West Hempstead’s Chinese Center on Long Island to host Chinese American Night

As part of an annual tradition at Eisenhower Park, West Hempstead’s Chinese Center on Long Island will host Chinese American Night on Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. The event will feature an hour of activities such as crafts and a free tai chi session followed by several performances of traditional music and art.

“We’ll introduce to [the] public the best of Chinese performing arts,” said Helen Chin, the center’s monthly programs chairwoman and the emcee for the event. “We hope to develop community solidarity and harmony, and I think relations between different and diverse communities improve with knowledge of each other’s cultures.”

West Hempstead has more than 1,000 residents of Asian descent, according to suburbanstats.org, and over 24,000 people of Chinese descent live in Nassau County. The Chinese Center offers these populations a sense of community.

The organization was founded in 1960, with the goal of preserving and strengthening the Chinese community — and sharing the beauty of Chinese culture. Board member Edward Chung said that he joined the group in the 1960s, and remembers being one of the only Asian Americans in his community. Chung joined the group in the hope of introducing his son, Matthew, to his Chinese heritage.

“I never spoke the language,” Chung recalled, adding that the center, which now includes more than 200 families, gave him and others the opportunity to reconnect with their culture. “I believe that everyone that comes to United States wants to be part of the community,” he said. “We should practice culture with no separation, as we’re all Americans.”

Chung said that the center’s members carry this desire into their everyday lives. They work in the community to promote civic involvement. Chung is also a board member of his local civic group in Queens, the Jamaica Estates Association, and has pushed for more diverse representation.

The Chinese Center is part of a “big family,” according to Kathy Louie, wife of co-president Edmund Louie. Her children are a part of the CCLI Lion Troupe, which performs at local venues and will be featured at this year’s event.

The center provides all the entertainment for the event, which includes ethnic folk dancing, chorale music, instrumental music, acrobatics and sword fighting. Most of the acts come from classes taught at the school. After an hour of crafts and a 7:00 honoree ceremony, the performances begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is free.

The blending of cultures can be seen in the families that attend the center. West Hempstead couple Eileen and John Vogel — who are members of the Chinese Center — adopted their twins, Annie and Theresa, from China in 1999. Now 20-year-olds, the twins take language classes with their parents at the center and will sing the national anthem at the event. Chinese American Night and the other programs that the Chinese Center offers allow families such as the Vogels to experience and learn about their children’s culture.

Chin said the event has been held for roughly 30 years. “We hope to strengthen the bonds of friendship,” she said, “with other communities through our Chinese culture . . . to pave the way for an appreciation of each other’s diversity.”