On Friday, July 5th the Nisei Lunch hosted the 2024 Scholarship Awardees and their families to recognize their hard work and academic accomplishments. There were 4 winners this year, and many luncheon participants commented on how much they enjoyed reading their scholarship essays in the May and June newsletter. They felt connected to the essay writers and appreciated their sense of service to the community.
Three of the four winners were in attendance: Shane Deguchi, James Jingui, and Selena Liu. Kaya Terada was not in attendance since she was already putting her skills to work as a camp counselor; she sent her dad (Calvin Terada) as her proxy. The young people were introduced to our luncheon guests, and each of them expressed their appreciation and shared their plans for next year.
This year we were able to give a scholarship in memory of Mark Shigihara. His wife Gwen spoke lovingly about Mark’s desire to fund a student in pharmacy at his beloved University of Washington and the pleasure she and her family had in giving it to Selena Liu, a student at UW in Pharmacy.
About 75 people — seniors, scholarship recipients, their families, scholarship committee, as well as our hard-working volunteers — joined together for a picnic style lunch of chicken, beans, and cold slaw. We had four birthdays to celebrate, and after dessert we had some lively games of bingo. Some great prizes were brought by participants, including chocolates from Norway, home grown plants, gift cards, and the ever-popular homemade pie made by Nancy Fujimoto.
