Photo by Jon Anderson.
Aiko Kobayashi and a boy put dirt into a cherry tree pot at a dedication ceremony for three new Japanese cherry trees at Aldridge Gardens in Hoover. The event was organized by Aldridge andDestination Hoover International. The three trees later were planted at the entrance to the gardens along Lorna Road.
Destination Hoover International, a nonprofit group that was formed 17 months ago to build partnerships with communities around the globe, had a busy spring and summer.
In April, the group awarded its first scholarships to two seniors from Hoover and Spain Park high schools and held a fundraiser with Jubilee Joe’s Cajun Seafood Restaurant to fund scholarships for next year. The program is designed to support students who plan to study in fields focused on international relations and cultural exchange.
The scholarship recipients were Hoover High 2019 graduate Jessica Bradley, who is pursuing a degree in business administration at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a minor in Spanish and plans to empower females, especially in the Hispanic community, to become CEOs and leaders; and Caroline McCabe, a 2019 Spain Park High graduate who is now at Auburn and plans to travel abroad to learn different business strategies.
Each of the young women received a $2,000 scholarship from proceeds which came from the 2018 Jubilee Joe’s Crawfish Festival.
In early May, the Teluga Association of Birmingham, Alabama, a nonprofit Indian cultural organization also known as TABALA, partnered with DHI for a cricket demonstration tournament at the Hoover Met Complex. Almost 100 players on eight teams from the Birmingham area participated in the event, which also included demonstrations of Indian dancing and Indian food, according to President Shelley Shaw.
“The group loved the fields and is working to organize a bigger cricket tournament there this fall,” said Shaw.
Also in May, DHI worked with Aldridge Gardens to organize a dedication ceremony for the planting of three Japanese cherry trees at the gardens. About 70 people attended the cherry tree dedication at Aldridge in May, including several Asian families and Takashi Shinozuka, Japan’s consul general in Atlanta.
Shinozuka said the planting of the trees symbolizes the wonderful friendship between Japan and the great state of Alabama. There are many wonderful things happening between the two, he said, referencing the construction of a $1.6 billion Mazda Toyota manufacturing plant in Huntsville.
Mark Jackson, DHI’s vice president and Japan’s honorary consul general for the Birmingham area, said there are more than 140 firms in Alabama owned or affiliated with Japanese people.
“Japan is very important to the city of Hoover, and the Japanese cherry trees at Aldridge, as they continue to grow, will be a testament to Hoover’s growing relationship with Japan and other nations.”
He noted there are more than 50 languages spoken by children in Hoover schools. “Hoover is a true international city.”
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said Hoover’s diversity is what makes the city strong.
Shaw said some of the Asian families who attended the dedication ceremony had never been to Aldridge Gardens and the gardens noticed an uptick in Asian visitors after the ceremony was held.
On Aug. 22, DHI was the premier sponsor for the Japan-American Society of Alabama’s 35th anniversary dinner at The Club, which drew about 235 people. DHI paid for lodging and transportation for the keynote speaker, Irene Inouye, the founding president of the U.S.-Japan Council in Washington, D.C., and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and Shinozuka and Shinsuke Sugiyama, the “ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America.”
They stayed at the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa in Hoover and received gifts that included a book on the history of Hoover and Hoover Bucs sports gear, Shaw said.
In the future, DHI would love to host the same event somewhere in Hoover, she said. Other possibilities for the future include a “family k-pop night” at the Riverchase Galleria (featuring boy bands that perform music from the Korean pop music genre), another cricket tournament at the Hoover Met, and introducing German companies to the Riverchase Career Connection Center, Shaw said.
DHI is a member of Sister Cities International and will continue trying to find a sister city, perhaps from Japan or China, Shaw said. “It’s about taking Hoover to the world and also bringing the world to Hoover.”
