By Dee Richard
The organization received numerous proclamations and citations from many of the elected officials who were present. Among them were Mayor Mike, Councilman John Liu, state Sens. Toby Stavisky and Frank Padavan, former Assemblyman Barry Grodenchick, Beep Helen Marshall, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, city Comptroller Bill Thompson and LaGuardia Community College officials.The evenings honorees were Dr. Gail Mellow of LaGuardia Community College; Paul Ho , vice president of HSBC Bank; Jimmy Wang, president of Foo Wah Merchants Association; Kwan Kim, president of the Korean Association of Flushing; and Jimmy Meng, newly elected assemblyman. That event gets bigger every year.On Sunday in Seoul Plaza, at the Crystal Palace Ballroom, the Korean American Association of Flushing held a 2005 Lunar New Year festival. By the way this is the Year of the Rooster. As usual the food was great and the traditional Korean entertainment was excellent. Pretty much the same cast of local politicians who had presented citations and proclamations at Friday night's event were here to honor this group as well. They included Sens. Padavan and Stavisky, Jimmy Meng and John Liu. On Saturday, Feb. 13, at 11 a.m. the Flushing Lunar New Year Parade will start off from Union Street and 37th Avenue. The parade will end in the Flushing Mall parking lot on the corner of 39th Avenue and Prince Street. It's a most interesting event, the children will love it. All are welcome, weather permitting. Be sure you check it out. On Tuesday evening Councilman Hiram Monserrate and Assemblyman Jimmy Meng co- sponsored a tsunami victims fund-raiser at the World's Fair Marina in Flushing. It had originally been scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 23. But it was cancelled as that was the day of the big blizzard and as usually happens when you have to postpone an event, there is usually a falloff in attendance because a lot of people have made prior commitments. But everyone seemed happy with the results and it was a very nice affair. The emcee of the event was Moustafa Elsheikh, president of Americans for Domestic and Global Peace. The place and the food were donated by brothers Atul and Pankaj Bhatara, sons of Indian immigrants and owners of the World's Fair Marina Restaurant. The brothers lost friends in the tsunami disaster and wanted to do their bit to help. U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer, and former Public Advocate Mark Green were all invited to speak. Weiner couldn't make it as he was in Washington, Green had made previous commitments. The only one able to attend was Freddy, who was there as his usual charming self doing a little mayoral campaigning perhaps? Congratulations to the Queens County Young Democrats. They had an Inaugural Party fund-raiser, which was held on Sunday in the Fiddlers Inn on Jamaica Avenue in Bellerose. Part of the funds they raised were also donated to the tsunami relief effort.It is good to see young people take an active interest in our local political process. That's one thing the major political parties neglect to do, to encourage young people to volunteer and get involved. We need them – they are our future. Good luck to you, Matthew Silverstein, and your group. Thank you for inviting us and be sure to keep us informed of any future events you plan .The rumor mill has it that at least two Republicans are planning to challenge Tony Avella for the 19th Councilmanic seat. Stay tuned!Remember the voice mail at 718-767-6484, the fax at 718-746-0066 and the e-mail deerrichard@aol.com and don't forget the photos on the Focus on Queens page.Till next week,Dee.
