Everyone is invited to celebrate spring at El Camino College's 18th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, scheduled for 1-2 p.m. April 5 on the outdoor stage near the ECC Student Activities Center.

The annual "Dr. Nadine Ishitani Hata Memorial Cherry Blossom Festival" is named after the college's former Vice President of Academic Affairs, who passed away in 2005. Dr. Hata was an internationally known scholar who was extremely involved in academia and community work. She was instrumental in bringing the cherry trees to the campus 18 years ago, one of the many programs she supported during her 34-year career at El Camino College. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. donated the cherry trees and generously contributed to an endowed scholarship in her name in 2005.

Under Dr. Hata's leadership, the Cherry Blossom Festival has become a college tradition – a way to ring in the spring season and celebrate friendship. Taiko drummers from the Taiko Center of Los Angeles will perform at the celebration and students from professor Rhea Lewitzki's poetry class will read their original haiku compositions. In addition, ECC student Kanna Iwasaki will perform a traditional Japanese dance and a group of students from the college's Spring Advanced Dance Ensemble class will present a rhythm stick dance. Light refreshments will be served.

Also part of the celebration is the exhibition, "Concentration Camps U.S.A.," which opens at 2 p.m. April 5 in the El Camino College Schauerman Library. This display of selected materials on the Nikkei, or Japanese-American, gulag and diaspora during World War II, is from the Archives and Special Collections Department of California State University, Dominguez Hills. "Concentration Camps U.S.A." also includes watercolors by CSUDH Professor Emeritus Don Hata. The retired professor's paintings are based largely on his memories as a child in the U.S. War Relocation Authority camp at Gila, Arizona. "In Honor of the Manzanar Fishing Club," depicts the true story of internees who would sneak out of the camp to hike high into the Eastern Sierra and savor a bit of freedom while fishing for trout. The exhibit runs through April 30; admission is free. Check the Library webpage for operating hours: http://www.elcamino.edu/library/library_ser.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is sponsored by the El Camino College Office of Staff and Student Diversity. For more information, call 310-660-3593, extension 3316.