Shigeko Uppuluri is drawing upon memories of
her homeland to help plan the Dec. 4 Gala at the
Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. A Japanese
Festival of Lanterns, or Kasuga Wakamiya, is the
Gala theme, and the museum will be decorated as
the Kyoto Train Station for the annual event.
Uppuluri, who is from Kyoto, is also sharing her
recipes for Japanese cuisine with the Gala
Committee, which is working on a tea
presentation and a Japanese fusion menu for the
Gala dinner, to be presented by Oliver's
Catering.
Many friends of Uppuluri and the city are
helping the museum plan an authentic Japanese
Festival for the Gala. Eun Sook Kim, a potter
and craftswoman who is owner of The Corner
Gallery, is designing 200 tea cups for the
event. Oak Ridge's Sister City of Naka, Japan
is lending items to be on display. Jerry
Luckmann, who traveled with Uppuluri and a group
of women to the Japanese sister city earlier
this year, is also helping to plan the event.
At Uppuluri's request, the Consulate-General of
Japan in Nashville is lending items including
traditional kites, Japanese kimonos, posters and
other materials for the Gala. Uppuluri and
Children's Museum Deputy Director Carroll Welch
visited the vice consul in Nashville recently.
Uppuluri described the kites flown over houses
during a May festival in her homeland.
"In May, the wind blows, and from the roof of
every house, this fish-shaped kite flies each
May," she said. Smaller kites represented the
number of children in each house, and her home
had two red kites for her sister and herself and
two black kites for the sons.
She said she didn't learn to cook until after
she married, because her mother and grandmother
did all the cooking at home.
"All my friends said when I came over here, I'd
be an expert in Japanology," she said. Among her
favorite dishes is tempura, in which shrimp or
vegetables are coated in a thick batter and
lightly fried. She served her shrimp tempura
recently at a Gala Committee meeting and
received rave reviews from those attending.
Carroll Welch, left, deputy director of
the Children's Museum, and Shigeko
|
 Shrimp Tempura |
The Gala will offer an elegant evening of
dining and a full teapresentation, dancing with
live entertainment, and a live auction with
Clinton auctioneer William "Bear" Stephenson.
Silent auction items will be on display for a
week before the event.
Jazz pianist and composer Donald Brown and
Afterdance, with vocalist Sanda Allison, will
entertain after dinner. The Oak Ridge High
School String Quartet will perform as guests
arrive at the station, and the Oak Ridge High
School Chorus will sing Japanese songs in
Imagination Gallery from 6 to 7 p.m. The
University of Tennessee Brasswind Quintet will
provide dinner entertainment. Ballet Gloria will
perform a dance as part of the evening's
entertainment. The Children's Museum's
Imagination Gallery will present an exhibit of
Japanese art.