July 21 Update - Awesome Big Trip to Tahoe (pix below)

The Jr. YBA spent the weekend in North Lake Tahoe for a weekend of rafting, swimming and generally having a great time.

Corey and Kim rock !!!! All plans and arrangements were done by Corey Utsurogi and Kim Wakatsuki. They did a fantastic job.

Thanks to the advisors who went with us. Sue Sakai-McClure, Myrna Inaba, Karen Hironaga, Jeanie and Martie Suzuki, Larry Utsurogi, Sterling Makishima, all helped Senior Advisor Michael Jones. What a great team. Special thanks to Mr. Makishima for driving up a couple of members Saturday morning, and to Jeanie Suzuki, Karen Hironaga and Myrna Inaba (who is Mrs. Hironaga's sister from Hawaii and doesn't even have a kid in this YBA) for helping out in the kitchen all weekend.

Selected pictures from the trip (double click on the picture to enlarge image). Thanks to Mrs. McClure for taking the pictures and getting them back to us so fast!!

Departure - July 18

The group splits into 4 rafts for a ride down the Truckee

There is lots of fun on (and in) the river....

Time to dry off

Home again - July 20

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June 23 Update

The Cabinet Meeting was held yesterday to change over from the 2002/2003 Cabinet to the 2003/2004 Cabinet. The meeting was well attended.

We are still looking for a few Advisors for the new year. See the Advisors list below for the openings, and if you think you may be interested, see the description of the roles on line as well. If you are interested, please contact Michael Jones.

There will be a meeting in July for the members and advisors going on the Big Trip to Tahoe. We have not yet determined a date, time and place for the meeting. We will cover logistics, rooming arrangements, and activity plans at the meeting.

There were a lot of good ideas on advertising for new members and for general puclicity for our various events during the year. The attendance and energy at the Cabinet meeting was very encouraging. The new Cabinet year is off to a good start.

2003 Election Results!

Congratulations to Lindsey Yamamoto, incoming Jr. YBA President and her entire incoming Cabinet. The full list of Cabinet officers for the 2003/2004 year can be found below. Our next step will be to fill in the Advisors slots. Michael Jones will be working with Lindsey to begin the process.

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WYBL 2003 Conference a Great Success !!

Thanks to everyone who attended the conference and everyone who came to help or even just visit. This was one of the best WYBL conferences on record. Thanks to Corey Fujioka for coordinating the registration of San Jose's 33 members and 3 advisors, and to Dennis Akizuki for coordinating the hotel accommodations and helping Corey. We had 197 registered attendees (including members, advisors and ministers), and all events were well attended. In fact, the Friday night activity, which is normally sparsely attended, drew well over 100 WYBL members. Our San Jose team did a great job of organizing and executing the activities.

Speaking of great jobs, Kevin Nii and his partner Shannon Kato, raised over $2,200 for the Dana Fund and easily won the crown of King and Queen. The other two participating districts raised just under $200 each.

The workshops went very well, and several of San Jose's members were workshop leaders. This was a great experience for them and they all rose to the occassion. Great work from Lindsay Yamamoto, Kevin Nii, Timmy Louie, Lizzie Jones, and Stuart Jones (I think that's everybody).

Parent support was awesome for the hospitality suite. Thanks to Martie and Jeanie Suzuki for working on Friday night and to John and Suanne Higashidani, Nancy Nii, Diane Fujioka, Cyndi Sakuma, Barbara Horiuchi, Robin Ohara and Pauline Sakamoto for bringing the food. (Remeber to turn in your receipts!!). Also, thanks to Gary and Atsuko Mukai and others for visiting the hospitality suite and lending support. I know I am missing some names......please forgive me if we missed you on the list - so many people helped!

Charlotte Hiroshima distributed cameras, so we should have some excellent pictures from all of the activities.

We had an excellent Advisor Workshop while the WYBL members were attending their workshops. In it, we discussed the different aspects of the Jr. and Sr. YBA programs from across the western region. We had representatives from Northern, Bay, Central, Coast, Southern and Mountain (Denver) districts. Notes from this meeting are available from Michael Jones.

Thanks to Sue Sakai-McClure and Sterling Makishima for staying over to help with the advisor / chaperone duties.

Going forward, Coast District will continue to have an active role in the leadership of the WYBL. Kevin Nii was elected to the role of Activities Chairman, Yuki Hagihara of Salinas continues her role as Secretary, Kelly Kato of Mountain View was elected to be the Religious Chair, and Stuart Jones is the new WYBL President. Michael Jones was appointed as WYBL Advisor.

So, it was a busy weekend and we really appreciate the great turnout from San Jose members and the great support from the parents and advisors. Another great TEAM effort!

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WYBL Leadership Workshop held in Sacramento January 11th

See the write-up and pictures from our weekend leadership conference.

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Fresno Trip - Great Time!!!

26 members and 4 advisors made the trip to Fresno the weekend of November 15-17. Everyone had a great time. We have a few pictures to share if you are interested.

Our YBA made a great showing in the lip sync contest. Thanks to Amy Sugai and Kevin Nii for leading the charge and making this a success. The audience loved it. Hopefully the pictures will come out...parents may not recognize their own kids.

For the first time in a few years, San Jose had photos entered for the slide show. Thanks to Stuart Jones for collecting the photos and getting them sent in on time to be included.

We were joined on the bus and at the hotel by 7 members and 2 advisors from Mountain View Jr. YBA. the weekend was made even more special by having the two groups together. Plus, it was really a pleasure having Mrs. Judi McCoy and Mrs. Judy Kato as advisors along for the trip.

The advisors for this trip were Sue McClure, Karen and Alvin Hironaga, and Michael Jones. Their time and effort is appreciated. The group was very well behaved, as usual, so the advisors spent most of the time talking among themselves and watching the activities.

Finally, very special thanks and kudos to Corey Fujioka. As Religious Chair, the repsonsibility to organize San Jose's participation in the conference fell on her. Corey collected applications and release forms, researched and coordinated bus and hotel arrangements, and kept records for the details. This was a tremendous amount of work without much help. Way to go, Corey!!!

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2002 / 2003 Officers

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2002 / 2003 Advisors

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