked almost daily, coordinating with contractors so changes are approved in a timely fashion by city and county de-partments, must feel the frustrations of delays that’s occurred. Linda Kusuda has been coordinating with the city and county health

department for required permits for our Festival. It hasn’t been easy contending with delays. For instance, the county initially categorized us as a “restaurant” which resulted in more codes and regulations. It was corrected however, but may possibly hamper the readiness of kitchen use for our Festival. We hope the renovation continues without further problems. Our deep gratitude goes to Ted for his overview and his meticulous work he feels is a necessity. Thank you Ted, Linda, and to Bob Yamada and Dave Fusato for helping.

Come and Enjoy!

S E J S C C BOARD MEMBERS If you wish to contact any of the board members, please call the Center and leave a message. Jim Niiro George Kato Linda Kusuda Mary Iwami Kimie Matsumoto Fred Matsumoto Mas Onoda Richard Shinomoto Toshi Teramoto Bob Yamada Carrie Nakatani Marvin Kobayashi

H I K A R I T A I K O G A K U E N N E W S Kimie Matsumoto

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“Tomodachi, P. O. Box 434, Norwalk CA 90651-0434. Tel: 562,863-5996. Published 6 times annually by the Southeast Japanese School and Community Center, 14615 Grid-ley Rd, Norwalk CA 90650. A no charge newsletter informing all participants of activities on a one per household basis. Bulk Mail Postage Paid at Norwalk, CA. Editor: Mary Iwami; Adver-tising & Mailing: Mary Iwami, George Kato, Hy Shishino, Mas Onoda, and Norwalk Nikkei Seniors.

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We are fast approaching the end of the school year. Our new student registration was held June 4th and 11th. We still have room for new students if you know of someone interested in enrolling. Our pre-school class is for 4 and 5 year olds. Call the school or come in on any Saturday before our school end on Festival day July 23th. Fall classes will begin on September 10th, Saturday. Our monthly cultural event for July is “Tanabata”, the Star Festival. Students write their wishes and tie them to the bamboo limbs. The students learn about the meaning of “tanabata” presented by Mrs. Matsumoto. Everyone will help decorate the bamboo and hang their wishes. Final examination is scheduled for June 25th with report cards going home on July 16th. July 16th is the awards assembly and the last day of school. Students with perfect and near perfect attendance for the year will receive awards and a gift from the PTA. During the lasst hour of school, students will clean their classrooms and will be treated to a pizza party by the PTA. Have a great summer and see you in September. School will start on September 10th. If you have not already paid registration for the fall, please do so ASAP. Enjoy the summer and come enjoy the Cultural Festival & Ondo at our Center July 23 and 24.

Summer is here and many activities are upon us. Join Hikari Taiko at the monthly Bingo Nite here at the Center in the Judo Dojo on Sat, July 9th. We will be serving delicious teriyaki chicken and rice, salad and dessert. June 26th we were invited to perform at the Esumi Sonjin Kai Picnic at Bellis Park. Many Japanese prefecture picnics are held at this popular park. Hope you can join us at our concert on Friday, July 22nd at 6:30 pm at the Anaheim Pearson Park Amphitheater at 401 No. Lemon Street. Check out the following link: http://www.anaheim.net/articlenew2222.asp?id=4387 Under the name “Silk and Thunder” along with Korean drum-mers/dancers and Chinese dancers, this will be a stunning concert with beautiful costumes and thunderous sounds. We’ll be having our taiko classes perform at the Festival on July 23rd and 24th at 6:00 pm Saturday and 5:15 pm Sunday. A very busy weekend for us along with a wedding the following week. Have a fun and safe summer.

Mr. Matsumoto, Calligraphy Instructor Retiring The Shuji instructor, Mr. Minoru Matsumoto held his last class on June 18th. He has taught Calligraphy at the Japanese School for 31 years. He has moved into the Keiro Intermediate Care Facility. We thank him for his dedication to the students at Southeast Ga-kuen and wish him well.

New Adult Japanese Class Begins

If you are interested in learning Japanese language in the evening, a new class will begins Sept 6th, Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm.

Our Hikari Taiko performed at the Esumi Kenjinkai Picnic on June 26th. Here the children come up to play the drums. Our group extends much good will!!

Edo Period Art at Bowers Museum Through July 17th, a rare group of Japanese art from the 15th to 18th century is being shown. The Times gave a full page coverage about Joe and Etsuko Price who are showing part of their collection for the public to enjoy. Discover the individualistic expressions by top artists during a flourishing period in Japan.. They are masterpieces! Call 714.567.3603. Bowers Museum, 2002 N Main St., Santa Ana.

Sensei Momoko Berg;s kindergar-ten class speaking at Hanashi-kai.

Gakuen’s Speech Night June 18

Yamamoto Sensei’s Advanced class.

Mary Jane Mayeda

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The 8th grade Blue Magix girl’s played well and won the championship in the Wanjette’s Tournament. Congratula-tions to the girls and coaches!

N O R W A L K Y O U T H S P O R T S Jeff Pieper

The 7th grade girls basketball team, The Cheetah, continues their run of success. After playing up and finishing the SEYO season tied for 1st place with the Blue Magix, the Cheetah continued to playing up and enjoyed post-season wins at the West LA Tournament and the Tigers Tournament. The Tigers Tournament was an especially hard fought win earned with their great defense, after the team spent the previous evening partying at the Tiger Dance and staying up much later than they should have!

Cheetah :Back row: l-r: Sarah Baxter, Whitney Pieper, Alyssa Atencio, Katherine Fukuda, Front row: Hana Kita-mura, Caitlyn Nojiri, Taylor Woo.

Our Center collection for Japan’s earthquake and tsunami victims have now totaled $10,500 all of which has been sent to the US-Japan Council. Thank you to our readers and membership who

have opened their hearts and kindly gave toward a very worthy cause. And some of you had already donated earlier as did our or-ganizations. Remember that these donations are fully tax deductible. We will continue with this effort as long as donations come in. It is remarkable what the Japanese people have done in their recovery in a short time. Photos published , TV coverage and on You-Tube show the peoples’ industrious nature in the clean-up and rebuilding efforts. It is heartwarming and exemplary.

N O R W A L K J U D O D O J O Empire Invitational (Colton—May 7) 1st Hudson Tan, 2nd Kay Sugahara, Alan Lee 3rd Albert Lee, Billy Matsubara, David Agama, Total competed 6 At this tournament Kay Sugahara (age 11) made her debut as a tournament referee making her one of the youngest referee in Cali-fornia. Congratulations Kay! West Coast/Speed Harada Invitational (Rancho Cucamonga May 22) 1st Andrew Ravelo, Jason Sams, Alan Lee 2nd Louis Zhang 3rd Kay Sugahara, Derek Hsu, Total Competed 12 CJI State Championships ( San Francisco May 28-29) From Norwalk, 12 members competed at the 2-day state-level com-petition at the City College of San Francisco. From Norwalk, Alan Lee was the only placer taking 2nd place qualifying him now for the 3 National level competitions (Ohio, Florida and Texas) in July. Alan will only be competing at the US Junior Olympics in Dallas, TX on June 22-23 entering in 2 divisions. Good luck Alan! Ippon4Nippon Japan Relief Fundraiser—June 15 On June 15, Norwalk Judo had joined Nanka Judo Yudanshakai in raising funds for the Japan Relief by having the Ippon4Nippon Throw-a-thon. On this night, we had 10 pairs throw each other for a minute

each and raised $400 in sponsorships for the relief fund. Thank you all. On our behalf, a combined check from Nanka will be pre-sented to the Kodokan (judo world headquarter) in Tokyo this summer. Video of the throw-a-thon can be viewed at www.facebook.com/pages/Ippon-4-Nippon-Throw-A-Thon/211591372201495 Norwalk Judo Summer Camp 2011 June 24-27 Norwalk Judo had our first Summer Camp in 30 years. With 24 student participants and many parent and sensei volunteers, we had a fun-filled 4 nights, 4 day weekend at the Dojo. The purpose of this camp was to promote teamwork and discipline and we were very successful. Aside from practicing judo, we had other fun activities such as bowling, running, swimming, basketball, dodgeball, golfing & go-carting at Golf’n’stuff. On Saturday, we also had visitors from the Shorai Program consisting of members from clubs all over Southern California. After the practice, we had a hearty BBQ and watched judo video. Sunday night, we had our final dinner and awards presentation at Home Town Buffet in Cerritos. Our honoree for Best Yonen was Kay Sugahara and Best Shonen was Billy Matsubara. “Thank you” to all the parents and senseis for your generous time and hard work in making this memorable event. Special Thanks” to June Uyekawa, our chief organizer, Sensei Johnson, our chief chef and Winnie Tse, our chief historian. Photos are posted on www.norwalkjudo.com.

J A P A N R E L I E F F U N D U P D A T E

Blue Magix front row l-r: Kelli Arii, Alli Lorenzo, Cassidy Kaneshiro, Taylor Hirata, All Star Kylie Masumiya. Back row: Mignon Gau, MVP Alyssa Movchan and Stefani Hirata.

N O R W A L K D A N C E C L U B Rosie San Miguel

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N O R W A L K N I K K E I S E N I O R S

Our Seniors celebrated Mother’s Day at the VIP Buffet Restaurant in La Palma with approximately 60 attending. We’ve enjoyed their food before, the food is fresh and they seem to always have plenty and a good variety. Betty Oshiro introduced games to be played—one was to locate items called out in your handbags. Of course the women only participated in this game but certain men who carried “waist fanny packs” also participated. Someone found 13 items out of 20. Tasty bento lunch boxes were delivered for Father’s Day luncheon at the Center. Miyuji Kojo was chairing the day’s activities. One of the games played is “guessing the logo”. Two ladies tied for guessing all but 2 in a given time span. Bingo was called by Jean Tekawa and Harriet Sugita relieving the fellas to enjoy the day. We were happy to see Ocean Miyake who is 100 yrs. young join us. Seniors will have a boutique spread of items they have made and some never used items for sale. There will be a lot of yardage.

South of the Border Social, May 28 The social chairpersons for the evening were senoras Helen Hikiji and Edna Kurihara. Their many years of experience working together have really paid off. Without a kitchen they managed quite well to serve an appetizing menu. Warm taquitos were placed on top of a bed of freshly sliced iceberg lettuce and diced tomatoes and gener-ous handful of tortilla chips with choice toppings of salsa, sour cream and guacamole were included. In addition lots of carrot and celery sticks overflowed the individual servings. Helen’s special recipe of a cool and not so sweet jello squares in red, white and blue colors bal-anced the overall tastes. On hand to help were Karen and Geoff Chow and Ben and Rosie San Miguel. During intermission, the Marimba and Do the Salsa line dances were taught by Edna. The sounds of the following musical selections: “Almost Jamaica” and Music Sweet” played by DJ Kurihara gave the dances a smooth Latin beat. The camaraderie of friends who trav-eled from neighboring cities for a nice casual evening of socializing and dancing is certainly appreciated. From the NDC and friends we say “GRACIAS”.

California State Championships in San Francisco Left: Alan Lee, Silver Medal

J U D O D O J O ( C O N T ’ D )

Norwalk Judo Camp2011 Participants Front row l-r: Joseph Chavez, Hudson Tan, Felix Berkan, Tanner Sonoda, Hunter Rodriguez, Weston Uyekawa, Troy Nam, Middle row l-r: Joshua Chen, Trevor Sonoda, Kay Sugahara, Rachel Sugahara, Albert Lee, Chris Acebal, Kyle Morishima Conor Uyekawa, Last row l-r: Mark Berkan, Ismael Sakez, Emilio Zamo-rano, Louis Zhang, Jason Sams, Billy Matsubara, David Agama, Derek Hsu, Alan Lee.

NDC Summer Social June 25 There is a special ambiance and close-knit atmosphere at the so-cials. On this particular evening, there was a small attendance due to the scheduling of other dances held at different locations. Host for the night was Harriet Yamada. She did a fantastic job with the refreshments. Delicious freshly made turkey pinwheels, and Harriet’s own recipe of a flavorsome chili beans salad and potato chips were a definite crowd pleaser. For dessert , compliments of Harriet and Helen Hikiji, a patriotic theme white cake with whipped cream frosting topped with strawberries and blueberries seemingly appeared to be a great choice. You can always expect the best from NDC management committee. It relies upon Harriet, Helen, Edna Kurihara and husband DJ Yuso to make major decisions. And at times, alternatives are often decided. In lieu of line dancing at intermission for this dance, time was allot-ted for visiting and chitchatting. This gave everyone a chance to move about and relax before proceeding with the mixer. The annual carnival now officially named the Cultural Festival and Ondo will be held July 23 and 24. Therefore, we hope you will join us at summer’s end Hawaiian social August 27th.

We’ll also have Center T-shirts and hapi coats. On the calendar for August is “Show & Tell” allowing members to show-case their crafts and hobbies. September will be our annual BBQ lunch-eon. We are sorry to relate that our good friend and long time member Mary Ishii passed away last week and her memorial service was held at Rose Hills. Our sympathy is with her family. We will dearly miss her.

Gym Closed from After Festival to Aug 7

Reopens Aug 8th

RASCALS Basketball 2nd Session for 5-7 yr. old boys and girls—Call Roger 714-521-4760

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Remember our .... Aug 6 Hosted by Karaoke, Ayame Kai Odori serving

BINGO Chicken Wings/Chili Rice Aug 6, Sept 10 Sept 10: Hosted by NaWahine

6:30 pm ‘O Kawena serving Kalua Pork Dinner at 6:00

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center Activities List

If you are interested in any of the activities at the Center, please contact the person listed below Southeast Gakuen: Kimie Matsumoto 562 926-2536 Hikari Taiko: Mary Jane Mayeda 562 924.1454 Adult Japanese Class: “ “ Norwalk Nikkei Seniors: Toby Fusato 562 860.7368 Ikebana (Flower Arrgmt): Ogawa Sensei 714 893.1245 Norwalk Dance Club: Edna Kurihara 714 847.1173 Guitar Class: Yuji Hata 562 695.1908 Japanese Classical Dance: Akemi Jensen 562 691.2764 Norwalk Youth Sports: Rich Tamaki 562 883.3383 NaWahine ‘O Kawena: Karen Toyoshiba 562 949.0203 Kendo: Jean Kodama Sensei email: norwalkkendo@gmail.com Hawaiian Karaoke Club: Leslie Goshi 323 722.7229 Karate: Brock Nishimura 714 826.9128 Ukulele Class: Kamaki Keawe Call Karen: 562 949.0203 Norwalk Karaoke Club: Ed Korin 714 870.1013 Tanden/Yoga Class: Mrs. Koyasu 562 865.9652 Judo: Jim Glick 714.315.8503

Yamagushi sensei, Okuno sensei, and Toh Shauna traveled to Kent Ohio to attend the AUSKF Iaido Camp from June 9 through 13, which included a seminar, promotional examination, and tourna-ment, as well as a jodo (wooden staff) workshop. A huge congratu-lations to Okuno sensei, who passed 5 dan exam! On July 19th, the second annual Junior Nationals Kendo tournament was held in Huntington Beach. Congratulations to Hahn Danielle who won Best 8 in the 13 and under girls division, and to Yoon Courtney, who was on the SCKF girls team which took 3rd place! Congratulations also to our trophy winners at the Southern Califor-nia Kendo Federation Championships on June 26th. Yoon Brian (3rd place yudansha championship division) and Kodama Jean (1st place senior division). Finally, thank you to everyone who helped put on the Dojo picnic on June 12 at Cerritos Park East, especially Yoon Brian, Kim Kay, and Hahn Janet. The barbeque was great as always, and a good time was had by all, especially with the water balloons (thanks Wang Chialeh!). We also extend our best wishes to Henmi sensei who is recovering from kidney stone surgery. We hope you will be back with us soon. accepted in January, April and July.

NORWALK YOUTH SPORTS CHAR SIU BAO Pre-order Form

Norwalk Youth Sports (NYS) is now taking pre-orders for baked and/or steamed Char Siu Bao by the dozen for pick up at the Southeast Japanese School & Community Center Festival on July 23—24, 2011. PRE-ORDER PRICE $16.00 PER DOZEN A limited number of Char Siu Bao will be available for sale at the Festival ($18/doz or $1.59 each)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Order form must be received by Weds. July 13 to be processed—- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I would like to order (at $16 per doz.) ________ Dozen STEAMED Buns ________ Dozen BAKED bun

For pick up on (check one): _______Saturday July 23 (3 pm—7 pm) ________Sunday July 24 (2pm-6 pm)

Name_____________________________________ Please make check payable and mail to: NORWALK YOUTH SPORTS

Address___________________________________ c/o Lynn Chang

City _____________________ Phone__________________ 14615 Gridley Rd

Norwalk CA 90650

N O R W A L K K E N D O D O J O N E W S month. The iaido group practices from 9 to 10 pm on Mondays: iaido beginners are accepted in January, April and July. For information about Norwalk Dojo, including upcoming and past events as well as how to join, please see the dojo website at http://www.eanet.com/norwalk or send email to Norwalkkendo@gmail.com.

Norwalk Kendo Dojo practices Mondays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and Fridays from 7:30 to 10:00 pm. New members are welcome: beginners are accepted on the first Friday practice of each odd

Come Join Us !

Bingo on Sat., July 9th

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Coming this month ….. our SEJSCC’s

48th Annual CULTURAL FESTIVAL & ONDO Sat. and Sun.

Come join us now for Ondo Dancing Practices

on Mondays & Thursdays 7:30 –8:30 pm

Raffle Prizes - Grand $1000

Martial Arts Demonstrations

Ikebana Flower Arrangements

Boutique

Japanese American National Museum

Display

Hawaiian Show, Karaoke, Taiko

Presentations

Plant Sale

GREAT FOODS!

Fun Games

CULTURAL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Saturday Sunday

3:00 pm Carnival Begins 2:00 pm Carnival Begins 3:30 Karate Demonstration 3:15 Guitar

3:30 Hawaiian Delites (outdoor) 3:30 Classical Japanese Dance

4:00 Kendo Demonstration 4:00 Hawaiian Show

5:00 Karaoke Show (outdoor) 4:30 Karaoke Show (outdoor)

5:00 Bingo Games 5:00 Bingo Games

5:30 Judo Demonstr’tn (Dojo) 5:15 Hikari Taiko, Soran Bushi

6:00 Hikari Taiko, Soran Bushi 6:00 Ondo Dancing

7:00 Ondo Dancing 7:30 Raffle Drawings

JULY 23—24

JULY 6 Operating Bd Mtg 7:00 pm

9 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm

13 Center Bd Mtg 6:30 pm

23-24 Cultural Festival & Ondo

Gym Closed until Aug 8

AUGUST 3 Operating Bd Mtg 7:00 pm 6 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm 10 Center Bd Mtg 6:30 pm

27 Hawaiian Social 7-11 pm

SEPTEMBER 7 Operating Bd Mtg 7:00 pm

14 Center Bd Mtg 6:30 pm

10 Gakuen Classes Begin

10 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm

24 Anniversary Dinner/Dance

OCTOBER 1 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm

5 Operating Bd Mtg 7:00 pm

8 Pancake Bkfs & Boutique 7 an

12 Center Bd Mtg 6:30 pm

23 Halloween Social 7-11 pm

CALENDAR

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center “Tomodachi” A Bimonthly Newsletter July 2011 Norwalk CA 90651-0431

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S.Postage PAID Permit No. 109 Norwalk CA 90650

Reminder …..

Cultural Festival & Ondo July 23-24

New Gakuen Year starts Sept 10

Registration 7/16, 7/23 & 24