Logansport High School to celebrate Lunar New Year at McHale

Josh Flynn, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·3 min read

Jan. 27—Logansport High School will celebrate the Lunar New Year from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, bringing the event to the McHale Performing Arts Center stage for the very first time.

The event was assembled by World Language Dept. and Chinese language instructors Yi-Chun LeFaure, Chunmei Guan and many of their students.

The celebration will feature vendors selling Asian foods and gifts and performances of poems, songs and dancing.

The Lunar New Year began on Sunday, Jan. 22, on the first new moon of 2023.

When Guan arrived in Logansport in 2017, she said early Lunar New Year's celebrations took place in the classroom, not on a stage. They would make dumplings and noodles, decorate the classroom and hallway and share Chinese culture with students.

Guan said the holiday's major theme is about family reunion.

"It's like Christmas is here," said Guan. "It's a family time."

LeFaure said that instead of gifts, elders would give the children red envelopes with money inside. As children grew into adults they began to give the red envelopes to their own children or to their parents.

LeFaure said she misses being with her family in Taiwan to celebrate the Lunar New Year together. It's been 13 years since she last shared the experience with them, she said.

Guan hoped that celebrations like Lunar New Year's will create more of a family feeling in the community between all its residents.

Hate crimes toward Asians skyrocketed when the COVID pandemic began. The Atlanta spa shootings in 2021 increased community fears.

"It scared the Asian community," she said, recalling Asian students who came to her and shared their worries post-shooting.

Guan felt called on as a Chinese teacher to do something. She said she would like to be a bridge.

"We're all human," she said. "We are not the (COVID) virus. I have to do something to help the Asian community and our community know we are one family."

She wants that community to expand to the Hispanic and African American students and those from other cultures as well, many who have come to her and shared an experience with some form of racism.

Bridges are already building in Logansport High School. Guan said the boys' basketball team has been engaged and very supportive of championing diversity in the school.

The students planning the Lunar New Year's event previewed their performances last week at halftime during the basketball game. They have also set up booths at games to showcase the Chinese and Spanish language classes, clubs and this spring's multicultural festival that is planned for May.

"Logansport is a very diverse community," LaFaure said. "We have a lot of chances to experience different cultures. And Logansport is not far from Kokomo or West Lafayette—especially West Lafayette. They have a lot of Asian people there. So I think we provide an experience for students that show them the Lunar New Year is important like Christmas."

LaFaure said helping students experience the Lunar New Year allows for them to later identify aspects of the celebration in other areas, like West Lafayette, and gives them an understanding and cultural appreciation of what they are seeing.

Guan said the students are excited for Friday's event and those who participated in organizing it have pulled out all the stops.

"I can see the light from their eyes," she said. "They have a lot of fun."

Entry to the event costs $2 and tickets can be purchased at the McHale box office, 1 Berry Ln. Eight different door prizes will be available to win for those in attendance. Food boxes may also be purchased for $8.