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.
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;
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;
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;
microphone;
· Invercargill Sub Branch of Otago & Southland Branch of the NZ Chinese Association for
providing the portable microphone;
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;
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;
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.
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
For final updates, please check the Wong Family Reunion Blog:
Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary
Young
April 2013
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