SLOBC recently held its annual Golf Tournament at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande. The Tournament is the second of our major fundraisers and was a complete success thanks to the leadership of Alan Hayashi, the volunteers who helped with the tournament, and the generous donations by the tournament’s Hole Sponsors.

Now that the Golf Tournament is over, all attention will be focused on our Annual Obon Festival to be held on August 2nd from 12-4 pm at our temple. Possible new additions to this year’s event will be youth Kendo (Japanese martial art) demonstration and Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) displays. We may also be adding one or two additional food items for sale.

Our temple’s social hall has been recently used by organizations seeking a venue for their events. The Cal Poly Japanese Students Association rented the hall for its Winter Formal in January and its Spring Farewell in May. It’s great to see many young people at the temple. The Get On the Bus Program used our hall to assemble backpacks with school supplies for children whose parents are incarcerated in California Correctional facilities. In June, Ichimi Daiko will be hosting an all day taiko workshop featuring a professional taiko instructor from Japan. Also, Noseworks (Dog Sniffing Organization) will be holding a regional competition in June using our facilities.

If you haven’t heard recently about Bryce Cape, SLOBC’s President who is on maternal leave, she is doing fine along with her daughter, Elliott. Thank you, Nisa King for continuing to lead our QiGong ses-sions on the 1st and 3rd Sundays and Meditation in place of Bryce Cape on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Dharma services and coffee/tea socials continue to be well attended with many coming for the first time. Hope to see our other Sangha members soon.

Gassho,
Gary Hongo