Donation To St. Michael's School

Left over funds of $1,578.25 were donated to St. Michael's to be used as they see fit.

From: Tony Kendrew <tony.kendrew@saintmichaels.co.nz>
To: young5@xtra.co.nz
Sent: Tuesday, 3 December 2013 12:09 PM
Subject: Wong Family Donation

Dear Mary,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

I have discussed your donation with Fr Andrew Starky and he was very appreciative of your generosity. 

He did say that while a donation to the building fund was a worthwhile initiative, he felt that you and your family as donors should decide where the money was gifted.

A gift to the PTFA Foundation would mean that your money was being directly used to retain St. Michael's families and to attract new pupils.

A gift to the building fund would mean that there could be a chance of raising finance for the restoration of the Stone Building more quickly.

Please consider this and let me know what your preferred option is.

I thank you again for your family's generosity to our School.

kind regards

Tony Kendrew

Acting Principal
St. Michael's Church School
tony.kendrew@saintmichaels.co.nz

Connecting in Christchurch

AFTER

The Wong Family Reunion

April 2013

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

We wish you good health and fortune in this Year of the Snake.

Post-Reunion Wrap Up

It’s hard to believe that our first Wong Family reunion was just over 2 months ago! We’ve all returned to our normal lives, but hopefully the memories of a great weekend are with us still.

It was just such a thrill to see how everyone entered into the spirit of the reunion, making those connections between old and new friends, between the generations, and breathing life into the names on the family tree. Hopefully you managed to enjoy the good company, the food, the activities, and the fun of it all! And wasn’t it lucky that we managed to schedule an earthquake for you to enjoy the full Christchurch experience?

FEEDBACK WANTED

We would love to hear your feedback on the reunion via our quick and easy questionnaire. It’s just 10 questions on SurveyMonkey and your responses would give us (and the next committee) a real idea of how things went and what you would like for the next reunion. It’s fun to do and we ask only that you identify the branch of the family that you belong to and not your name. Please click on the following link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7TFX7C (after you have read the rest of the newsletter of course!). We thank Catherine (Kong’s granddaughter) for her expertise in putting the survey online and she is only too happy to help if you experience any problems. Please contact her directly on catherinegin@hotmail.com.We will leave the survey up till 30 April and get back to you with the results.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and THANKS

The January 2013 reunion truly would not have been possible without the help and support of many people, and in the list that follows, please forgive us if we have missed your contribution, but we are grateful to everyone who gave so willingly of their time and energy.

A BIG THANK YOU TO

· You and yours for coming and making the reunion a success with your enthusiastic participation;

· St Michael’s for the hire of the hall and the kind co-operation from the executive staff of the
School;

· Nikki’s Catering for such fabulous lunches and reunion cake, Kaan’s Catering for supplying the
rib eye steak and patties, Mr Whippy’s for a surprise dessert and North and South for a great
dinner;

· Otago & Southland Branch of the NZ Chinese Association for providing the projector and
microphone;

· Invercargill Sub Branch of Otago & Southland Branch of the NZ Chinese Association for
providing the portable microphone;

· All family members who helped set up the hall, cleaned the facilities and helped with the packing
up of the hall;

· Those generous donors who donated money & prizes – many of which were substantial;

· All those who brought photos and albums and put up displays;

· Our panel participants who reflected on the past and brought it home to us;

· Our non-family helpers (Margaret, Robyn, Winnie and Carolyn) who were amazing in the
kitchen;

· Family members (Donald and Lawrence) for the kind loan of the BBQs;

· Our volunteer BBQ chefs and those who donated some home-baked goods;

· Christchurch family members who took away the rubbish for their kerbside collection;

· Official photographer Donald;

· Technology and sound system guru Peter;

· Film director Chris;

· Our ‘gangnam style’ dancers and the ‘rap’ dancing troupe;

· And last, but not least, the long-suffering spouses, children and siblings of the Committee
members for their support and contribution during the whole time of this project.
 

Let's not wait for decades before we do it all again!

 

If you are interested in making it happen in FIVE years’ time (or less!), then let us know. We are keen to hear from anyone who would like to organise the next event and as the current committee has proved – Cecil is from Auckland, Janice from Auckland, Mary from Christchurch and Lillian from Sydney – in these days of email and Skype, you do not even need to be in the same city, let alone the same country. So, put your hand up and we’ll hand over the baton to the new team. Rumour has it that Dunedin may well be our next host city. We wait on the results of the survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7TFX7C

For final updates, please check the Wong Family Reunion Blog:

http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary Young

April 2013

January 2013 Newsletter

Connecting in Christchurch

Wong Family Reunion

Saturday 19^th & Sunday 20^th

January 2013

Happy New Year!
We hope that 2013 has started well for you and your family and that you have had an enjoyable break over the holiday period. The countdown has begun and there are now only

9 days

 to go before we meet in our hometown of Christchurch.

What you need to know about Saturday

ü  Although 9am is the official time on the program for registration, the Hall will be open from 8:30am for registration and for the setting up of displays. Your name tags will be available for pick-up at the desk and are colour-coded as follows: yellow denotes the older generation, blue is the next generation and pinky-red the youngest generation.

ü  There should be plenty of on-street parking available, but there is NO general parking inside the school grounds. If you cannot get a street park, there are car parks in the vicinity ($4-$6 per day).

ü  If you need help with transport to and from the venues, please let us know.

ü  Don’t forget to pack those all-important old photos and documents as each branch will be putting up displays in the Hall. We look forward to seeing your images from the past, whether in album format, display boards or electronically.

ü  All donations of prizes/gifts will be gratefully received on Saturday morning – please hand them in at registration.

ü  Be prepared to have a great time meeting each other. There’ll be name tags, activities, and games to help ‘break the ice’. The ‘Who’s Who’ section of the program will introduce us to all the different family members. You can EITHER have just one member say a few words about each member of your family OR have each individual person in your family group introduce himself or herself (again no more than 30 seconds worth). Check with your family members as to whether you want to go with the GROUP intro or the INDIVIDUAL intro: either way it’ll be fun!

ü  There is an outdoor playground next to the Hall. You are most welcome to bring along a sports ball (basketball, handball, soccer) if you want a game.

ü  Dinner is at North and South Gourmet Restaurant, 300 Lincoln Road, Addington Mall, Addington. The cuisine is, of course, Cantonese. It’s BYO wine and the dress code is ‘smart casual’.

What you need to know about Sunday

ü  Sunday morning is all about bus tours so you will need to be on time for boarding. Please could you ensure that you are at St Michael’s by 9:50am at the latest. This will make the process of moving people onto the right bus so much easier and more comfortable for you.

ü  There are three buses booked for the Red Zone tours which will give us an insight into the earthquake-damaged areas in Christchurch and the plans for redevelopment. They will leave St Michael’s at different times: 10am, 11am and 12 noon. Each bus will carry a maximum of 40 passengers.  Generally there will be a bus for each branch of the family: one for the Willie Wong descendants, another for Harry Wong’s and one for George Qu Wong’s, but we may be moving people around to fit.

ü  Due to the staggered nature of the departure times for the city tours, the buses for the cemetery visit will be leaving at 10am and at 11:15am.

ü  Refreshments will be available throughout. If you have finished your tours or if you are waiting for your bus, please feel free to help yourself to tea, coffee, cold drinks, and a light morning tea.

ü  We hope to fire up the BBQs for lunch round 12:30pm as soon as the BBQ Chefs return from their bus trips.

ü  If you haven’t already purchased the special, large format Family Tree prints, there are still a few available at $26.

ü  Don’t forget to sign your name in the Reunion register before you leave! Think of something to write before you arrive.

 

For final updates, please check the Wong Family Reunion Blog: http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

We wish you a safe and speedy journey to the Reunion, whether you are just a few minutes drive away or coming across the ditch from OZ, or flying in from Vancouver or Philadelphia.

See you soon in Christchurch!

 Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary Young

January 2013

December 2012 Newsletter

 Connecting in Christchurch

Wong Family Reunion

Saturday 19^th & Sunday 20^th

January 2013

The Wong Family Reunion Committee would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you all in Christchurch on the 19^th and 20^th January.

We have had a fantastic response to our reunion and have 126 people registered to attend. This is wonderful and we look forward to seeing you all. If there is anyone who is still undecided about attending, please do let us know. You are still welcome to register, however we do need to know straight away as we are finalising our catering requirements.

Things To Note

• Remember to dig out all your old photos and documents so that you can share them with your extended family members. You can bring your albums, make up your own photo board or bring loose photos. We will have boards for you to attach them to for displaying in the hall. If you have photo files on computer, bring them on a memory stick so that we can show them through a projector onto a screen. Any PowerPoint presentations will also be shown through the projector and laptop available.
• One suggestion from a family member was for a musical performance. If anyone is interested in performing (e.g. singing or providing some live music) please let us know so that we can schedule you into our programme.
• Our reunion dinner on Saturday night is BYO. There will be tea and fruit juice supplied but you are welcome to bring your own wine.

Wong Family Reunion Blog: http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

It contains a brief history of Willie Wong, Wong Kwai Koon, Harry Wong and George Qu Wong. This has been updated with information about the reunion, people registered to attend and interesting photos.

We are still accepting donations of goods or gifts…

which can be used during the weekend. Please let us know if you are planning to bring these along so that we can add them to our list.

• Donations of prizes for the activities - for all age groups
• Donations of food items e.g. fruit, chocolates, refreshments, wine

As the extended Wong family has spread far and wide both professionally and geographically, many family members will have close affiliations with generous organisations. Do you work in such a workplace/company? Every little bit, big or small, will help towards this great weekend.

Any money left over will be donated to the St Michael's School Foundation Appeal which was established to help towards repairing earthquake damage to the school and strengthening the school buildings for the future. Many Wong Family members were educated at this school so we believe that this is a very worthwhile cause
 

General call for volunteers:

As our committee is small, we need volunteers during the weekend. All help is much appreciated.  Please just step forward when you arrive and ask us what you can do to help.

As many family members are flying to Christchurch for the weekend we would appreciate any assistance with transport.

Only FOUR weeks to go!

See you all at St Michael and All Angels School, 249 Durham Street

on the 19^th January 2013.

The hall will be open from 8.30am for registration.

Cecil Wong, Janice Sew Hoy, Lillian Gin, Mary Young

 

December 2012

 

October 2012 Newsletter

Connecting in Christchurch

Wong Family Reunion

       Saturday 19^th & Sunday 20^th January 2013

St Michael and All Angels School 

249 Durham Street

You will all be looking forward to warmer weather. It may seem that we have come out of hibernation after winter; however the group has not been idle. We have managed to confirm more details and calculate costs for the weekend.

Now is the time to confirm your travel and accommodation arrangements…

The Wong Family Reunion is now only three and a half months away. Due to the large amount of interest amongst members of our Family Tree, we are expecting a great turnout. Thank you to the family members who have given us feedback so far. We have found your comments/suggestions most helpful.

Old photos and documents:

Now is the time to start looking through your old photo albums to recall the wonderful memories from the past that you would like to bring along to the reunion. You could make up a photo board or put them in a photo album which we will display during the reunion. Some of you may also have other items of interest such as old immigration documents, poll tax documents etc. to bring along. Any PowerPoint presentations will be shown through the projector and laptop available.

Wong Family Reunion Blog:

We have set up a blog on the internet with details of the programme for the reunion. It also contains a brief history of Willie Wong, Wong Kwai Koon, Harry Wong and George Qu Wong.  This will be kept up to date with information about the reunion, people registered to attend and any interesting items.

Bookmark this website now:   http://christchurch2013.blogspot.co.nz/

We are looking for more funding for this event...

We are also looking for donations of prizes for activities…

·       Suitable sponsors for this event

·       Donations of money

·       Donations of prizes for the activities - for all age groups

·       Donations of food items eg. fruit, chocolates, refreshments, wine

As the extended Wong family has spread far and wide both professionally and geographically, many family members will have close affiliations with generous organisations. Do you work in such a workplace/company? Every little bit, big or small, will help towards this great weekend.

Any money left over will be donated to the St Michael's School Foundation Appeal which was established to help towards repairing earthquake damage to the school and strengthening the school buildings for the future. Many Wong Family members were educated at this school so we believe that this is a very worthwhile cause.

General call for volunteers:

As our committee is small, we need volunteers in the lead up to and during the weekend. All help is much appreciated.  We will be formulating a detailed “jobs list” to ensure that the weekend runs smoothly.

Registration forms and registration fee details…

…are attached to this newsletter. The fee is an all inclusive fee for all reunion activities, meals and bus trip as detailed on the programme. We have endeavoured to keep costs as low as possible.

If you haven't received your Registration Form please contact us.
Please register by 17 November 2012.

Cecil Wong   cecilw88@ihug.co.nz       Janice Sew Hoy     pjsewhoy@gmail.com

Lillian Gin  ginlk@hotmail.com             Mary Young           young5@xtra.co.nz

We Will Be At The Reunion (Updated 15 January 2013)

Willie Wong's Descendents	Harry Wong's Descendents	George Qu Wong's Descendents
Mary & Donald Young	Cecil & Nancy Wong	Darrell & Lynnette Wong
Katrina Young	Sharon Wong & Steve Lee	Kimberly Wong
Tracey Young	Alexandra Gee	Hilton, Viv, Ethan, Tate & Gryffen King
Lillian & Bill Gin	(Our Youngest Attendee 7 Months)	Shirley & Allan lay
Christopher Gin	Andrea Wong	Brandon Lay & Sui In Chan
Shirley Lowe	Gregory Wong	Sai Hong Chan (Welcome)
Lloyd & Zachary Wong	Hing & Nancy Wong	Jayden & Tiana Lay
Rita Sew Hoy (Welcome)	Terence & Sue Wong	Megan & Devlin Lee-Joe
Diana & Stephen Young	Craig Wong & Nicole Chen	Andre, Jessica, Xavier & Noah Lee Joe
Stephen & Katie Carroll Lun	Jason Wong	Samantha & Christopher Twyman (King)
Memphis & Courtney Lun	Janice & Peter Sew Hoy	Rachel, Bradley, & Jonathan Twyman
Sylvia & Kevin Young	Karena Sew Hoy	Sarah & Anthony Nicalo (From Vancouver)
George Lun Kee	Colin & Vanessa Wong	Rafe & Leo Nicalo (From Vancouver)
(Our Oldest Family Member 91 years)	Natasha, Caitlin & Harrison Wong	Gloria & Jim Kum
Lisa Lun	Geoffrey Wong	Nicholas Kum
Lionel Wong & Marjorie Wong	May & Ken Young	Doris King
Matthew Wong	Lindsay Young	Robert & Ryan King
Lyndon Wong	Victor Wong	Gregory & Serena King
Nancy Wong	Richard Wong	Madeleine, Ashley, Natasha & Jaime King
Allan & Clarissa Lun	Kevin & Eileen Wong	Davina Wong
David Lun	James Wong	Joshua & Anton Stoddard
Angela Lowe	Rosanna & Chin Seow	Mark Kum & Sonya Ng
Stanley & Betty Lun	Michael Seow	Zoe & Zachary Ng
Samuel Lun	Jessica Seow	Conroy Wong, Lily Huang & Jessica Wong
Lawrence & Sue Wong		Lily's Mum (Welcome)
Natasha, Sarah, Emma & Melissa Wong
Catherine Gin (From Philadelphia)
Numbers = 40	Numbers = 35	Numbers = 53
	Total = 128

Willie Wong 黃貴槐

Willie Wong (Wong Kwai Wai) -  Born 9 July 1889

Willie Wong arrived in New Zealand around 1919 and settled in Timaru before shifting to Christchurch.

Lived at 22 Southwark St. Christchurch in his early years.

After working initially at Harry Wong’s shop in Colombo St. he bought his own fruit shop at 777 Colombo St near Armagh St corner.

He shifted house to 59 Armagh St. in the late 1940's or early 1950's and then after his death the family shifted to      245 Memorial Av. Fendalton

Willie Wong passed away on 8 April 1964

Wong Kwai Koon 黃貴權

Wong Kwai Koon - Born 1891

Brother of Willie & Harry Wong
 
While in New Zealand he lived in Wellington.
 

He has descendents living in China.

Died in Wellington on 17 December 1953 at the age of 62 and is buried in Karori Cemetery.

The name written on the headstone is "Wong Quei Kien"

Harry Wong 黃貴邦

Harry Wong  (Wong Kwai Bong) -  Born 17 December 1895

Harry Wong arrived in New Zealand on 20 October 1919 on the ship Riverina.

He settled in Christchurch and worked as a market gardener, then a laundry man before becoming a fruiterer.

The market garden was in Cranford St.and is now part of the northern motorway.

His first fruit shop was in Colombo St. near Columbus & Ware. He later shifted to another shop in Colombo St. near Tuam St. This shop was eventually sold to Annie & Hubert Lowe in 1948 in order for the family to be able to return to China.

After Harry Wong sold the shop, the NZ government changed it policy and allowed Chinese immigrants to stay in NZ.  So in October 1949, Harry Wong together with his second son Hing, bought a fruit shop at 102 Stanmore Rd. Linwood.

His first house was at 219 Moorhouse Ave in Christchurch which he purchased for about 300 pounds. This was a villa on the northern side of the street between Durham St. and Montreal St. It was a 3 bedroom house with a lounge and a kitchen dining area on the northern side.

In the rear yards was a laundry shed, outside toilet, garage and chicken coup.

The family lived in this house from the early 1940’s to 1950.

 In the early 1950’s the family shifted to a bigger house at 116 Stanmore Rd. Linwood. He lived in this house until his death on the 6 June 1960.

George Qu Wong 黃橋浩

            George Qu Wong -  Born in 1904   

George Qu Wong’s Grand Mother and Willie, Koon, & Harry’s Grand Mother are sisters.

George Qu Wong and his wife Lin Sue lived in the village of  Sha Tou which is situated across the railway line from the village of Bak Shek.

George Qu Wong arrived in New Zealand in the early 1920’s and worked in a market garden and then later in Harry Wong’s fruit shop in Colombo St. Christchurch.

When the fruit shop was sold in the late 1940’s to Annie & Hubert Lowe George found work in a brick-making factory.

While working in Christchurch George and his family of seven children lived at 12 Ferry Rd.

George later shifted to Dunedin and bought a rundown fruit shop at 300 Highgate, Roslyn and with the help of his family turned it into a successful venture.

George also later bought a dairy at 59 Kenmure Rd. Dunedin. They lived in the house that George had built at the rear of the dairy.

George Qu Wong passed away 15 August 1974