A little taste of Japan is coming to Haddonfield. This weekend, residents have the chance to enjoy sake, sushi and see traditional Japanese artifacts all for a good cause.
The Haddonfield Japan Exchange, the popular student exchange between Kasukabe, Japan, and Haddonfield, will be holding its major fundraiser, a Sake and Sushi Party and Auction, on Saturday, June 13 at the Markeim Art Center, located at Lincoln Avenue and Walnut Street, from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. Tickets are $30.
“They’ll have a really enjoyable time, all the while supporting the Haddonfield Japan Exchange program. It is great for the kids and host families. They learn so much and really enjoy the experience,” said resident Bill Brown, who started the program.
The Haddonfield Japan Exchange is a non-profit organization Brown started in 2006 that promotes an annual exchange program between students from Haddonfield and Kasukabe, Japan. In alternating summers, about 15 to 20 students and chaperones from Japan and the United States visit one another and stay with host families.
This year, the Japanese students will visit Haddonfield. The students who visit are typically juniors and seniors from the all-girl Kasukabe High School. Whenever the Japanese students visit, the Haddonfield Japan Exchange hosts its Sake and Sushi Party and Auction. This year is the third time hosting the event.
The idea was brought about when someone suggested they have a beef and beer fundraiser. Brown liked the idea, but felt they should make it more representative of the program by making it sake and sushi. The element of adding an auction was also included to create the Sake and Sushi Party and Auction as it came to be.
The sushi is provided by Sagami and the sake is provided by Moore Brothers. However, for those who aren’t a fan of such edibles, PJ Whelihan’s and MiaMare will provide alternative food, and there will be Flying Fish beer available as well.
“It is a great time to mix and mingle. We expect a lot of host families to come to support the program as well as others in the town,” Brown said.
The auction will be held online at www.HJEx.org until the night of the event where it will go live at 9 p.m. The online bids will still be used, but final bids are taken the night of the event. Items being auctioned include gift cards to local restaurants, tickets to sports games, a membership and free Japanese class, a home watercolor painting and more. One donated item of note was a $100 gift card provided by 13-year-old Julia Chin who traveled through the Haddonfield Japan Exchange program and loved it so she decided to give back.
“She had such a great time when she went. For this auction, she donated a $100 gift card that she won. It was very kind of her to do that,” Brown said.
While many local service organizations as well as Subaru of America make donations to the non-profit organization, the majority of the needed funds to host the 20 visiting students and two chaperones is derived from the Sake and Sushi Party and Auction.
The funds raised are used to support the activities for the Japanese teenage guests as well as the hosting Haddonfield students.
Some of those activities include tours of Haddonfield shopping and historic sites; trips to Philadelphia, New York City, the Jersey Shore and the Amish Country in Pennsylvania; tubing on the Delaware; bowling; visiting the Cowtown Rodeo; and a welcoming party and farewell dinner held at Tavistock.
Brown encourages everyone who sees the Japanese students in Haddonfield in the summer to give them a warm Haddonfield welcome. He said a great way to do so is to greet them with a “welcome” in Japanese with the word “yokoso.”
To find out more about the program, purchase tickets for the Sake and Sushi Party and Auction, or submit bids on items, visit www.HJEx.org or contact Brown at billbrown08033@aol.com.
