The Mayor of Lytton likes Gung Haggis Fat Choy!


Here's a picture of Peggy Chute of Lytton BC, with Lt. Gov. Stephen Point, and Premier Gordon Campbell, presenting me with the BC Community Achievement Award.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners official and unofficial have taken place in Whistler BC, Ottawa ON, Seattle WA, Santa Barbara California and even tiny Wells BC.  Maybe next year there will be a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in Lytton BC at the home of Lytton mayor Chris O'Connor.

It was wonderful to meet so many community minded people at the 2008 BC Community Achievement Awards.  I met past Vancouver city councilors and award recipients May Brown and George Puil.  The Mayor of Kamloops congratulated me. 

The Lt. Gov. of BC, Hon. Stephen Point, said he really liked the idea of Gung Haggis Fat Choy and mixing up the cultures. 

"You must know my cousin Rhonda Larrabee, Chief of the Qayqayt First Nations," I said.

"Oh yes," he replied as we spoke a bit about the cross-overs and similarities of Chinese and First Nations cultures.

He and his friend laughed when I told them that my friend Dr. Henry Wu's students produced a video called "Why Indians like Chinese food."

I must remember to invite the Lt. Gov. to the 2009 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year's Eve event.

It's aways nice to find a positive news story about oneself.  My Google News Alert for: "todd wong"
found Our towns have broad shoulders from the Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal - Ashcroft, BC, Canada.  Lytton mayor Chris O'Connor wrote a nice story about Peggy Chute of Lytton and Ben Roy of Cache Creek who also received BC Community Achievement Awards with me on April 23rd, at Government House in Victoria.

Mr. O'Connor, Mayor of Lytton, wrote:

I was very fortunate to be in attendance at Government House in Victoria for the presentation of the BC Community Achievement awards to Peggy Chute of Lytton and Ben Roy of Cache Creek.

Accompanied by Chief Byron Spinks of the Lytton First Nation, Mayor John Ranta of Cache Creek and hundreds of other proud British Columbians, we witnessed the very definition of what it means to be a citizen in our great Province.

The recipients came from communities large and small and Lieutenant Governor Steven Point and Premier Gordon Campbell offered the thanks of all of us to a dedicated group of BCer’s who have made large contributions to the lives of their communities. It was humbling, since all of the recipients represented the silent, hardworking volunteers who make our communities work.

Communities are made up of individuals - and these are the individuals upon whose shoulders we stand as your elected representatives. Without them there would be no community clubs, fire departments, hospices, festivals and every manner of activity which contributes to the vitality of our towns. These are the people who have successfully converted the “I” to “We” and in an ironic twist have elevated the “I” in all of us to be the very best we can be.

While this text may be full of clichés, the actions of these people is certainly not. Each of them has demonstrated the imagination, commitment and sheer willpower - their work is pure creativity of ideas and actions.

For the following, I have borrowed from the text accompanying the awards but I encourage you as the reader to go to the BC Community Achievement Award website to see the full contribution made by the 2008 recipients: www.bcachievement.com/community/2008/

Peggy Chute is described as a catalyst with a vision who makes things happen while transferring her skills and knowledge to a younger generation. Peggy’s accomplishments have permeated all aspects of life and activity in Lytton for the past 50 years. Whether it’s her commitment to education, health care, civic duty or neighborly kindness, Peggy’s nonjudgmental personal charity is the foundation for her larger community involvement. Peggy Chute, fondly known as “Mrs. Mayor”, is loved and revered in Lytton as its resident ambassador.

For the past 40 years, Ben Roy has quietly and effectively created positive change within the Cache Creek and Thompson Nicola Regional District. He has served as mayor, volunteer fire chief, chamber of commerce member and was instrumental in establishing a local radio station. While Mayor, Ben championed the landfill project as a way to provide jobs for Cache Creek. Ben Roy has also played a pivotal role in the revitalization of the Gold Country Communities Foundation, an organization founded to serve the economic needs of a number of adjoining rural communities.

"I think my favourite award winner was Todd Wong from North Vancouver who, amongst his many accomplishments, “created the annual celebration known as Gung Haggis Fat Choy which honours Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day”. It’s not everyday you see a person of Chinese descent accept an award in a full Scottish Regalia-including a kilt. John Ranta didn’t believe me that the street name for the festival is the “Hung Lo” festival. Well, I’ve never lied to him before."

Read my story of the BC Community Achievement Awards.
I am one of 45 recipients of the BC Community Achievement Award for 2008
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/4/24/3657210.html