Founding Day 2023 College of Micronesia-FSM

The plan was an 8:30 marching start from the gym with speeches at 9:00 to be followed by performances and showcases. 

Kan-Lun Karen Tu at 9:07 with Doman and Jerry in the background

ChuuChok at 9:07

Yap Student Organization at 9:10

9:11

9:11

9:11

9:11

9:12

9:12

By 9:15 the groups were on the road marching. There are more notes on the march order at the end of this blog. The 9:15 start was 17 minutes earlier than the year before when the parade started at 9:32. Brief opening remarks followed immediately upon arrival. MoChuu was first to dance. 

10:06

By 10:06 MoChuu had completed their dance and a combined showcase between MoChuu and ChuuChok was underway on the stage.


10:27 ChuuChok performs

10:41 ChuuChok lines up to exit

There are few still images as most of what was captured was video.

By 10:45 Yap had begun their cultural presentations starting with their dual kings and queens

Yap proper on the left, outer island the right couple



By 10:49 Yap was displaying traditional crafts

Grating taro on the left




Weaving on the far left

11:24 Yap had moved the canoe into position and raised the mast and sail

A photo op session ensued

11:25

11:39 Yap dances

11:39

Following Yap, Pohnpei performed a full nopwei sakau ceremony starting around 11:52 and lasting 19 minutes and 27 seconds. 

At 12:18 the CTEC dancers took the stage


Lunch break was scheduled to occur after CTEC, that happened at 12:22

The cultural huts were active over the lunch break 12:25

12:30

13:10

I missed the Kosraean fafa pounding showcase arriving as the king was brought in on a palanquin at 13:11

13:11

The Kosrae dance performance is in a video that started with the CTEC performance. 

By 13:24 PingMwok had taken the stage to introduce their king and queen

Rather wisely there was no coronation of a single king and queen. That activity had proven divisive and the money raising aspect of the activity generated negative talk in the community. Each team had their own king and queen and there was no contest to see which was the best king and queen, nor should there be. While any kamadipw is a competition of sorts, as is any song festival in Kosrae, no winners are ever announced. This doesn't mean no one wins, it just means no one calls out who really brought the goods. The audience knows who carried the day, and that is good enough. No winners, no losers, a healthy, happy community. 

13:42 after a dance that may have started around 13:36 or thereabouts

13:43

Mwoakillese warriors take the stage at 13:50 and wrapped up by close to 14:00 

At this point the awards ceremony for the basketball and volleyball were held on the main stage. 

14:10 continued activity at the cultural huts after the main performances




14:11

14:12 sakau session continues

14:47 fafa pounding continues

For future reference, the following are the notes from the last organizing meeting prior to founding day. 

8:30 marching start from the gym
Grand marshals
Banner carriers
Security will carry college and FSM flags
Faculty carry international flags

MoChuu
ChuuChok
YSO
CTEC/PSO
KSO
PingMwok

Screen grab of the front of the parade

Post-event note: ChuuChok wound up in front of MoChuu because ChuuChok was carrying the state flags. MoChuu still led the stage performances. See the video which includes the lead of the parade. 

National anthem with MoChuu taking the lead
Moment of silence and opening prayer
Mission statement by SBA president 
Opening remark
Message: Board Chair 
Performance in parade order
MoChuu: song and showcase on split stage with…
ChuuChok: showcase and then performance 
YSO: dance and one showcase
CTEC: one sakau ceremony, one local dance
Lunch break
[Residence Hall: just a showcase during the parade]
KSO
PingMwok
Award ceremony for the games will wrap up the day


Also marching: Teacher Corps and nurses. Post-event note: teacher corps marched but perhaps did not get much recognition for their effort as their group was small and last in the marching order. The nurses did not, to the best of my recollection, join the march.

Lunch take outs will be fried chicken and stir fry pepper steak. 500 takeouts. Post-script: The dining hall would produce 600 takeouts which was far more than enough. Many students wound up with two takeouts. Perhaps when the event occurs in the track and field in Kolonia the numbers would be larger, but for an on campus cultural day during a Easter week turn out was fairly strongly limited to college personnel and students involved in the program. The broader local student population was not there in full force, but then this is a busy week for most families on the island and there is a lot of work to be done around the house and farm for local students. 

Transportation only from CTEC. Shuttle only from CTEC. 7:30. Two or three shuttles. One at 7:30. Two at 8:00.  PingMwok has high school student participants. They are allowed on the bus? Yes. 

Future recommendation: permit Upward Bound/Trio program students to participate. 

CTEC has also recommended that Pohnpeians participate by municipality with separate groups from Nett, U, Madolehnihmw, Kitti, and Sokehs. This would effectively add perhaps four groups and a couple hours to the program pushing the day up towards 5:00 PM. In such a scenario it is unclear whether CTEC would field a sixth separate group, and whether a national campus PSO would participate as a group. 

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