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Community Corner

Local Church Hosts 60th Annual Bazaar — Open to the Public

El Cerrito's Sycamore Congregational Church celebrates the 60th anniversary of its popular bazaar with a Japanese cultural theme featuring food, prizes, games and peformances.

This Sunday will feature some extra extravaganza for the annual Sycamore Congregational Church Bazaar. The date, marking the 60th anniversary of the festival, is no small event.

According to Pastor Sharon MacArthur, who has been serving the congregation for nine years, the church counted 1,404 visitors to the bazaar last year. "It has morphed into a community event resembling a reunion," MacArthur said. "People come once a year to see people who they know will be here."

The hours are noon to 5 p.m., and MacArthur will be greeting guests at the ticket booth, where tickets will be sold for one dollar each. The tickets can be used to purchase food or other items for sale in the bazaar marketplace, compete for prizes at game booths or win one of many door prizes to be called out every hour on the hour.

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The bazaar offers a little bit of something for everyone. Hundreds of volunteers, including local sushi chefs, help prepare the food for the anticipated crowds. Other volunteers offer up their personal cuisine-making skills each year and come back to learn from the talented chefs who contribute to the extensive menu.

The food is sold for reasonable prices (the average item is around five dollars). Options include sushi, hot dogs, hamburgers, skewered beef, spam musubi (a Hawaiian-influenced treat), teriyaki chicken, udon, grilled corn, root beer floats and sweet treats such as manju — a Japanese confection made from azuki beans, flour, rice powder and buckwheat.

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Entertainment this year will include The Heiwa Taiko, the Wesley Ukulele Band, a traditional Korean dance performance by MyungJin Kang, and Bunka (Japanese Culture) Camp Kids. (The schedule of performances can found on the attached flyer.) There will be carnival-type games as well as an Astro Jump for children.

This year volunteers are traveling from as far away as Washington to join in the  festivities. Local volunteers come from cities all over the Bay Area.

Many volunteers belong to a new generation carrying on a long tradition started by their parents or grandparents. MacArthur said the event has turned into a serendipitous gathering place for people who have met in many different circumstances. For example, MacArthur's husband, who works for the Naval Supply Center, had an impromptu meet-up at a past bazaar with some of his prior work associates. They were all able to have lunch together at a table and play catch up.

One task for volunteers will be handing out flyers to the neighbors in the community near the church in advance to thank them for their understanding and support of the festivities. They will be reminding them to expect a shortage of nearby parking between the hours of noon and 5 p.m.

"We are grateful that we can be a part of the community and continue to have this event," MacArthur said.

The bazaar is a place to celebrate and appreciate Japanese culture in an environment that is inclusive of all nationalities, ages and religious affiliations.

The festival not only provides an opportunity to get to know others in the community as well as sample a rich local hub of Japanese-American culture. It's also a big fundraiser for the church.

The Sycamore Congregational Church United Church of Christ has a long history in the Bay Area, dating back to its inception in 1904, when three Japanese students founded the church.  The church was located in Oakland until 1964, when the property was appropriated under under eminent domain to become the new Grove Shafter Freeway. The church relocated to El Cerrito, where it has been ever since, on Navallier Street near the El Cerrito Recyling Center.

Sycamore Congregational Church is a bilingual English-Japanese community, which includes Japanese worship services as well as Japanese classes and a bilingual preschool. Students travel from all over the Bay Area.

The church -- blending Japanese culture and the Japanese-American community in a Christian environment -- says that "no matter where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here."

Sycamore Congregational Church has an open-door policy. According to MacArthur, the church is "redefining what it means to be a member of the church. It's about covenant and relationship as (much) as it is about doctrine and creed. We are living out what Jesus did himself. We are kind to everyone."

Visitors are welcome also to attend church services Sunday. A short worship service will be held at 11 a.m.

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