A Brief History of “Windsor Area Taiwanese American Association (WATAA)”

Chuck Chang

West Windsor, a small town with a population of about 27,000 with diversified cultural background, is located adjacent to Princeton in Central New Jersey, about halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. Historically, the township public school system was rated one of the best in the State. The township also sponsored annual International Cultural Fair in early 1990’s to promote appreciation of diversified cultures among the citizen.

Because of the high quality of education system and easy access to the two major East Coast cities with ample job market, many Taiwanese Americans (TAs), including my family, settled in West Windsor and Princeton areas since early 1980’s. As members of the community, we wanted to be visible, live peacefully, and mutually respect with neighbors. In order to promote the friendship among us and enhance our identity and culture at the local level in America, we, without any formal entity but identified ourselves “A Group of Windsor Area Taiwanese Americans”, participated in various local community activities in early 1990’s.

Although we were able to participate in the community programs during the previous two years, we encountered some difficulties since we did not officially represent any organization. Several of those individuals involved in the previous activities realized that a formal local organization representing TAs residing in West Windsor and vicinity areas is justified to facilitate the programs in the future. They met a few times, and a consensus was reached to form a non-profit organization. Following a few brain –storming sessions, a logo (See Figure 1) was selected from several designs, By-Laws was drafted, members of the Board of Directors (BOD) were elected, and the West Windsor Area Taiwanese American Association (WATAA) was officially formed on May 1, 1993 with 66 initial members. Subsequently, the 1^st issue of WATAA Newsletter was issued on May 30.

On January 17, 1994, an application was submitted to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to designate WATAA as a tax exempt organization. Following a lengthy review and revisions of the By-Laws, WATAA was finally approved by IRS on November 28, 1994 as a tax exempt organization described in Tax Rules Section 501 (c) (3). It was a big step forward for WATAA since it helps us to solicit financial support from its members and local TA small business owners, which, in turn, put us in a better financial position in executing our programs.

WATAA continued to function actively in the following years in accordance with the guidelines stated in the By-Laws and the IRS 501 (c) (3) rules. As words spread around, more and more TAs residing in West Windsor and the vicinity areas subsequently joined WATAA membership, and, in a few years, its members increased to a peak of around 170. With the strong support of its members and the joint effort of the Board of Directors, WATAA conducted various local activities in the past as highlighted below:

Participated in West Windsor Township International Cultural Fairs, presented gourmet Taiwanese food/drinks, folk dance, tourist information, and demonstrated one of the traditional Taiwanese fortune telling practices, etc.
Served as volunteer gardeners in the periodical maintenance (weeds removal, etc.) of Township office complex area
Co-sponsored New Jersey Youth Invitational Softball Tournaments in summer with Taiwanese American Citizen League-NJ Chapter (TACL-NJ), participated by several teams (mostly TA players) from NJ, NY and PA.
Sponsored West Windsor Mayor election candidate night (1992) providing a forum for candidates to present their positions on various community social issues.
Sponsored or co-sponsored annual Christmas Parties with Princeton University Taiwanese American Student Association and shared the joys of the events with invited local elected officers as honorable guests .
Sponsored annual picnics in summer, and invited experts to speak on various subjects such as estate planning, nutrition and health, life insurance, etc.
Sponsored seminars and invited local law enforcement officers, school superintendents and stuff of local mainstream newspapers to address racial and career related subjects.
Awarded scholarship to selected top students in several local high schools (See Figure 2).
Participated in annual Susan G. Komen Central and South Jersey “Race for the Cure” parades under a “Team Taiwan” sign (See Figure 3).
Sponsored concerts featuring Taiwanese music and songs.
Others

As shown above, WATAA achieved many of its goals during the first decade since its inception. As a small local non-profit organization, however, we experienced some difficulties in recruiting voluntary successors willing to serve the BOD in the last few years. To resolve the problem, a general meeting was called on July 16, 2010 to discuss the issue and, as a result, a new team of BOD was elected. In view of the problem in the BOD election, voices suggesting to terminating WATAA operation was also heard during the meeting. A follow-up meeting was then called on October 9, 2010 to discuss the future of WATAA. The meeting was well attended, and, following a heated debate, it was decided by majority votes to terminate the organization and the remaining fund will be distributed to other local non-profit organizations.

WATAA began to winding down its activities gradually in the following years. In 2014, the new BOD proceeded to cancel WATAA registration with the State and Federal regulatory agencies. The organization, unfortunately, was officially dissolved in October 2014 after 21 years of active and successful operation.

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(Note: The author is the first president of WATAA)

October 5, 2017

Figure 1. WATAA Logo