The Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach celebrated the 4,708th Chinese Lunar New Year on Thursday, February 11th, 2011. This was the Club’s fifth annual celebration, where we bid farewell to the year of the Tiger and welcomed the new year of the Rabbit, a symbol of luck, good taste, and diplomacy. Members, staff, and parents all look forward to the Chinese New Year Celebration which has quickly become a favorite and much anticipated jubilation. In keeping with the tradition of the Chinese New Year, our friends from the TLC branch visited the Main Branch, because it is no secret that TLC knows how to party.
The festivities began the week before when members and staff diligently cleaned the Club, sweeping away the dirt and worries of the past year to welcome the New Year. Club members created paper lanterns, fans, and spring couplets to decorate the Club in preparation for the party. The front counter was draped in red (to symbolize happiness) and gold (to symbolize wealth) and accentuated with Chinese caricatures for happiness, wealth, prosperity, and of course, the lucky Rabbit.
There was fun for everyone. Activities included Chinese character drawing, paper lantern making, anime drawing, challenging games, and the always loud and energetic dragon parade. The year of the Rabbit brought new additions to the Club’s Lunar New Year celebration including chopstick up do’s, an exclusive Chinese tea party for you and your friends, a red rabbit cookie walk, and the hit of this year’s event was the ninja star obstacle course and skill test. In addition to the taste of China table, where members could try teriyaki seaweed, sugar cane, marinated tofu, dragon eyeballs (lychee fruits) and other assorted treats from the Far East, the snack bar offered a delicious veggie and tofu stir fry to kick of the Lunar New Year healthy, for only $1! Join us next year, for the 4,709th Chinese Lunar New Year to welcome the year of the Dragon.
