Lanterns Raised, Festivities Near: CCACC Invites the Community to Welcome the Year of the Horse

To prepare for two Lunar New Year celebrations to be held on February 15 and February 28, 2026, at Westfield Montgomery Mall, the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) organized a late-night setup on Saturday, January 17, 2026. Despite the cold winter night, the team worked continuously until after midnight.

As in previous years, Ned Li (CCACC Co-founder & Director of the Adult Day Healthcare Center, ADHC) served as the chief planner of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Rita S. Lewi (Executive Director of CCACC), Dr. Yuchi Huang (Chairman of the CCACC Board of Directors), Chang Zhao (Vice Chair of the CCACC Board of Directors), as well as Dr. Ben Wu (Member of the CCACC Board of Directors), Roger Xu (Member of the CCACC Board of Directors), and Yuchen Yang (Treasurer of the CCACC Board of Directors) personally took part in the setup.

Li-Fang C. Liu (Deputy Executive Director of CCACC), Chiao-Chiao Liu (Director of CCACC Community Services), and many other CCACC staff members also joined wholeheartedly and contributed their full efforts. Special recognition goes to Runkun Gao (CCACC Maintenance Specialist), who played a key role by personally demonstrating and guiding the assembly and hanging of the lantern strings.

A total of 33 dedicated volunteers participated that evening, working tirelessly until 1:00 a.m.

Each lantern had to be hand-assembled by volunteers before being connected into strings. After careful planning and arrangement, 300 exquisite red lanterns and 26 large lanterns were suspended in the mall's central atrium. The display was both elegant and festive, allowing visitors to feel the joyful spirit of the Lunar New Year in advance.

Hosting Lunar New Year celebration in large shopping malls has become a cherished tradition of CCACC. Heartfelt thanks go to all the volunteers whose selfless dedication allows the beauty of traditional culture to flourish far from its homeland and be passed down from generation to generation.

(Article by the CCACC Administrative Office)

From left to right: Rita S. Lewi (Executive Director of CCACC), Kai Shi (Assistant to the Executive Director), Sally Ma (CCACC Home Care Registered Specialist Assistant), and Dr. Yuchi Huang (Chairman of the CCACC Board of Directors).

Left: Chiao-Chiao Liu (Director of CCACC Community Services); Right: Jia Liu (CCACC Evergreen Club Leader).

The exquisite red lanterns hanging in the mall's central atrium.

Promotional posters for the CCACC 2026 Lunar New Year Celebration displayed on digital advertising screens throughout the mall.