Tri Valley JACL (Japanese American Citizens League)

I. Call to Order: President, Keith Yoshizuka, called Meeting to order at 7:47p.m.on May 21, 2008. Attendees were Alan Teruya, Dean Suzuki, Ellen Mizota, Martha Kitajima, Keith Yoshizuka and Gail Taniwa-Ryujin.

II. There are no minutes from the April meeting since a quorum was not present. Minutes for the March 5, 2008 meeting were presented and reviewed. The following correction was noted: The book: “Patriotism, Perseverance, Posterity . . . “ is being offered by the Salt Lake Chapter, not National. M/S/C – Alan Teruya/Dean Suzuki to approve minutes as amended.

III. Treasurer’s May 2008 report was presented and reviewed. M/S/C – Gail Taniwa-Ryujin/Martha Kitajima to accept Treasurer’s report as presented.

· Alan reported that our chapter received a legacy fund distribution check for $22.70. $6000 was distributed nationally.

A. Alan Teruya reported on the board election results and the slate was approved as presented:

· Alan reported on his research for an outing to Angel Island. As of the meeting date, reservations for picnic sites are available for all Sundays in August. The ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island runs every hour.

o After some discussion, we are looking at either 8/10 or 8/24 for the Angel Island excursion. Also, Alan will check with Milo Yoshino from Diablo Chapter if they would also like to participate and which date would work for them.

o The board approved an allocation of up to $250 for initial expenses for Angel Island.

o We could have a potluck picnic lunch or could buy everything from Costco. Gail will look into the price of picnic food for Angel Island.

· Movie night is postponed to July. The new date is July 26. The movie is still ‘Farewell to Manzanar’. Instead of having a dinner potluck, it might be easier to have a snacks and dessert potluck.

B. Keith requested approval to purchase a mailing list for recruitment purposes. M/S/C Dean Suzuki/Alan Teruya to approve the purchase of the mailing list for $400 of names, addresses and phone numbers of people with Japanese surname.

C. Keith has a couple of students who are helping him create a website for our chapter. Cost is unknown.

D. National convention – Alan Teruya is considering attending the National Convention in Salt Lake City. Our chapter will submit Alan’s name as a delegate and then Alan will receive all of the Convention materials.

E. Dean Suzuki reported on some heated issues that surfaced at the 5/4/2008 District Council Meeting:

· Whether Pacific Citizen is an independent newspaper or an arm of JACL continues to be a controversial issue.

· Floyd Mori is our executive director but he is primarily in Washington D.C. Some members feel that our administrator should be on site in San Francisco.

· A Farewell Board dinner is planned for 6/7/2008 at 6:00. Laura Takeushi has resigned as executive director. JASEB is also moving from a community board to a smaller independent board of directors. President of the board, Bruce Hironaka, will act as the interim executive director.

VII. M/S/C Martha Kitajima/Ellen Mizota to adjourn the meeting. President, Keith Yoshizuka, adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.

I. Call to Order: President, Alan Teruya, called Meeting to order at 7:47p.m.on March 5, 2008. Attendees were Alan Teruya, Dean Suzuki, Keith Nakanishi, Steve Lai, Keith Yoshizuka and Gail Taniwa-Ryujin.

II. Agenda was presented and reviewed. M/S/C – Gail Taniwa-Ryujin/Dean Suzuki to accept agenda as presented.

III. Minutes for the February 6, 2008 meeting were presented and reviewed. M/S/C – Keith Nakanishi/Dean Suzuki to approve minutes as presented.

IV. Treasurer’s March 2008 report was presented by Steve for Nadine Lai.

· Alan sent the check to Open Heart for last year’s garage sale.

V. Old Business:

A. Chapter Officers for 2008 Election

· Keith Yoshizuka has agreed to run for Chapter President

· Nadine Lai will continue as treasurer

· Steve Lai will continue as vice president

· Gail Taniwa-Ryujin and Allison Kitajima will be co-secretaries

· Alan Teruya will be Social Chair and will coordinate events with other chapters

· Cynthia Nitta has agreed to be Membership and Scholarship chair

· NOTE: post-meeting, Gail asked Ellen Mizota to work on Newsletter and she agreed to work on it with someone else.

· Alan will send out ballots for the election to members with a questionnaire of the types of activities the members would participate.

B. Chapter Activities

· National is offering to sell a book called "Patriotism,
Perseverance, Posterity: The Story of the National Japanese American Memorial" for $4 + shipping.

· Diablo is planning a trip to Lee’s Institute for their Spring Festival on April 20^th. Milo Yoshino is the contact for Diablo.

· Other activity ideas are as follows:

o Bowling

o Children’s Day in May

o Christmas Party

o Progressive Dinner

o Wine tasting

o Tule Lake pilgrimage

o Visit First Japanese Settlement in California near Sacramento

o Asian Art Museum

o Classic Japanese film series

o Sponsor Day of Remembrance for next February

o Participate in San Jose’s event to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of Redress

o Offer educational materials to local schools

o Wii activity

o Karaoke

o Japanese culture classes

o Participate in Japanese American festival in Concord

o Participate in Diablo’s showing of American Past time in September

VI. Next meetings:

· April 9, 2008 at Alan and Robbie Teuya’s home

VII. President, Alan Teruya, adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Taniwa-Ryujin