THE GARDEN GROVE
FIRST LESSONS STUDENTS, TEACHERS HEAD BACK TO SCHOOL TUESDAY IN THE GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. PAGE 4
JOURNAL ALSO SERVING WESTMINSTER AND MIDWAY CITY
AN EDITION OF
THURSDAY, SEPT. 5, 20 1 3
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OCREGISTER.COM/JOURNAL
We don’t want to steal the festival from them. If another group does it we will support them.
They’ll have the support of the Vietnamese community, just like us. The festival belongs to the community, not to any group.”
CANG NGUYEN A T R U N G -TA M VA N - H O A H O N G - B A N G COMMITTEE MEMBER
CRASHING THE PARTY?
Role players dressed as the emperor’s soldiers rehearse for a previous festival. FILE: LEONARD ORTIZ, THE REGISTER
City considers handing over Tet Festival to new organization to help recover costs. BY DOUGLAS MORINO ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A dancer performs at the opening of the Tet Festival in Garden Grove Park in February.
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ach year, the Tet Festival of Southern California draws tens of thousands of attendees to Garden Grove, blossoming into one of the largest ethnic celebrations on the West Coast. The popularity of the event, held in Garden Grove Park on Westminster Avenue, has generated more than $1 million for local charities in the past decade – and thousands of dollars in city revenue. But a proposal that would turn the beloved celebration over to a new operator has been met with fierce reaction. “It’s unfair to us as an organization,” said Nina Tran, president of the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations, the nonprofit group that organizes the event each year. “I’d like to believe we’ve done a great job with the festival.” The Garden Grove Tet Festival, a celebration commemorating the lunar new year, has been organized since 2002 by the union. The festival is considered the largest of its kind outside of Vietnam and features local food vendors, carnival rides and performances by student groups. Last year, nearly 100,000 people attended FOR UPDATES ABOUT GARDEN the three-day event. GROVE’S OTHER The festival is tentatively scheduled to FESTIVALS, SEE PAGE 3. run next year from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. And despite the possibility of a new operator coming in, the festival will likely remain the same. The group vying for the five-year contract is Trung-Tam Van-Hoa Hong-Bang, a Westminster nonprofit that hosts a smaller Tet Festival each year in South El Monte. Under the proposed contract, the group will pay for all costs associated with the festival, along with $1 for each ad-
FILE: PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE REGISTER
Linda Tieu of UC Irvine helps assemble colored lanterns for the cultural village. FILE: PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE REGISTER
Dressed as a soldier, Milo Nguyen, 1 7, lines up with his youth group to greet visitors. FILE: PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE REGISTER
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Test scores in Garden Grove drop BY SARAH TULLY AND FERMIN LEAL ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
State test results for the Garden Grove Unified School District showed an overall drop in the Academic Performance Index score. For elementary, intermediate and high school campuses, 21 schools increased their API scores, while 38 schools reported drops. Scores for four schools stayed the same. The scores for individual schools from districts in Garden Grove and Westminster, released last week, are on Page 4. API scores show how students fare on a scale of 200 to 1,000 and are taken from state test scores and, for high schools, gradua-
New leader starts tenure at Chamber of Commerce Dave Ahern, a Glendale executive for several years, said the transition to business advocacy was natural. BY DOUGLAS MORINO ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
FILE PHOTO: MICHAEL KITADA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Academic Performance Index scores are taken from state test scores and, for high schools, graduation rates.
tion rates. The state’s API accountability system measures improvement in student achievement each year. All schools are expected to boost scores by 2 to 5 points annually until they reach 800.
California also released scores showing the percentage of students proficient in English and math at each school; these numbers also can be found inside The Journal on Page 4.
A former executive for the city of Glendale has been tapped to lead the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce. Dave Ahern, a former capital projects administrator and assistant parks director for that city in Los Angeles County, has been named president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit chamber, considered the city’s oldest civic organization. Ahern has worked in economic development for
most of his 32-year career, which includes a short stint with the city of Los Angeles before he joined Glendale. “This was a natural transition,” said the Orange resident. “I’m just sitting on the other side of the table.” Ahern, 57, began his position with the chamber full time this week. He comes to the chamber as the city’s business community continues to climb out of the recession. City officials, meanwhile, have launched a campaign to rebrand and revitalize sections of the city, including
Harbor Boulevard and the downtown area surrounding Main Street. “There is beginning to be a pick-up for new business licenses,” Ahern said. “That bodes well for the business environment and the overall economic outlook.” The Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce has 275 members and works as an advocate for business interests. Ahern said his top ac-
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