Connecting in Christchurch

AFTER

The Wong Family Reunion

April 2013

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

We wish you good health and fortune in this Year of the Snake.

Post-Reunion Wrap Up

It’s hard to believe that our first Wong Family reunion was just over 2 months ago! We’ve all returned to our normal lives, but hopefully the memories of a great weekend are with us still.

It was just such a thrill to see how everyone entered into the spirit of the reunion, making those connections between old and new friends, between the generations, and breathing life into the names on the family tree. Hopefully you managed to enjoy the good company, the food, the activities, and the fun of it all! And wasn’t it lucky that we managed to schedule an earthquake for you to enjoy the full Christchurch experience?

FEEDBACK WANTED

We would love to hear your feedback on the reunion via our quick and easy questionnaire. It’s just 10 questions on SurveyMonkey and your responses would give us (and the next committee) a real idea of how things went and what you would like for the next reunion. It’s fun to do and we ask only that you identify the branch of the family that you belong to and not your name. Please click on the following link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7TFX7C (after you have read the rest of the newsletter of course!). We thank Catherine (Kong’s granddaughter) for her expertise in putting the survey online and she is only too happy to help if you experience any problems. Please contact her directly on catherinegin@hotmail.com.We will leave the survey up till 30 April and get back to you with the results.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and THANKS

The January 2013 reunion truly would not have been possible without the help and support of many people, and in the list that follows, please forgive us if we have missed your contribution, but we are grateful to everyone who gave so willingly of their time and energy.

A BIG THANK YOU TO

· You and yours for coming and making the reunion a success with your enthusiastic participation;

· St Michael’s for the hire of the hall and the kind co-operation from the executive staff of the
School;

· Nikki’s Catering for such fabulous lunches and reunion cake, Kaan’s Catering for supplying the
rib eye steak and patties, Mr Whippy’s for a surprise dessert and North and South for a great
dinner;

· Otago & Southland Branch of the NZ Chinese Association for providing the projector and
microphone;

· Invercargill Sub Branch of Otago & Southland Branch of the NZ Chinese Association for
providing the portable microphone;

· All family members who helped set up the hall, cleaned the facilities and helped with the packing
up of the hall;

· Those generous donors who donated money & prizes – many of which were substantial;

· All those who brought photos and albums and put up displays;

· Our panel participants who reflected on the past and brought it home to us;

· Our non-family helpers (Margaret, Robyn, Winnie and Carolyn) who were amazing in the
kitchen;

· Family members (Donald and Lawrence) for the kind loan of the BBQs;

· Our volunteer BBQ chefs and those who donated some home-baked goods;

· Christchurch family members who took away the rubbish for their kerbside collection;

· Official photographer Donald;

· Technology and sound system guru Peter;

· Film director Chris;

· Our ‘gangnam style’ dancers and the ‘rap’ dancing troupe;

· And last, but not least, the long-suffering spouses, children and siblings of the Committee
members for their support and contribution during the whole time of this project.
 

Let's not wait for decades before we do it all again!

 

If you are interested in making it happen in FIVE years’ time (or less!), then let us know. We are keen to hear from anyone who would like to organise the next event and as the current committee has proved – Cecil is from Auckland, Janice from Auckland, Mary from Christchurch and Lillian from Sydney – in these days of email and Skype, you do not even need to be in the same city, let alone the same country. So, put your hand up and we’ll hand over the baton to the new team. Rumour has it that Dunedin may well be our next host city. We wait on the results of the survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7TFX7C

For final updates, please check the Wong Family Reunion Blog:

http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary Young

April 2013

January 2013 Newsletter

Connecting in Christchurch

Wong Family Reunion

Saturday 19^th & Sunday 20^th

January 2013

Happy New Year!
We hope that 2013 has started well for you and your family and that you have had an enjoyable break over the holiday period. The countdown has begun and there are now only

9 days

 to go before we meet in our hometown of Christchurch.

What you need to know about Saturday

ü  Although 9am is the official time on the program for registration, the Hall will be open from 8:30am for registration and for the setting up of displays. Your name tags will be available for pick-up at the desk and are colour-coded as follows: yellow denotes the older generation, blue is the next generation and pinky-red the youngest generation.

ü  There should be plenty of on-street parking available, but there is NO general parking inside the school grounds. If you cannot get a street park, there are car parks in the vicinity ($4-$6 per day).

ü  If you need help with transport to and from the venues, please let us know.

ü  Don’t forget to pack those all-important old photos and documents as each branch will be putting up displays in the Hall. We look forward to seeing your images from the past, whether in album format, display boards or electronically.

ü  All donations of prizes/gifts will be gratefully received on Saturday morning – please hand them in at registration.

ü  Be prepared to have a great time meeting each other. There’ll be name tags, activities, and games to help ‘break the ice’. The ‘Who’s Who’ section of the program will introduce us to all the different family members. You can EITHER have just one member say a few words about each member of your family OR have each individual person in your family group introduce himself or herself (again no more than 30 seconds worth). Check with your family members as to whether you want to go with the GROUP intro or the INDIVIDUAL intro: either way it’ll be fun!

ü  There is an outdoor playground next to the Hall. You are most welcome to bring along a sports ball (basketball, handball, soccer) if you want a game.

ü  Dinner is at North and South Gourmet Restaurant, 300 Lincoln Road, Addington Mall, Addington. The cuisine is, of course, Cantonese. It’s BYO wine and the dress code is ‘smart casual’.

What you need to know about Sunday

ü  Sunday morning is all about bus tours so you will need to be on time for boarding. Please could you ensure that you are at St Michael’s by 9:50am at the latest. This will make the process of moving people onto the right bus so much easier and more comfortable for you.

ü  There are three buses booked for the Red Zone tours which will give us an insight into the earthquake-damaged areas in Christchurch and the plans for redevelopment. They will leave St Michael’s at different times: 10am, 11am and 12 noon. Each bus will carry a maximum of 40 passengers.  Generally there will be a bus for each branch of the family: one for the Willie Wong descendants, another for Harry Wong’s and one for George Qu Wong’s, but we may be moving people around to fit.

ü  Due to the staggered nature of the departure times for the city tours, the buses for the cemetery visit will be leaving at 10am and at 11:15am.

ü  Refreshments will be available throughout. If you have finished your tours or if you are waiting for your bus, please feel free to help yourself to tea, coffee, cold drinks, and a light morning tea.

ü  We hope to fire up the BBQs for lunch round 12:30pm as soon as the BBQ Chefs return from their bus trips.

ü  If you haven’t already purchased the special, large format Family Tree prints, there are still a few available at $26.

ü  Don’t forget to sign your name in the Reunion register before you leave! Think of something to write before you arrive.

 

For final updates, please check the Wong Family Reunion Blog: http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

We wish you a safe and speedy journey to the Reunion, whether you are just a few minutes drive away or coming across the ditch from OZ, or flying in from Vancouver or Philadelphia.

See you soon in Christchurch!

 Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary Young

January 2013