By Ayalneh Ferede
San Jose, California
The once-in-a-lifetime Ethiopian millennium celebration—held on September 8th and 9th, 2007 in San Jose, California—was a success story. The two-day event was attended by a large crowed of about 3.5 thousand people each day; and it was a happy and exhilarating moment for both adults and kids who joined the festival. Among the invited guests include: the Ethiopian’s best friend, Congressman Mike Honda; Lieutenant-governor of California, John Garamendi (served as peace-corps volunteer and thought English along with his wife in Ethiopia in the 1960s); SJC’s Mayer, Chuck Reed; Santa Clara County Supervisor, Ken Yeager; and SJC council member, Forrest Williams. All of them congratulated the audience and expressed their best wishes to all Ethiopians and their nation. Some even went extra length and promised to visit the beloved East African nation in the coming couple of months.
Although most of the work was done by the Ethiopian Community Services in San Jose, the Oakland and Sacramento communities have been also participated. While there were lots of singers, including Shambel Belayneh and Dereje Degefaw, perhaps what made the event so spectacular and memorable was the presence of “Misgana-Dancers”, kids who came from the homeland. Their ages range from seven-to-twelve and were well-trained to play the rhythms of multi-cultural dances of the nation for catching everybody’s attention. And having those talented kids on this special day made us a bit luckier than others. A good feeling and sense of unity was prevailing around the event.
That said, there is no great reward than saying “Thank You” for whom it implies. And I felt compelled to do so. Therefore, I’m pleased to write this letter of appreciation to the ECS board members and their staff—the organizers—as well as all the volunteers, who contributed their valued time for the success of the event. Honestly, within the last couple of decades, no Ethiopian events were put in place in such level in our vicinity. It was a superb job—Thank you; and you really made us feel proud!