The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC is underway and we will miss it---- necessarily ensconced in Washington State. This once a year beauty is a must see attraction. Peak blooming times are forecasted to start April 1, 2009, and run for up two weeks. In previous years Egils Milbergs had the honor being the master of ceremonies for the lantern lighting ceremony. Every year a 350-year-old stone lantern is lit in the Thomas Jefferson Tidal Basin across from the Jefferson Memorial commemorating the 1912 gift to Washington D.C. of 3000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to recognize the growing friendship between the United States and Japan. The event includes traditional Japanese performers, the Japanese Ambassador, Washington dignitaries and the Cherry Blossom princesses representing states, territories, and embassies. The lighting ceremony is held at the site of the first two cherry trees planted by Mrs. William Howard Taft and Viscountess Chinda in 1912. Mark Rhoads of the Illinois State Society Home has been a long time organizer of this event. Links below will give you history and flavor of this year's activities:
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