We hope you had a great summer! Fall season has begun. At ACE, that means service-learning students from CSUMB and other schools begin to volunteer on our projects. When visiting our events and pop-ups, please take a moment to greet them and feel free to ask questions. They are a great help to us.

EVENTS
During Fall, we think about Filipino American history month (October), the annual tri-tip barbecue (November), mochi-making (December), and the upcoming lunar new year of the dragon (February). This period is also when we begin planning next year’s Asian Festival.
Paraluman FilAm Fest was recently held by Filipino Community Center of Salinas in their newly renovated community center (now available for booking events). This festival is a new event for the Filipino community in Salinas. It was a success!
Tri-Tip Lunch Box Sale & ACE Fundraiser
Tickets are $50 per meal; each meal feeds 4-6 people! Deadline for orders is Nov. 1st. Go to the ACE website front page or events calendar to pay online. Pick up your order Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023 at Salinas Buddhist Temple.
Buddhist Temple Mochi-Tsuki
Every December, the Buddhist Temple of Salinas makes traditional mochi in anticipation of the New Year. “Mochi is made by washing and then soaking sweet rice for 24 hours. It is then put into steamers and steams to a perfect consistency for the pounding process. Finally, it is shaped while it is still very hot into mochi rice cakes.”1 To order mochi, save/download the form; fill it out and send to BTS (see address below). The order deadline is Dec. 9 and pickup date is Dec. 17.
Asian Festival Planning
The 2024 festival will take place on Saturday, April 27. We are once again welcoming arts/craft vendors and food providers to participate ($25 booth fee), as well as nonprofit, educational, and service groups (free). The 10x10 ft vendor spaces will be on California St. in Chinatown. So, now is the time for you to think and plan for your participation. We will be posting more about this in the future, but you can also contact Cathy Chavez-Miller (meankitty132@gmail.com) or Larry Hirahara (seedyguy@aol.com) for more information.
BOOKS: Our Salinas Chinatown

We sold out two print runs of our book, Our Salinas Chinatown! But never fear—we just ordered and received the third batch of copies. These are still available at Downtown Book & Sound, Star Market, National Steinbeck Center, and the ACE website Books page.
PROJECTS
MCGIVES!
ACE has been accepted to participate in this year’s MCGIVES! campaign, which starts on Nov. 9. A collaboration between the Monterey County Weekly, the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and the Community Foundation for Monterey County, the Monterey County Gives! campaign amplifies year end giving by providing 100% of donations plus a partial match to the donors’ choice of participating nonprofits. ACE has received our first matching funds donation of $500. To donate, check our ACE page on the MCGIVES! site beginning Nov. 9. We hope you will match that donation, or donate another amount to help us meet our goals: to develop ACE’s archival process and upgrade our websites, computers, and storage. We are are also working on an online archival and historical exhibit as a public resource.

Kansha Project
ACE is providing its support as a fiscal sponsor for the Kansha Project. This is a volunteer history project that documents and publishes information on the losses of Nikkei (Japanese American) farmers during World War II. The project is in its beginning stages, but as it progresses, the records will be available for people to look up information on specific Nikkei farms and what happened to them during World War II. As noted in their homepage, “every record is a precious family story.”
JOIN US
ACE continues to receive grants for historical, cultural, and neighborhood projects; we work with service-learning students and partner with many local organizations, presenting opportunities for historical pop-up events and exhibits; we continue to work towards revitalization of Chinatown, and a community based cultural center and museum in the Republic Cafe building. If you are interested in the multicultural history of Salinas, please join us! Help us to develop and expand our programs! Become a member and volunteer of ACE and/or donate to ACE today.
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Text from the Buddhist Temple of Salinas.