HOLIDAY FOLK FAIR INTERNATIONAL!!!

Thai-Am will be at Folk Fair again this year!

Last year we had a somber presence at Folk Fair due to the recent passing of His Majesty, the King of Thailand.  We were honoring a year-long period of mourning.

This year, we will be joyful again!  We will dance.  We will eat.  We will have craft goods and gifts for sale.  Come join us!

Our adult performers will dance all three days.  This year, our children will dance on Sunday at the noon performance.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 17-19, 2017.  More info at www.folkfair.org.

Tickets:  $12.00 at the door.  $10.00 advance.  Advance tickets available from Thai-Am (email us, thaiammilwaukee@gmail.com).

See you there!

Upcoming THAI-AM Events 2017

The second half of 2017 will be busy for the Thai-American Association of Milwaukee.  We would love to see you at our upcoming events:

1.  Buddhist Sunday School

Once a month Luang Por Phone, the abbot at Buddhahaksa Temple in Waukesha, will hold Sunday School for school-age children.

The first class is Sunday, 23 July 2017, 9:15-10:00 am.

Remaining classes will be:  27 August, 24 September, 29 October, 26 November, and 17 December, each at 9:15 am.

Wat Buddhahaksa is at S46 W23214 Lawnsdale Rd, Waukesha WI 53189
More info available at www.buddhahaksa.com.


2.  Annual Thai-Am Picnic

On 27 August 2017, at Root River Parkway, Area 3, please join us for our annual Thai-Am Picnic.  We have a big potluck, games, family, friends, and fun.

This year we will start earlier than usual, at 10:00 am.  Luang Por Phone from one of our local temples will come to receive food offerings and offer blessings.  He will also lead Sunday School for the school age children from 9:15-10:00.

More info coming soon!


3.  International Holiday Folk Fair

As every year, we will join the International Institute in celebrating the Holiday Folk Fair.

We will have a food booth, an exhibition booth, a craft booth, and dancers!  We would love to have your help and have you come to see the festivities.

Folk Fair is 17-19 November 2017.  Info available soon at www.folkfair.org.

Thai-Am Success at Folk Fair (and King's Birthday)

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the Thai-American Association of Milwaukee participated as we always do in the Holiday Folk Fair International.  We had a special award this year as Apinya was named Honorary Chairperson for this year's Fair.  She gave the official opening for the Fair.

We had dancers, our food booth, our cultural booth, and our handicraft booth.

Peng and Pook, with their team, ran the food booth.  They had excellent massamun curry (my personal favorite), pad Thai, tasty appetizers, and my second favorite, Thai iced tea.

Noot and Mae, with Pongtip assisting, sold Thai and local handicrafts.  They always have some great Wisconsin-Thai connections like Harley themed Thai products!

At our cultural booth, we showed the traditional candle festival from Ubon Ratchathani.  Phra Phone and Phra Eo from Wat Buddhahaksa provided wonderful candles and artifacts for the display.

We added a couple of new dancers and danced the Sri Wichai dance.  Our dancers were the most beautiful at the Fair, though I may be slightly biased.

Thank everyone for all your help.


Reminder:  This Saturday we will honor the King of Thailand on the day of his birthday at Wat Buddhahaksa in Waukesha.  

Annual Thai Night (Plus Halloween Party!)

This Saturday, 24 October 2015, come to our annual Thai Night.

It's a good time at the VFW Hall in New Berlin.  (17980 W Beloit Rd, a mile west of the intersection of Moorland, Beloit, and I-43.)

If you're brave, wear a costume:  Scary or Thai.  Or both!

It's free, but bring a dish to share and we'll have lots of treats.

We'll have a sneak peek of our Folk Fair Dance Group.  Music, local talent, games, fun, contests.

Did I mention food?  Friends?  Yep, lots of both.  Be there!

Picnic! Thai-American Association of Milwaukee Annual Picnic! Picnic!

Sunday, 16 Aug 2015, 11:00 am to Dusk, Root River Parkway, Area 3 (map).

Potluck, bring a little something, and get a lot!

I think I made this clear in the last post (see below), but if you are reading this blog, you are invited.

If you have a facebook friend who is Thai, Thai-American, American-Thai, American with Thai family, American who can eat spicy food, or American who can't eat spicy food and that facebook friend posted something about this picnic, that means you're invited.

If you have ever wanted to come to a Thai-Am event, this is the one to get you started.  This is a low pressure, fun, food, family, friends (new and old) event.

No one will make you eat spicy food (unless you want to) and there will be plenty of farang food, too.  Farang means foreigner in Thai.  Look, now you know some Thai language, perfect, there's your connection, come out!

ANNUAL PICNIC 2015!

Everyone is invited.  Seriously, everyone.

The Thai-American Association of Milwaukee is a wide-open group with no formal membership.  Are you Thai?  Are you an American with Thai family?  Have you been to Thailand?  Are you hoping to visit Thailand some day?  Do you like Thai food?  If you answered yes to any of those questions, the Thai-Am Annual Picnic is for you.

The Annual Picnic is food, fun, friend, more food.

It's potluck, so bring a little something to share.  There's a shelter, so we don't mind the weather.  There's a playground and plenty of space for kids.

Sunday, 16 August 2015, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Root River Parkway, Picnic Area 3.  (see map)

We hope to see all of our old friends and many new ones.

Asia Fest 2015--This Weekend (July 11 & 12)

(I'm sorry for the late notice...)

A new pan-Asian festival is taking off this weekend in Milwaukee:

Asia Fest 2015 (www.asiafestmlw.com).

For those who remember Asian Moon, I think this festival will have a similar feel.  Lots of music, performances, and dance.  Food.  Great food.  Some handicrafts and cultural displays.  Beautiful weather and family-friendly atmosphere.

Our Thai dancers will perform both days.  Saturday on Stage 1 a little after 4:00 pm and Sunday on Stage 2 just after 6:30.

Peng & Pook will have a Thai food stall.  It's a pan-Asian festival, all kinds of good food--Indian, Chinese, Lao, Hmong, Indonesian, etc--but, seriously, THAI FOOD!

Come out and support the Thai-American Association's participation and the overall festival and just have a great time on the lakefront!

PICNIC!

The Thai-American Association's Annual Picnic is one month away. 

Sunday, 24 August 2014, Noon - Dusk.
Root River Parkway, Area 3 - Same as every year!  (Map if you're new.) 

There will be tons of Thai food, a bit of non-Thai food for variety, fun, friends - new and old.

It's potluck, bring your favorite dish to share, a blanket, mat, or lawn chairs and enjoy the park.

We'll have volleyball/badminton for all ages and a game/activity time for kids.

If you have any interest in the Thai community, this is the event for you.  Lots of people, you can be as involved or as laid back as you want and get a taste of the diversity of Thai-Am.

Miss Noppamas & Folk Fair

The first weekend in November, a dozen of the Milwaukee Thai-Americans went down the to big temple in Chicago (Wat Dhammaram) to support Poi M. in the traditional Nang Noppamas beauty pageant.  Poi looked beautiful and graceful and placed in the runners-up.  An impressive finish for anyone from our organization; we don't have quite the heavy support of some of the big Chicago groups.

Isn't she gorgeous:

Nang Noppamas, or Lady Noppamas, is the legendary creator of Loy Kratong.  Loy Kratong is a festival in late autumn to send wishes, prayers, and thanks to the water goddess.  "Loy" means to float and "kratong" is a small raft of flowers, incense, a candle, and a coin or two.  One makes a kratong, carries it to the nearest body of water and floats it away at evening time with prayers and hopes for the coming year.

My own personal, grumpy opinion is that Loy Kratong is a far more enjoyable holiday than the more famous Songkran (Thai New Year--Lots of water, thrown, sprayed, generally tossed about).


Next weekend:  

International Holiday Folk Fair
22-24 November 2013  
Wisconsin Exhibition Center (State Fair Park)
www.folkfair.org

Thai-Am has a cultural booth, a handicraft booth, a FOOD booth, adult dance performers, and youth dance performers.  We may have a recipe demonstration or two--I'll confirm.

Come help out.  Come to enjoy.  Email:  thaiammilwaukee@gmail.com to volunteer or to pick up advance tickets for $10 each ($12 at the door).

Picnic Tomorrow (Sunday, 18 August 2013)!

Last reminder:  Thai-Am Picnic tomorrow.  Are you invited?  Yes!  All are welcome.

Picnic:
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Noon - Dusk
Root River Parkway, Picnic Area 3 (Map)

Potluck plus Noodle Soup.
Fun Games, Karaoke, Great Weather, Group Picture!

Picnic!  Picnic!  Picnic!

Wait.  Thai-Am?  What is Thai-Am?  What is this picnic you're so excited about?

Good question.  I'll try to do a more in-depth explanation of the Thai-American Association soon, but for now just know that the Thai-Am is a wide-open group that embraces anyone with the tiniest interest in Thailand and Thai culture.  We do a couple of events each year.  Definitely Folk Fair in November, and definitely our picnic in August.  We usually manage a couple more events as well.

We have native born Americans who spent time in Thailand.  We have families with adopted Thai kids.  We have Thai people who have lived here for 30 years.  We have Thai students that have lived here for 3 months.  We have friends who have never been to Thailand, but like us and support us.  That's all it takes.

Do you have what it takes to be part of Thai-Am?  If you have read this far into the post, you do.  If you have enough interest to come out and enjoy great food and a good time, you're in!

Picnic!  Picnic!  Picnic!

Did I mention our upcoming picnic?

This Sunday, 18 August 2013, starting noonish, ending when people leave.  Root River Parkway, Picnic Area 3.  We have a shelter, bathrooms, all that.  There will be food, food, food.  Some fun games for kids.  95% likely we'll have karaoke.  The parkway is nice.  Lots of shade.  A nice playground.

Here's a link to a MAP.

I find the easiest way to get there is to go to the corner of Grange Ave and 84th St (4-way stop) just west of Southridge Mall.  Turn north on 84th St.  Root River Parkway is the second left, and Area 3 is about 200 yards from the corner.

Be there!  Seriously, be there. 

Look at all those happy, full people.  You should be one of those people.  See you there.


(Note:  Root River Parkway runs on both sides of the Root River.  Our picnic area is on the southern drive of the Parkway.  Don't worry, if you're on the northern side, we set up signs on the corner to help guide you back to us!)

More Picnic News:

Thai-Am Picnic, 18 August 2013!

The picnic is always a great time.  A few years it's been crazy hot, others we've been rained on, but every year it is a great, great time.

This year we're adding a couple of things.  We're going to have a guaitiaow station (noodle soup--just like Vietnamese pho).  We'll set it up like the corner noodle stand.  Walk up, order a bowl, made to order, piping hot.  You add herbs and veggies and season it up the way you like.  We're asking a dollar a bowl, just a bit more than in Thailand, to keep the Association costs down.

Also a couple of members will have some Thai handicrafts or local Thai-inspired handicrafts for show and purchase.

Don't worry, these are just a couple of little additions.  Mostly, the picnic will be just like always:  Good friends, great food, a time to catch up with old friends and hopefully make some new ones.

Hope to see everyone there.

THAI-AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ANNUAL PICNIC 2013:

MAP!

This link should get you to an interactive map so you can get directions from your home.

Thai-American Association Annual Picnic 2013!

The Thai-American Association of Milwaukee's Annual Picnic is coming up.

The picnic will be:

Sunday

18 August 2013

12 noon - dusk

Root River Parkway Picnic Area 3.

The picnic area is a mile west of Southridge mall off Grange Ave.  There's a shelter, bathrooms, and a playground.  We'll have a great potluck--super Thai food and a bit of farang food to satisfy the "American" side of our association.  

I'll post up a map and a few pictures from last year in the next few days.

Questions:  thaiammilwaukee@gmail.com

PS  Everyone is welcome.  If you've never been to one of our events, this is a great way to start!

(Posted by Peter)