North Seattle Community College (NSCC) hosted a “Nepal Event” on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 where Mr. Chan Pongkhamsing Regional Recruiter for Peace Corps talked about his experiences as a Peace Corp volunteer in Nepal and presented a slide show of Nepal. Nepal Seattle Society was requested to put up a cultural show at this event hence the NSS cultural team put together two dances and two songs. We must thank Ms. Sita Gurung, Ms. Parvati Tamang, Ms. Sarah Tamang, Ms. Mingma Sherpa, Ms. Shanti Thapa and Mr. Kiran Shrestha for their outstanding dance performances and to Mr. Sunil Joshi for the wonderful Nepali and Newari songs. Congratulations to all the participants on a job well done! This is a great example of how we can promote our culture outside NSS. We also thank our members and friends who attended the event to show their support- together we can always make a difference in our society.

We would like to thank Ms. Kava Vale (Program Assistant) at North Seattle Community College for giving us the opportunity to participate at this event. We hope to continually promote our culture in the future by participating in events like this. NSS thanks Ms.ChaliceBailey and Mr.Tim for publishing news of Nepal Seattle Society in NSCC newspaper, The Polaris.

Our special thanks goes to Mr. Debadutta Dash (Media & Public Relations Manager) from PlanetGuru for covering Nepal Seattle Society in the paper and for his commitment to help/support NSS in the future as well. Thanks also to Annapurna Cafe for providing Nepali food for the event.

NSS requests the support and cooperation of our dear members and friends on occasions such as this one. Your presence - time permitting, will always be appreciated by our artists who are always willing to work hard to represent Nepal and its rich culture through their performances. Dhanyabad!

To bid adieu to the eventful year 2004 and to welcome the New Year 2005, Himalayan Sherpa Restaurant organized a New Year's Eve party on December 31, 2004.

We spent the night eating delicious food prepared by Himalayan Sherpa Restaurant. The atmosphere was lively with non-stop music. For the first time we played BINGO together and all had a wonderful time. We collected a total of $93 for NSS Fund. Mr. Anup was our big winner of the night and Ms. Sarita Lohani came in second place.

We thank every one who came out and shared this happy time together. Thanks to Mr. Mani Chhetri and all the staff of Himalayan Sherpa Restaurant for organizing this event. Dhanyabad!

Tihar is the second biggest and widely celebrated festival of Nepal. Traditionally, during this festival, sisters give tika and blessings to their brothers while brothers give sisters valuable gifts/cash as a token of their love and appreciation towards their sisters. Another highlight of Tihar is the Deusi/Bhailo which involves going from house to house singing, dancing and collecting donations called Daan/Dakshina which people use for different purposes. This year, we did not go house to house but we did gather at The Everest Kitchen on November 14, 2004 and sang Deusi/Bhailo. We collected $316.25 which went to the NSS Fund. We thank you all for your valuable support to NSS. Our special thanks to Mr. Mohan Gurung and his family who organized this celebration. Dhannyabad!

The Board of Directors, Executive Committee Members, General Members and friends of Nepal Seattle Society were all concerned and saddened to hear that one of our members, Mr. Ram Bahadur Malla, was hospitalized in serious condition.
He is suffering from a liver disease. He needed some funds to cover his hospital bills and medical care so most of our members and friends were generous to help him and his family at his time of need. NSS also organized a fundraiser for him and collected $1455. NSS added $500 totaling the amount to $1955.

We handed over the amount of $1955 (One thousand nine hundred fifty five and 00/100) to Mr. Ram Bahadur Malla at The Everest Kitchen on November 7, 2004 in the presence of NSS President, Members and Mrs. Shobha Malla (wife of Mr. Ram Malla). We would like to thank all of our members and friends for their generous contribution. This is an excellent example of "SERVING OUR COMMUNITY BY HELPING EACH OTHER". The following is a list of our contributors:

S.No.	Contributors	Amount	By
1	Mr. Mohan Gurung/The Everest Kitchen	$501.00	Check
2	Mr. Madan Shrestha	$100.00	Cash
3	Mr. Nabin Khanal	$25.00	Cash
4	Mr. Krishna Gurung	$50.00	Cash
5	Mr. Shree Ram Dahal	$20.00	Cash
6	Mr. Tak Bahadur Gurung	$25.00	Check
7	Mr. Madhu Dahal	$30.00	Cash
8	Ms. Rubi Shrestha	$30.00	Cash
9	Mr. Sampurna Prajapati	$20.00	Cash
10	Mr. Gyan Bhakta Bade	$50.00	Cash
11	Ms. Shova Rana	$50.00	Check
12	Mr. Hemanta Rana	$50.00	Check
13	Ms. Sita Gurung	$50.00	Check
14	Mr. Ang Babu Sherpa	$30.00	Cash
15	Ms. Lily Laemmle	$50.00	Check
16	Ms. Lalu M. Chhetri	$50.00	Check
17	Mr. Dhan B. Pun	$51.00	Cash
18	Mr. Anil & Ms. Kalpana Shrestha	$51.00	Check
19	Mr. Ravi and Ms. Jyotsana Rana	$51.00	Check
20	Mr. Lopsang Sherpa and Family	$25.00	Check
21	Mr. Chhong Karma Sherpa	$51.00	Check
22	Ms. Kalpana Sharma	$50.00	Check
23	Ms. Anupma Gurung	$20.00	Check
24	Ms. Anna Hauksdottir	$25.00	Check
	Total from members & friends:	$1455.00
25	Nepal Seattle Society (NSS):	$500.00
	Grand Total:	$1955.00

Bada Dasain is the biggest and most widely celebrated festival of Nepal which is celebrated for 10 consecutive days with various rituals. Every year, the Nepalese people in Seattle along with friends of Nepal get together to celebrate this great festival. This year, we celebrated Bada Dasain on Saturday, October 23, 2004 at Greenwood Senior Activity Center in Seattle, Washington which was attended by approximately 130 members and friends.

The celebration started with a welcome speech by the NSS President, Mr. Ravi Rana which was followed by a Dasain Dhoon “Malashree” by Mr. Brient Bianchy on Esraj. Malashree is a welcoming festive tune, which filled our hearts and minds with the spirit of Dasain festival. Mr. Brient lived in Nepal for one year and learned various Nepali music. Along with Mr. Brient, NSS Executive member Mr. Sampurna Prajapati played the Madal (Nepali Drum). Mr. Brient and Sampurna played many different kinds of drums, i.e., Madal, Jor Damaru, Dhapa/Lala Khin, and Dhimay Baja, all of which have different sounds and are played in different genres of Nepali music.

Mrs. Jyotsana Rana recited a heart touching Nepali poem “Kathaibari”composed by herself in memoriam of the 12 Nepalese people who were killed in Iraq by the Iraqi rebels 2 months ago. Mr. Bom Singh Ranabhat sang a song “Joon Phula Maile Rojeko Thiye…” This was his second performance in NSS cultural show. Mrs. Shobha Rana performed a wonderful modern solo dance on a famous Nepali movie song called “Gairi Khetko Sirai Hanyoooo…” This was Mrs. Rana’s first performance on the NSS stage.

Our invaluable singer/musician, Mr. Sunil Joshi sang a Nepali pop song called “Beheshechhu Jagera Pani…” with Mr. Bhushan Khanal who played the Guitar. According to Mr. Joshi, this song was composed by Mr. Ramesh Acharya and his wife, who have been regular members of NSS. Mr. Mohan Gurung also recited a Nepali poem. Mr. Gurung is one of the Founder Members of NSS and also an Ex-President of NSS who has been contributing his valuable time to NSS since its establishment.

Mrs. Ruby Shrestha and Ms. Anupma Gurung staged their graceful presence as Masters of Ceremony for our Dasain cultural program. The audience, as usual, enjoyed the muktaks and sayaries (Nepali jokes) that Mr. Madhu Dahal presented.

We then honored the following individuals who became Life members of Nepal Seattle Society: Mr. Bijit Giri, Mr. Tashi Sherpa, Mr. Chhong Karma Sherpa, Mr. Arthur Hrin, Ms. Evangeline Erskine, Ms. Lalu Chhetri and Mr. Tirtha Khanal. Mr. Craig Seasholes took NSS Life Membership during the celebration and we were happy to be able to honor him at the same time. NSS President handed out certificates to all the Life Members as our token of thanks and appreciation. The President also introduced the current Executive Committee Members and Board of Directors of NSS.

NSS thanks Mr. Mohan Gurung (The Everest Kitchen) who catered delicious Nepali food including CELL ROTI and KHASIKO MAASU. Our hearty thanks to Mr. Jim, representative of Greenwood Senior Activity Center (GSAC) for providing their premises to NSS for our celebration.

Our very special thanks to all of our members, friends, volunteers, participants, Dasain organizing committee members, Board of Directors and Executive Committee Members for their valuable time, generous support and contribution in making this Dasain Celebration a great success. We hope that every one enjoyed and had a good time.

NSS hopes to continue to organize activities and programs that will promote Nepal’s rich and diverse culture and heritage in the days to come. In saying that, we also hope that we will always receive the valuable help and support from all our members and friends of Nepal in order to organize such events in the future.

Please click on the Photo Gallery to view some of the snapshots taken at the Bada Dasain 2061 Celebration. Thank you !

 

The Nepali Association of Oregon (NAO) hosted a Northwest Nepali Jamghat (gathering) at Blue Lake Regional Park, Portland, Oregon on September 5, 2004,. Members were given the opportunity to take a chartered bus to the event. On the bus we sang and danced to our favorite Nepali songs to pass the time and make the bus ride an enjoyable trip. Once we arrived in Portland, we enjoyed the festive mood with NAO members/friends. After the games, activities and delicious food, NAO provided a Token of Love to NSS. Next year, the Nepali Jamghat will be in Vancouver, B.C..

 

On August 22, 2004, NSS organized its first formal Fund Raiser event at the Himalayan Sherpa Restaurant. We made around 900 pieces of MOMOs and sold $749 dollars worth. During the party we projected “In The Shadow of Himalayas: How People Live in Nepal” as entertainment for our members and friends.

We thank all of the NSS officials, volunteers, members and friends from the bottom of our hearts who gave their valuable time to make and sell all those momos to make our Fund Raiser a big success. We thank Ms. Tamara Plush for providing her movie for the event. Our very special thanks goes to Mr. Mani Chhetri of Himalayan Sherpa Restaurant and his staff for all their help and for providing the premises to NSS at no cost. We hope to get this kind of continued help and cooperation in the days to come for the betterment of NSS.

We hope to host more Fund Raising Events in the future as we are planning to establish a Revolving Fund to serve our members in need as well as children and elderly people in Nepal. We also hope that we will be able to support victims of natural disasters if we are successful in establishing this kind of Fund.

On July 17, 2004, NSS hosted a Potluck Picnic Day (NSS DAY) at the Golden Garden Park, in Seattle, WA. We had a great turnout of people as well as a variety of delicious foods prepared by our NSS members. The Nepali Soccer Team was honored with 6 soccer balls, 1 air pump and 17 scrimmage vests for their job well done at the World Cup Seattle 2004 Soccer Tournament. Golden garden park provided a beautiful background to our exciting day which included fun-filled activities like Tug-of-war, Children’s Blind Jack and Volleyball. We thank all of those who attended this picnic and made this event a grand success.

* News 2004
* News 2003
* News 2002
* News 2001 
* News 2000 
* News 1999