15^th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HTAA

Remarks from the Ninth and Thirteenth President

Author: Chih-yuan Chen

Dear Fellow Taiwanese Community Members:

Fifteen years have already passed since the establishment of our “Sweet Potato Flavored” Taiwanese Association in January of 1991 (Translator’s note: The words 蕃薯味, or “Sweet Potato Flavored,” sound like the word “Huntsville” when pronounced in Taiwanese. Additionally, since the island of Taiwan is shaped like a sweet potato and the root vegetable is a very common food there, HTAA refers to itself as “Sweet Potato Flavored”). In this letter I’d like to congratulate the Taiwanese Association on its 15^th birthday and thank each and every one of you for your enthusiastic participation over the last fifteen years. I am also thankful for all of the financial support and energy that you have invested into the association, which have allowed it to grow and thrive, and turned it into the well-bonded organization that we have long been anticipating.

Over the past fifteen years, all of the people who served as presidents and directors were able to uphold the mission of the association. In addition to holding regular meetings to connect with fellow community members, they also actively participated in and organized a variety of grass-roots events for cultural exchange in order to promote a better understanding of Taiwan among the American public. When the times called for it, they also contacted other like-minded associations, joining their forces to work towards a common goal.

Over the past fifteen years, Taiwan’s political scene has undergone dramatic changes, and our association’s composition has also undergone considerable changes. Many of the passionate and capable community members who were part of the association in its early years have moved away from Huntsville, and the association’s English name was changed from HTA to HTAA to reflect both our organization’s demographic composition, as well as our vision. In regard to my personal life, I’ve been retired for over three years and now spend most of my time volunteering and dancing (Line Dance, Square Dance, and Round Dance). However, our association has no lack of talented individuals to succeed me; there are many people who are both young and have very promising futures. The various activities that are being organized are also full of lively spirit, so the transition into the next generation should go rather smoothly.

Over the past fifteen years, as the world has progressed, our association has digitized along with it. Our association now has a webpage that can be used to check out information about the association’s activities or articles we’ve posted at any given time. Individuals in the association also have their own web addresses that help facilitate communication between association members and allow them to keep in contact with other like-minded organizations. We also have our own beautiful association flag, which we designed ourselves, that reflects the high-tech capabilities of the Huntsville Taiwanese American Association. I hope that if you have the opportunity, you can utilize these tools more frequently.

Finally, I sincerely hope that everyone in the community can acknowledge and appreciate the Huntsville Taiwanese American Association, dedicating our love and effort to help build it into an even stronger and even warmer organization.

Huntsville Taiwanese American Association

The 9^th and 13^th President

Chih-yuan Chen, February 2007

Spring BBQ Picnic at Green Mountain in Huntsville, AL on 4-9-16