Flyer Info 3/5/04

Press Release 3/5/04

Manzanar Pilgrimage Plans Announced

Manzanar Committee organizers announced plans for the 35th annual Pilgrimage to Manzanar. The annual event will take place on Saturday, April 24 and will coincide with the grand opening onf the Manzanar Interpretive Center.

Taiko Center of Los Angeles will open the pilgrimage program at 11 a.m. with drummers calling participants to the cemetery area. Poetry readings and folk songs by Ken Koshio will follow.

Mary Kageyama Nomura, the "Songbird of Manzanar," will speak on her experiences as a teenager living behind barbed wire. A roll call of the ten camps will recognize the WRA camps. Manzanar internees will be honored this year in conjunction with the opening of the visitor's center, according to Manzanar Committee Chair Sue Embrey.

An interfaith service, led by Rev. Paul Nakamura of the Lutheran Oriental Church will conclude the program. The gathering will dance the "Coal Miner's Dance" (tanko bushi) before moving to the auditorium for the grand opening of the interpretive center and park headquarters.

Parking is limited by the auditorium so shuttle buses and vans will transport participants to the ceremony. The program will begin with taiko drummers at 1:30 pm. National Park Service personnel as well as representatives from the local community and Japanese American community will be in Independence. During the opening ceremony, Nomura will sing a song written by her late husband, "Shi" Nomura.

Embrey also announced that "Manzanar After Dark" will be offered again at the American Legion Hall in Independence, starting at 6:30 p.m. after the pilgrimage. All persons staying over Saturday night are invited to join in group discussions and meet students and others who have written poetry for Manzanar Committee magazine, which will be avable to the public for $10. The magazine is partly funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program and the Japanese American Community Services of Southern California.

For more information, call the Manzanar Committee at (323) 662-5102 or email sueke@msn.com
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