OCCCC annual picnic in 2019
橙縣中華文化協會 2019 年野餐
The Orange County Chinese Cultural Club began in 1968 as the Orange County Chinese Social Club. At that time, there were relatively few Chinese Americans
living in Orange County. The original group of 39 families got together with the goal of preserving and keeping the Chinese heritage alive for the younger generation. Dr. Lock Gee Ding and Mrs. Ruth Ding became the founding co-presidents. The families, longing for the best for their children, felt that they should incorporate the best values of traditional Chinese culture with the modern values of American culture. One of the first programs was a Chinese Children’s Choir.
The club changed its name in 1976 when the group expanded its scope to include cultural and educational programs, such as Mandarin and Cantonese language classes, gourmet Chinese cooking classes, Chinese folk dancing classes, martial arts classes and bridge classes.
OCCCC is a non profit, non political organization, which supports community and cultural projects in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. OCCCC is proud to be a founding member of the following organizations: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Opera Pacific, Pan Pacific Performing Arts, Inc. and the Asian American Senior
Citizens Service Center of Orange County. In addition, OCCCC gave support to the Dancers in Monterey Park, the Irvine Barclay Theater on the campus of the University of California Irvine, the Bowers Museum and Soka University, Aliso Viejo.
Each year OCCCC hosts several social, cultural and special events. In the past, they have included Christmas parties, Chinese folk dance recitals and the Asian American Young Artists Competition for piano, instrumental and vocal performers. Other special fundraising events have included the Dragon Boat Festival, Asian Headdress Ball, Moon Festival Gala, Beauty Pageant, the Orange County premiere of We Served With Pride, a documentary film recounting the experiences of Chinese American veterans of World War II and many other events in cooperation with other organizations.
OCCCC cooperated with Disneyland with an Autumn Moon Festival at Disneyland as their “Magic Music Days” which highlighted the dance and musical talents of local young performers. At the Bowers Museum, OCCCC hosted the Autumn Moon Chinese Arts Festival where the art, food, and dynasty costumes were exhibited, and local young artists displayed their work in the museum. Another event was the Chinese Young People’s Performing Arts Festival at the newly opened Orange County Performing Arts Center, now known as the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
OCCCC also co-sponsored the Winter Blossom Ball and the Winter Gala. These events attracted international attention and television coverage. Another major event for several years is the New Year’s Eve Gala which is sponsored with other founding organizations of the Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center.
The Orange County Chinese Cultural Club’s philosophy and objectives are to promote, preserve and enrich the Chinese cultural heritage in Southern California,
integrate the customs and ideals of the East and West, and offer community services that support and contribute to the community.
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| OCCCC presented “We Served with Pride” in 2000 to honor club members who served in WWII. 橙縣中華文化協會在 2000 年紀念二次世界大戰中英勇保衛美國的華裔軍人 |
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OCCCC Board of Directors with Ruth Ding (center in green), founding president
橙縣中華文化協會董事會與創始人 Ruth Ding (前排中、綠裝穿著）合照
橙縣中華文化協會始於 1968 年，當時居住在橙縣的華裔美國人相對較少，所以最初是一個社交俱樂部。創會的 39 個家庭聚在一起，認為下一代應該將傳統中華文化的最佳價值與美國文化的現代價值相結合，於是，俱樂部第一項計劃是創辦兒童合唱團。
橙縣中華文化俱樂部於 1976 年更名橙縣中華文化協會（OCCCC），當時該協會將其活動範圍擴大到包括文化和教育計劃，例如中文普通話班和廣東話班、中華美食烹飪班、中華舞蹈班、武術班和橋牌班。
橙縣中華文化協會是非營利性、非政治性的組織，支持洛杉磯縣和橙縣的社區和文化項目。文化協會很榮幸成為以下組織的創始成員：Segerstrom 藝術中心、太平洋歌劇團（Opera Pacific）、泛太平洋演藝協會和亞美老人服務中心。還共同贊助了華裔閨秀及笄禮的歲寒展妍晚會（Winter Blossom Ball）。