Temple of Kwan Tai announces children’s fall lantern festival
The Temple of Kwan Tai and the Community Foundation of Mendocino County is hosting a Children’s Fall Lantern Festival, a Chinese tradition that believes the moon shines its brightest during the Fall to bring good fortune to all.
The Temple, located on a southfacing hillside above Albion Street overlooking Mendocino Bay, was constructed in the 1850s and is the oldest “original” Chinese Joss
House in rural California. In 1871, a deed was recorded to Lee Sing John, and successive generations of the Hee Family have held and preserved the Temple throughout the years.
The Temple was registered as a California Historic Landmark in 1979. The deed, which the Hee Family held, was given in 1995 to a newly formed non-profit organization devoted to education concerning Chinese immigrant history and the celebration of community and diversity.
The Children’s Fall Children’sestival is organized by Denise Lee, a fourth-generation descendant of the Temple and great-granddaughter of John Song Lee. The goal, Lee says, “is to help our community shine more during the brightest time of the Fall. It’s part of our Chin It’sritage to celebrate the harvest as well as gather with family and friends, particularly with good food.”
Instructions on making the paper lanterns were distributed to schools in Fort Bragg, Mendocino, the Coast Community Center, Montessori del Mar, Three Rivers Charter, Manchester, and are available at the C.V. Starr Community Center in Fort Bragg. Each child who makes a lantern will receive a participation reward from the Temple.
Once the lanterns are decorated and collected will be hung at the Color Mill, The Ford House, Out of This World, Circa, Gallery Bookshop, Bead Shop, and Lost Coast Found during the week of
October 18th. Lee says that the goal for the festival is two-fold, first is to give the kids in the area a fun activity to do, and second to partner with local businesses to get people to visit them to help the economy.
Lee, a teacher, says that she sees kids not being able to socialize and have fun. She asked herself if there was a way to help kids with a fun activity and partner with local businesses to hang the lanterns to get people into their shops and help the economy during tough times.
Lee says the project has grown into an educational opportunity to teach about culture and the mid-autumn festival. She included a curriculum packet filled with suggested books and Youtube videos to show to the kids and the activity sheets. She notes, “It’s all a huge partnership with the community, and to have something that the children made, to bring us all together.”
Businesses will display the lanterns from October 18th through October 22nd, and the Temple
of Kwan Tai is open on weekends during October for docent tours, 12:00-3:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and 11:00-2:00 p.m. on Sundays. For more information about the Fall Children’s Lanter Festival, visit www.kwantaitemple. org.