Dear VAYA Members and Supporters,

Many thanks to those who contributed and/or came out to support our Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) Event on 9/14/08 and the College Info Session on 9/20/08. We had an astounding turn out for both event and we look forward to providing even MORE cultural events and services to the San Diego Community in the near future.

As October approaches, VAYA is currently preparing for our Staff Retreat scheduled for the weekend of October 3-5, 2008. The goal of this retreat is to establish a stronger workmanship among our dedicated staff, especially those directly involved with the planning of our annual Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) Festival. October is also the month of the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF). This year, VAYA will be co-presenting two movies that we hope you will find interesting and will enjoy.

The first movie will we co-present is: OH SAIGON (USA/Vietnam): A refugee family faces its divided past to heal wounds of the Vietnam War. This movie will screen on THURSDAY, OCT 9 - 6:10 PM. The second movie will we co-present is: STORY OF SPIRITS (Vietnam): A woman connects with her mother's spirit to learn the truth about her death. This movie will screen on SUNDAY, OCT 12 - 5:20 PM. For more information about the 9th San Diego Asian Film Festival, please visit http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=9wphwrcab.0.0.6wp5dkcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sdaff.org%2F&id=preview. If interested in purchasing tickets for these screening through VAYA, please contact info@vayasd.org.

VAYA is in the process of coordinating our "5th Annual Street Cleanup" event, scheduled for Saturday 10/18/08 from 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM. For more information or if interested in coordinating this event and joining this committee, please contact VAYA's 2008 Cleanup Event Coordinator, Toni Nguyen, at (619) 606-4228 or compatta@gmail.com. The committee meets EVERY Wednesdays from 7:00 - 8:30 PM at Broadway Coffee (4633 Convoy Street / San Diego, CA 92111). For general information, please email: streetcleanup@vayasd.org

VAYA will also be hosting the "VAYA Tet 2009 Pageant Mixer" at the Santa Fe Room (Balboa Park Club) on Saturday 10/18/08 starting at 5 PM (later on in the day after the "5th Annual Street Cleanup" event). Come to the "Pageant Mixer" to learn more about the 4th Annual Miss Vietnam of San Diego. For more information, please contact Kari Lam or Linda Nguyen / (858) 717-9901 / pageant@sdtet.com / http://www.sdtet.com/

Things are quite exciting as Tet approaches. Don't forget that if you have a Facebook account, please join our "VAYA 2009 Tet Festival" Facebook group and "VAYA" Facebook group to receive updates and annoucements. Come to one of our meetings and be involved, make a difference, and make new friends!

About the Author: Anthony (Vinh) T. Nguyen serves as Secretary for VAYA.