ASIAN POPULATION GROWING IN METUCHEN

Metuchen residents and other locals had an opportunity to embrace the specular sights and sounds of Asian culture with the colorful splendor of the annual Lunar New Year celebration.

This lively family-friendly gathering celebrated The Year of the Rabbit – one of the 12 animals on the Chinese zodiac, which follow in this order - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The Lunar New Year began Jan. 22 and will run through Feb. 9, 2024. While most of Asia celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam celebrates the Year of the Cat. In both zodiacs there are 12 animals represented with only the fourth animal - rabbit and cat, respectively - as differing.

With a growing Asian population in recent years, the Metuchen Downtown Alliance (MDA) and the Human Relations Commission collaborated to bring the Lunar New Year festivities to the borough for a second year in a row.

The festival was filled with a number of live performances including the traditional Chinese Lion dance performance, in which the lions bow to be respectful to the crowd, in addition to drummers and fan dancers from the Korean Cultural Arts group.

The Lion Dance is performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year as well as to chase away evil spirits.

Bobbie Fawcett, chair of the Downtown Alliance Promotions Team, said among the great feedback from the first year in 2022, people shared they had seen the lion dance and/or Korean fan dance on television, but never witnessed it in person.

And now they were able to up close and personal.

In addition to the Chinese culture, the Lunar New Year celebration in Metuchen celebrated a wider Asian population. Most please see LUNAR, page 11

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Asian cultures, with the exception of Japan and India, celebrate this joyous holiday.

In fact, a fourth of the world’s population celebrates the Lunar New Year. It is a public holiday celebrated in the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, North Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Brunei, according to MDA website.

Metuchen celebrated the new year on Jan. 28 with events sponsored by the MDA in collaboration with the Metuchen Human Relations Commission.

Several businesses added some extra pizazz to the celebration. Pastry Lu provided special Asian pastries, What's the Scoop offered unique ice cream flavors, and the Picture Perfect Studio had special Lunar New Year in-studio photography sessions.

“These festivities are a wonderful way to introduce this holiday to a broader community and have Asian Americans feel welcome and represented in our community,” explained Fawcett.

Dawn Mackey, the executive director of the MDA, which serves the local business district appreciates that the alliance is run by “a tenacious and dedicated group of volunteers who put the magic in Metuchen. This

Both clubs returned for the second year.

“Everyone in the business community was extremely welcoming and the parade audience included so many Asians,” she said. “I have been living in Metuchen for 20 years and I don’t often see as many Asians as I saw event, as well as the others that we present, are all about the genuine love we feel for our community.” come out and support the event.” please see LUNAR, page 13

Volunteer organizer Jennifer Zhu said there were difficulties in finding performers the first year because of the COVID pandemic. She turned to her nephew and his friends from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lion Dance team, as well as members of the Metuchen High School Asian Heritage Club.

Metuchen embraces the sights and sounds of Asian culture with its second celebration of the Lunar New Year.

The event is extremely personal to Zhu, noting that over the years she has brought a dragon costume to school for her three WINTER