ワシントンDC日米友好の桜植樹100年を記念して、私たちLCRでもFTF主催によるCherry Blossom Festival Luncheonを来る4月29日「日曜日の礼拝後」に行われる事はお知らせ済みです。LCRと日本語部を合わせて85名の会員がこのお祭りに参加されます。 当日は日本語部の何人かの有志が着物を着て「さくら、さくら」をLCRの有志と日本語、英語で歌います。 また大橋さんが踊りも披露いたします。その他さくらに因んだ歌、
It looks like rain in cherry blossom lane , Cherry Blossom time, (I’ll be with you in) Cherry pink and apple blossom white
を皆で歌います。午後のひと時を桜の木の下で日本の様に「御弁当」を楽しむ雰囲気で過ごします。写真は後程掲載致します。
100 YEARS OF BEAUTY & FRIENDSHIP （FTF, Gail Perkins記）
Every year at this time, the National Cherry Blossom Festival takes place in our nation’s capital. This Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees which were sent to Washington D.C. by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki. This gift, and the annual celebrations that ensued, honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. This year marks the 100 anniversary of this gift of friendship.
It all began with a simple ceremony on March 27, 1912, when First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. These original cherry trees, along with many others, turn the Park into clouds of pink each spring. In 1915, the United States Government reciprocated with a gift of flowering Dogwood trees to the people of Japan.
In 1927, a group of Washington D. C. school children reenacted the initial 1912 planting of the trees. Other spring activities also took place on that day, effectively creating the first Festival. The Festival had grown even larger by 1935 and was sponsored by civic groups in the nation’s capital.
In 1965, First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more cherry trees from Japan, And in 1981, the gifting came full circle when Japanese horticulturists were presented with cuttings from the Washington D.C. trees, designed to replace some cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood.
The Cherry Blossom Festival was expanded to a two-week event in 1994, to accommodate a diverse activity schedule during the blooming season. Today, more than a million people visit Washington each year to admire the blossoming trees and attend events that herald the beginning of spring. The trees and the American/Japanese friendship continue to blossom and flourish.
