Happy February! We’ve already completed one month of 2022, and I can feel the optimism and expectations for an engaging and familiar year. I know the year may not have begun with the familiarity of years past, but I feel this gives us even more reason to stop and express our appreciation to our Risk Management Committee: Glenn Inanaga, Joy Aoyama, Tom Crane, Nancy Hara, Glen Morita, Howard Nakagiri, Ann Nakahira, Hiroki Noda, Rick Oishi. Rev. Turner, & Rev. Wondra. For most of the past 24 months, the committee found themselves spending hours of their time guiding the health, safety, and social-emotional needs of our Sangha. We thank them for always putting the safety of our Sangha at the forefront of their decisions.

I’d also like to thank Bryan Furumoto, Daniel Sasaki, Aaron Nagayama, Glen Morita, Nancy Hara, and Carol Sakamoto for organizing our Shinnen Enkai - General Meeting. Although we could not have an in-person luncheon, it still required great coordination and planning to provide the Sangha with a Zoom option. It gives me great pleasure to present to you OCBC’s  2022 Board of Directors Cabinet that was approved at our General Meeting:

●      President - Jo Ann Tanioka

●      1st VP - Bryan Furumoto

●      2nd VP - Jim Pollard

●      3rd VP - Jim Mitchell

●      4th VP - Carol Sakamoto

●      5th VP - Bobby Nishi

●      Recording Sec. - Janis Hirohama

●      Corresponding Sec. - Lynn Morita

●      Treasurers:

○         General Fund - Howard Nakagiri

○         Membership - Carol Sakamoto

○         Eitaikyo - Bill Sakahara

○         Bingo - Robert Tomooka

○         Building - Doug Iwanaga

○         Rental Housing - Kent Suzuki

○         College Scholar - Robert Tomooka

○         Youth - Robert Tomooka

○         Japanese School - Nancy Hara

●      BEC Director - Jim Pollard

●      Cultural Director - Kevin Tanioka

●      Facilities Controls - Dick Fukuda, Calvin Togashi

●      Publicity-Historian - Stacy St. James

●      Social Welfare - Nancy Clifton-Hawkins

●      Youth Director - Fred Katsuda

For our Ho-Onko service on January 16th, we were very fortunate to listen to our guest speaker Reverend Orai Fujikawa from the Buddhist Temples of Canada. Once again, we thank Rev. Wondra, Rev. Turner, and our AV team for making this Dharma message accessible for us. 

One of my self-improvement goals for this year is to improve my listening skills. I often find myself running through a constant “to do” list in my head and neither being in the moment nor giving my full attention to whoever is speaking to me. I don’t think it’s because I can’t hear the speaker; I’m just not being mindful. However, there was a time when I was walking around a shopping center with one of my sons. While I was looking at a store window, my son told me, “Mom, let’s get out of here. That noise is so irritating!” I thought to myself, “What noise?” I couldn’t hear anything. There is a “Mosquito Tone” at a specific frequency level that some adults cannot hear; I believe some establishments use it to prevent loitering. There I was, enjoying my shopping, oblivious to any discomfort to those around me. So, if you ever have any suggestions or concerns regarding OCBC and I appear to ignore you, please know that it is not my intention to ignore you, just be persistent – or better yet, just email me at joann.tanioka@gmail.com. I always want to be aware of ways to make the temple a comfortable place for everyone. When it comes to OCBC, we’re all on the same frequency.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Love is Love

In Gassho,
Jo Ann Tanioka
OCBC President