Summer 2024
Summer Events and Planning for Fall and Winter
Hello, Members and Friends:
We hope you are having a relaxing summer. ACES is participating in a few events this summer, while planning more events in the Fall. We will also be attending partnership and recruitment events for Service Learning Students at CSUMB, and other local schools.
EVENTS
This year, the 2024 Obon Festival on July 28 is just one part of the year-long Centennial of the Buddhist Temple of Salinas. While the centennial is mostly for members, you can be sure that the importance of this anniversary will be reflected in the this year’s Obon Festival.
PARALUMAN FIL-AM FEST
The Filipino Community Center was awarded a $5000 grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County for this year’s Paraluman Fil-Am Festival! It’s still a few months away, but the Paraluman Festival will take place on October 28. For those of you who missed Theo Gonzalves’ wonderful presentation (sponsored by ACES in April) on his book, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History, Art, & Culture in 101 Objects, you’ll have another chance. He will return for another talk during the Festival!
POP-UPS
ACES will be tabling at the Steinbeck Street Fair (9 a.m. - 2 p.m., 100 block of Main St., Salinas) and at the Monterey County Historical Society fundraiser (details TBA). Both events are on September 21, and we will have staff and/or volunteers at both events!
NEWS FROM THE ARCHIVES
Jess Tabasa Collection
We are grateful for having received a large donation, recently, of historical photographs, documents, and objects from the Jess Tabasa estate. There are many important images in the Tabasa collection that illuminate the history of the Filipino and Asian American communities in both Watsonville and Salinas Valley. And our concern for maintaining these collections leads to our “Big Idea” for MCGIVES:
ACES’ BIG IDEA FOR MONTEREY COUNTY GIVES!
ACES is expecting more large donations in the future. Our archival committee has its work cut out for them! Keep an eye out for Monterey County Gives! this year. Our storage space (see above) is small; we need to enlarge it—and soon.
We will be requesting donations for a climate-controlled archival storage container for our expanding collections, which contribute to our knowledge of the multicultural history of the Salinas Valley. If we are selected for Monterey County Gives! this year, please donate to help ACES in its project to continue developing and storing our collections for generations to come.
REVITALIZATION OF CHINATOWN
Members of ACES recently attended a meeting with TEF architectural design from San Francisco. The firm was hired by the City of Salinas to submit preliminary design ideas for a second (after Moon Gate) housing development on Soledad St. in Chinatown; this one for mixed-use housing and retail. TEF recently met with ACES and Salinas Downtown Community Board (SDCB) members, followed by a meeting with the City’s Historic Resources Board (HRB). The development will be located across the street from the Republic Cafe, and initial designs will incorporate the old pool hall, owned by the Ahtye family, for its historical importance to the neighborhood.
NEW WEBSITE
Our website has a new look! We have recently moved it to the SquareSpace platform, which gives the site much more capability. The Membership page is currently under construction. If you need to contact us, please email at acesalinas2014@gmail.com.
MEMBERS
ACES 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-ups and exhibits; and we continue to work for revitalization of Chinatown and a community based cultural center and museum in the Republic Cafe building.
A gentle reminder: If you are a member of ACES, don’t forget to renew your membership every year. Members contribute greatly to our organization. Our programming staff is developing a Membership Benefit Event for this Fall, where we will celebrate our members, hand out membership cards, and discuss plans for the rest of 2024 and 2025. Contact us by email at acesalinas2014@gmail.com. As always, your input is greatly appreciated!
