Loong Kong Youth Group San Francisco
HOW DID THE YOUTH GROUP START?
by Clifford Pong )Quan)
The Loong Koong Youth Group (YG) is part of the Loong Kong Association and was originally formed in
late November, 1981. The original intention of the YG was to introduce the sons and daughters of the
senior members of the Association (Lau, Kwan, Chang, and Chew heritage, plus other variations of
name spellings such as Lew, Quan, Cheung, and Chiu) to Loong Kong as a way of perpetuating the
Association through their children. The goal was to provide a way for the youth of the elders to meet,
participate in social activities, learn about their cultural history, help in community services, exchange
information with a newsletter, among other activities. "Loong Kong" Association refers to the local San
Francisco chapter of Lung Kong (LK), located at the Ming Yee building at its current address of 924 Grant
Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown. "Loong Kong" in turn is part of a worldwide network of
associations collectively known as "Lung Kong" Association that also has an Oakland and Stockton
chapter in the Bay Area, and also a Los Angeles location, eventually extending nationwide to New York
City, and worldwide to Hong Kong.
The very first President of the YG was Rick Chew, son of Herbert Chew, a former Officer of the parent LK
Association and longtime supporter of the YG. The very first newsletter was sent out in December, 1981,
and the YG started out with a BIG celebration by organizing a huge dance celebration as the first major
activity. The dance was held at one of the senior Officer's restaurant, Joe Jung's Restaurant on Market
Street in San Francisco (the restuarant no longer exists there), and a radio DJ from (now defunct)
KSOL-FM radio station spun the tunes! The dance was very successful, and everyone and their guests
had a great feast and boogied till the late hours of the evening!
At that time in 1981, the YG met at the older location of LK at 17 Old Chinatown Lane, located in an
alleyway in Chinatown, where the YG had a small office. It wasn't until a couple years later that the main
meetings and events were moved to the current much bigger and expanded building at 924 Grant
Avenue on the 4th floor.
In August, 1982, the YG played a major part in the 11th Quadrennial Convention of the Lung Kong Tien
Yee Association of the Americas for five days. Many Lung Kong members worldwide came to celebrate
at the LK headquarters here at 924 Grant Avenue, as well as neighboring restaurants in Chinatown.
There was a huge parade through Chinatown and the YG designed and rode a "dragon style" float, and
also marched and held the opening banner of the parade (click on the "Pictures" section above).
Over the years, many new members have joined and helped put on diverse events. In addition, the YG
continues to play a major part in events supporting Mother's and Father's Day, LK scholarship awards,
the yearly Chinese New Year's and Spring Festivals celebrations, Easter egg hunts and candy for the
kids, the YG Anniversary celebration held each year in November, in addition to joining others in LK for
Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations, and other holiday events. The YG has arranged activities
(some in cooperation with the LK Women's Auxiliary Group and the general Association) such as a
cultural trip to Angel Island to learn about Chinese immigrants' entry into the USA, local trips to Great
America amusement park, Halloween celebrations, trips to Disneyland in Southern California, tennis
lessons at the courts at Lowell High School in San Francisco, picnics, cultural historical presentations
at the Association, a computer workshop (virtually when personal computers were first introduced),
support for the Miss Asian America pageant, and when you can't think of any other activities, just get a
group together and go to the movies and have a snack!
(Click on the VINTAGE PICTURES for photos of some of the earliest members of the YG)
by Clifford Pong )Quan)
The Loong Koong Youth Group (YG) is part of the Loong Kong Association and was originally formed in
late November, 1981. The original intention of the YG was to introduce the sons and daughters of the
senior members of the Association (Lau, Kwan, Chang, and Chew heritage, plus other variations of
name spellings such as Lew, Quan, Cheung, and Chiu) to Loong Kong as a way of perpetuating the
Association through their children. The goal was to provide a way for the youth of the elders to meet,
participate in social activities, learn about their cultural history, help in community services, exchange
information with a newsletter, among other activities. "Loong Kong" Association refers to the local San
Francisco chapter of Lung Kong (LK), located at the Ming Yee building at its current address of 924 Grant
Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown. "Loong Kong" in turn is part of a worldwide network of
associations collectively known as "Lung Kong" Association that also has an Oakland and Stockton
chapter in the Bay Area, and also a Los Angeles location, eventually extending nationwide to New York
City, and worldwide to Hong Kong.
The very first President of the YG was Rick Chew, son of Herbert Chew, a former Officer of the parent LK
Association and longtime supporter of the YG. The very first newsletter was sent out in December, 1981,
and the YG started out with a BIG celebration by organizing a huge dance celebration as the first major
activity. The dance was held at one of the senior Officer's restaurant, Joe Jung's Restaurant on Market
Street in San Francisco (the restuarant no longer exists there), and a radio DJ from (now defunct)
KSOL-FM radio station spun the tunes! The dance was very successful, and everyone and their guests
had a great feast and boogied till the late hours of the evening!
At that time in 1981, the YG met at the older location of LK at 17 Old Chinatown Lane, located in an
alleyway in Chinatown, where the YG had a small office. It wasn't until a couple years later that the main
meetings and events were moved to the current much bigger and expanded building at 924 Grant
Avenue on the 4th floor.
In August, 1982, the YG played a major part in the 11th Quadrennial Convention of the Lung Kong Tien
Yee Association of the Americas for five days. Many Lung Kong members worldwide came to celebrate
at the LK headquarters here at 924 Grant Avenue, as well as neighboring restaurants in Chinatown.
There was a huge parade through Chinatown and the YG designed and rode a "dragon style" float, and
also marched and held the opening banner of the parade (click on the "Pictures" section above).
Over the years, many new members have joined and helped put on diverse events. In addition, the YG
continues to play a major part in events supporting Mother's and Father's Day, LK scholarship awards,
the yearly Chinese New Year's and Spring Festivals celebrations, Easter egg hunts and candy for the
kids, the YG Anniversary celebration held each year in November, in addition to joining others in LK for
Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations, and other holiday events. The YG has arranged activities
(some in cooperation with the LK Women's Auxiliary Group and the general Association) such as a
cultural trip to Angel Island to learn about Chinese immigrants' entry into the USA, local trips to Great
America amusement park, Halloween celebrations, trips to Disneyland in Southern California, tennis
lessons at the courts at Lowell High School in San Francisco, picnics, cultural historical presentations
at the Association, a computer workshop (virtually when personal computers were first introduced),
support for the Miss Asian America pageant, and when you can't think of any other activities, just get a
group together and go to the movies and have a snack!
(Click on the VINTAGE PICTURES for photos of some of the earliest members of the YG)
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Loong Kong Youth Group back in 1981. President Rick Chew is pictured in the front row center
History of the LKYG