Although originally scheduled for Feb. 20, the Chinese New Year celebration had to be postponed due to snow. As a result, some of the festivities were cancelled. However, Chinese Club managed to make the most of the situation.

On Feb. 27, Chinese Club volunteers spent all of lunch hosting the event in honor of the New Year. This year is the year of the sheep or ram. AP Chinese students junior Chris Seger and senior Lila Englander took turns emceeing the event.

“We had to explain to everyone what was going on, why there was traditional music and performances and many tables in the middle of the commons,” said Seger.

Many club members skipped their fifth bell classes to help with the stations at the booth. Some served food, some taught calligraphy and paper cutting, others tried on traditional clothing.

Dumplings and spring rolls were sold for 50 cents each. All the money went toward Chinese Club. In total the food raised $91.

“It was fun to watch people who are not involved in the Chinese program get excited about this stuff. A lot of people don’t know anything about Chinese New Year so I think it was good to expose the whole school,” said junior David Lee.

A Kong Fu master from the Confucius Institute even performed in the commons. Many students heard the crack of his fan and were surprised. “I didn’t know what was going on, but it turned out to be pretty cool, said senior Hannah Brown.

Chinese Club President senior Yuan Zhang writes his name with a calligraphy brush at lunch. Zhang and his mother, Chinese teacher Mrs. Ning Zhang, were responsible for much of the planning behind the event, along with other parent volunteers.

Due to the success of the event, it is likely that it will be replicated in future years. That night the celebration continued. Chinese Club members attended an authentic Chinese New Year celebration at the home of a Chinese family.