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Atlanta Taiwanese Community Joined the July 4th Parade

7/5/06

The Atlanta Taiwanese Association continued its participation in the celebration of Independence Day, joining the “Salute to America” parade on July 4 , 2006. The team, consisting of 60 people and a float decorated with whale sharks and red sedan chairs, were applauded by crowds along the route.

This is the 46th Independence Day parade organized by WSV TV Station. Bobby Cox, Manager of the Atlanta Braves Baseball Team, who has just won the title of Best Team Manager from the American Baseball Writers’ Association, was the Grand Marshall of this parade. Another theme of this year’s parade is “Salute to the Georgia’s 48th Brigade”, in honor of the 48th Brigade’s service in the fight against terrorism. Led by the Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, the 200 soldiers of the 48th Brigade were warmly welcomed by the crowds. Other participating parties included high school marching bands, WSB anchor persons, Miss America, minority group representatives and TV celebrities.

Aside from the Taiwanese Community, the minority groups which marched in the parade included the Atlanta Asian Association, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Thai groups. The Taiwanese Community took part in both the performing groups and the parade procession. Members in the parade procession were lead by Dr. Sueling Wang, the newly appointed Commissioner of Taiwan Overseas Compatriot Affairs, and Dr. Jui-Tien Huang, President of Formosan Association of Public Affairs, who held the green Taiwan flag and sign respectively. All the group members wore traditional Taiwanese straw hats and T-shirts with Taiwan logo, and waved the Taiwan flags. The Taiwan Team was undoubtedly the most noticeable amongst the parade procession.

The float of the Taiwan Team was designed and constructed by Mr. Chang-Fa Lee. On the float were two whale sharks, as reminders that the two whale sharks exhibited at the Georgia Aquarium are from Taiwan. With the wording of “Independence” and “Freedom” at the front of the float, the float not only commemorated the attainment of independence and freedom for the U.S., but also symbolized Taiwan’s own pursuit of independence and freedom. Also on the float were the drums, used in a performance by the Atlanta Taiwanese American School. The sedan chairs, which followed the float, were widely used in Taiwanese weddings decades ago. The arrangement of sedan chairs, combined with the whale sharks on the float, symbolized the arrival of the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium as a marriage across the Pacific of the world’s biggest fish to the aquarium in Atlanta.

Although the temperature during the parade was around 100 degrees, the passionate Taiwanese community members were in high spirits. When they arrived at the CNN building, after hours of walking, all the participants had to sit on the ground to rest their tired feet. Nevertheless, they promptly started to plan next year’s program.

台灣同鄉會參加亞特蘭大國慶大遊行新聞稿

亞特蘭大台灣同鄉會今年繼續代表台灣社團參加由亞特蘭大各民間團體共同主辦的『向美國致敬大遊行（Solute2America Parade）』，共同慶祝美國獨立紀念日，當日有五六十位鄉親組成的隊伍，以豆腐鯊及大紅花轎等主題，獲得現場觀眾喝采。

今年是亞特蘭大WSV電視台主辦各民間團體協辦的第四十六屆亞城國慶遊行，由亞特蘭大勇士隊經理Bobby Cox擔任總指揮，C經理以管理見長，本年甫獲得美國棒球作家聯盟選為本年最佳球隊經理，本年另外一項主題為向第四十八旅致敬，共有兩百位軍人組成由Stewart Rodeheaver准將帶領的隊伍受到相當矚目，其他參加隊伍包括本年得獎的各個高中軍樂隊、WSB電視台主播及本年美國小姐及亞特蘭大各族裔等上百個團體及個人。

旅居亞特蘭大各族裔參加的隊伍除了台灣隊外，還有亞裔協會、印尼、馬來西亞、韓國、日本、中國及泰國等，台灣同鄉會的隊伍分成兩個隊伍，分別是由陳富美於籌備會期間所爭取擔任領導亞裔族群的表演隊伍以及遊行隊伍，遊行人員在亞特蘭大新科僑務委員王德及台灣人公共事務協會會長黃瑞典手持綠色台灣牌及台灣旗的帶領下，一行人頭戴很有台灣味的斗笠，身穿印有台灣圖案的T-Shirt，身上披著書有台灣字樣的綠色彩帶，手持小綠旗，是各族裔遊行隊伍陣容最堅強者，在整個遊行隊伍中顯的相當醒目。

隨後出現的台灣表演隊伍中台鄉會匠萷W具地製作了由李長發先生設計的兩座豆腐鯊看板車，代表喬治亞水族館從台灣運來的保育動物豆腐鯊，前頭分別書寫獨立及自由字樣，一方面慶祝美國獨立國慶日及自由的建國理念，一方面也代表爭取台灣獨立自由意味，上面分別布置大鼓，台美學校打鼓隊員敲著大鼓，帶領隊伍前進。隊伍後面是一頂由嚴經邦等同鄉扛著的紅色大花轎，由黃乃佳、蕭淑女、林瓊珠及李敏婷等同鄉手持美濃油紙傘揮舞前進，同鄉會會長陳妙珊群眾致意也週旋於整個隊伍中。陳會長表示，今年台灣遊行隊伍配合亞特蘭大水族館的開幕，以辦喜事的方式以台灣娶新娘的大花轎象徵性將台灣豆腐鯊嫁到喬治亞水族館，特別有意義。

參加遊行的鄉親在現場觀眾的鼓舞下很興奮，但是當天氣溫達華氏一百度，而且經過數小時的等候及遊行，到達終點集合處所CNN大廳時，大夥兒都坐在地上休息，雖然如此鄉親們仍然津津樂道本年遊行點滴，相約明年再來。

(click to enlarge)

Photo captions from left to right:

(1) 王德僑務委員持台灣名牌領導隊伍前進
Dr. Sue-ling Wang leads the parade.

(2) 精心製作的豆腐鯊小花車象徵喬治亞水族館的台灣鯨鯊
The whale shark symbol signifies that the four whale sharks in the Georgia Aquarium come from Taiwan.

(3) 台灣傳統花轎
A traditional Taiwanese wedding pagoda in the parade

(4) A look at the Taiwan team in the parade
參加遊行的台鄉會隊伍

|Updated: 1/24/08