For the 4th consecutive year, OCTAA took its place among the 27 cultural exhibits representing Türkiye and the Turkish culture at the City of Irvines Annual Global Village Festival held at the Bill Barber Park on October 4, 2008. Our aim is to represent Türkiye as a modern Turkish Republic.
OCTAAs Turkish culture booth was again the most colorful and popular among all of the cultural exhibits providing education about Turkiye, sharing our culture, history, traditions, arts, music, and clothing. Hundreds of visitors enjoyed stopping by the booth and sampling Turkish delight (lokum), pismaniye, and kolonya compliments of Ms. Engin Kadaster of Newport International Travel. We provided brochures about Türkiye and a wide range of books on the founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ottoman history, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, and Nasreddin Hoja. We showed DVDs introducing regions and points of interest in Türkiye and Anadolu Atesi (Fire of Atatolia) Turkish folk dancing on a large flat screen TV provided by our friends at the American Azeri Council.
It was a proud moment when the City of Irvine Councilmember Dr. Steven Choi saluted all of us in appreciation of Turkeys support of South Korea during the Korean War and told us how much the Korean people appreciate the friendship of Turkiye and Turks.
Our visitors experienced first hand the true Turkish hospitality and richness of our culture by sampling lokum and pismaniye, and cookies. Visitors asked questions about our history, geography, culture, and popular to visit.
We appreciate the volunteerism and generosity of the following individuals who played a significant role in the successful promotion of the rich Turkish culture, history, and heritage to the greater communities in Orange County:
- Engin Kadaster of Newport International Travel for donating 25 boxes of lokum, pismaniye, and candy. Our visitors could not get enough of our national candy and came back for more.
- Michelle Deniz Drouse and Semrin Aleckson for volunteering and participating as representatives of the Turkish-American community at the pre-event Walk for Unity which is the first fundraiser supporting the development of a Multicultural Center at the Great Park and to celebrate Irvines Cultural Diversity.
- One of our founding members Mine Tan for her help in setting up our beautiful exhibit and providing some of her Turkish art pieces. Our volunteers Keith Aleckson, Aysu Tazebay, Arzu Kocyigit, Sibel Turfanda, Nejat Yakupoglu, Ercan Ozbek, Hasan Akyol, Ayse Ruya Cohen, and Ali Erdem Gunay for working at the exhibit and answering questions about our homeland and promoting Turkey. Special thanks to our young volunteers Semrin Aleckson, Jale Yakupoglu, and Melis Kocyigit for handing out lokum and other materials.
- Yalcin Aslan of DonerG Turkish Restaurant for providing delicious baklava enjoyed by our special guests and our volunteers.
- Mehmet Kemaloglu of IMECO displaying samples of Turkish olive oil at the exhibit.
- All guests who stopped by and visited our booth.
Please visit our website to view many memorable photos from this event by clicking here.
Dont miss the chance of experiencing this pride first hand. Take an active role at the next OCTAA cultural event.
OCTAA Team
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR EVENT SPONSOR:
Ms. Engin Kadaster
