The Great Wall Culture Club brings families together in social gatherings to participate in Chinese cultural events. These events are hosted quarterly by our Regional Office Directors and offer support for parents and children in all phases of the adoption process. The Culture Club events are an excellent resource for networking with other adoptive families, gathering information and just having fun. Great Wall Culture Club events have included a Chinese heritage seminar, a backyard B-B-Q, a Chinese cooking class, a life-book assembly class, a Chinese New Year Celebration attended by 200 adoptive families and many more. The Great Wall Culture Club events are as diverse as the families who attend them, so they are always interesting and enjoyable.
Please join the North Texas Chapter of Families with Children from China (FCC) for a seminar featuring Sherrie Eldridge, author of "Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew." The event will be held:
Saturday, March 6, 2010 2:00-5:00pm Methodist Dallas Medical Center - Hitt Auditorium Colorado Blvd at N. Bishop Avenue Dallas, TX 75203
Sherrie will be discussing her newest book, "20 Things Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed." This event is open to the public, and we would like to extend an invitation to you and your families. Families will have an opportunity to learn from Sherrie's experience as an adult adoptee, meet other families in the process of adoption, and visit the sponsoring exhibitors.
Admission: $10 per person -FCC North Texas members $15 per person -Non-members $20 per person - Walk-in registration, if available.
Seating is limited, so register now! Please note that this seminar is designed for parents and caregivers and is an adults only event. Childcare will not be available due to liability. We apologize for any inconvenience.
For more information, contact Melissa Lybrand at 817-431-9979 or Melissa.fccnt@rxq1.com.
February 11, 2007
Over 350 people, parents and children, flocked to Tampa, Florida this past weekend for the 4th annual Florida Culture Club New Year Celebration. Great Wall's President, Snow Wu and Client Services and Relations Director, Leigh Anne Baseflug flew down for the event and had a blast. The consensus is that Susan Fremer has out done herself again. Great Wall's Regional Office Director for many years she has held a New Year's party for the last four. Every year the crowd has grown. The first year accumulated 50 of the Florida adoptive community. This year, over 7 times that many! Susan is a committed adoptive parent who should be commended for her outstanding efforts to keep the community of people who have adopted from China, strong, full of cultural pride and closely knit. Even as the numbers of families grow, (also with the help of people like Susan Fremer) it is great to see how adoption has not become so common that it has lost that special connected feeling parents share having adopted from China.
Families came from as far away as Maryland to join in the festivities, many dressed in traditional Chinese outfits. Snow gave a short speech inviting everyone to bow to their neighbor and wish them Xin Nian Hao! (Happy New Year in Chinese). What a sight!
Everyone took a sentimental sigh when one family showed a touching slide show on the big screen. There were quite a few chuckles too. This was a luncheon so there was also a wonderful, authentic three-course meal to boot! Everyone must have been feeling pretty warm and generous at this point because families contributed $1,000.00 to the Love Without Boundaries Fund. Outstanding!
The party continues! Once finished with her desert, Leigh Anne had a sweet treat for the kiddos. She gathered about a hundred of them up on the stage and read a delightful book about the Chinese New Year. Afterwards, a local cultural dance group performed a traditional line dance for the families. Did I mention that Susan Fremer did a great job and that she is nothing short of fantastic?
At the end of the party there were pictures taken and hugs galore as several mini- Great Wall reunions took place. Snow met a family she had first helped over nine years ago. That, she says, was most wonderful for her. Mostly, Snow and Leigh Anne couldn't say enough about the event and they hope the culture club events taking place around the country in the next couple of weeks to celebrate the New Year are at least as successful. This one will certainly go down in Great Wall history as the most memorable! Thanks to you Susan Fremer and all of the families who attended. You do have a very special connection to each other and your children will forever benefit from your love and preservation of that connection. Here's to you and a very Happy New Year!
By the way, to learn more about the Spring Festival check out: ChinaCulture.org
