"Year after year, time flies and my worries are futile.
Better to cherish this night, and I still have the spirit of a young man."
From a traditional Lunar New Year poem by Su Shi, Northern Song Dynasty
The Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association (SOCCA) celebrates Lunar New Year in the historic gold rush town of Jacksonville, Oregon, four miles west of Medford.
When gold was discovered in Jackson Creek in 1851 the town of Jacksonville became a boomtown -- until the gold played out. Chinese workers were among those who came to work the placer sluices. Jacksonville had Oregon's first "Chinatown."
For a decade the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association has hosted annual commemorations of that Chinese heritage. There is a simple point to it: People from China aren't newcomers. Outsiders. Interlopers. Other. Southern Oregon is not just the history of White settler "pioneers" from New England, the people who named Oregon's cities Medford, Portland, Salem, Ashland, Albany, and Springfield. People from Asia were here at the start. For a century Asians were mostly pushed out and kept out. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 stopped almost all immigration. Local residents of Japanese extraction were put in internment camps during World War II.
The event this year was a display and celebration of Asian people and culture. There were lots of children, children's books, Asian food, martial arts displays, historical fashions, a bit of history, and drums.
Asians were here at the start and they are still here.
Here is a two minute video of the drummers:
Happy disclosure: My wife, Debra Lee, is the current president of SOCCA. She has been an active participant in Lunar New Years' presentations in Jacksonville for many years. She was born in China. She came to America to escape threats to her family from the Chinese Communist Party. She is an attorney and has been the Executive Director of the local Legal Services program for 33 years. She is pictured here staffing the information booth.
I am happy to be one of the financial sponsors of the event.
Thanks for the good coverage of the Chinese New Year festivities in Jacksonville. Love the drumming! Why no parade this year?
I got occupied and missed it this year. Hopefully, the drummers will be featured at the Jackson County MultiCultural Fair this year.