Celebrating the Year of the Snake 2025 at SF!

Submitted by Brooke Rose

欢庆蛇年春节

2025 is the Year of the Snake! Sharon Forks hosted Forsyth County’s 3rd annual Lunar New Year Celebration in partnership with OneForsyth.

OneForsyth is an organization, launched by the Chamber of Commerce, that celebrates and fosters diversity and inclusivity in Forsyth County. Months of planning and preparation paid off in large numbers this year with a turnout of 1,500 people!

The Asian population is the fastest growing demographic in Forsyth County, and Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Asian cultures. This program showcases traditional and modern aspects of Asian culture. We hosted 13 performances of dancing, singing, instruments, stand-up comedy, youth coding presentations, martial arts, and more!

The branch was beautifully decorated in red and gold. EVERYTHING was red and gold! Patrons were greeted at the door with the traditional red envelope (which had a dollar), and they were able to go home with some snacks popular in Asia. Paper cutting is a traditional activity during Lunar New Year, and this year families were able to cut a 3D Chinese character for “Spring.” To honor the Year of the Snake, kids made paper chain snakes with snake googly eyes. There was a calligraphy station where patrons could decorate paper fans. Our round table is filled with display items loaned to us to highlight aspects of Asian culture, such as a lovely tea set, hand-painted paper fans, zodiac figurines, and more. A few artists in the community loaned us several paintings with Asian themes that have been hung around the branch.

It was a Happy Lunar New Year at Sharon Forks this year, and I loved seeing how ecstatic the community was to be able to attend these festivities. May this year bring you all happiness, prosperity, and good luck for 2025!

农历新年快乐

For more pictures, click here.

Acknowledgements

Every single employee on the Sharon Forks Information staff played a part in getting ready for this huge event. I couldn’t have gotten it all done without my IS and YS staff and even several of the Denmark IS staff. I want to give an extra special Thank You to Brianna Schantz and Morgan Shaffer for designing the crafts for children, testing them, and making samples. Morgan also set up the display of Asian artifacts and created informational signs for each. Thank You to Jessica Giles for designing and creating both engagement displays. Thank you to Facilities for climbing the ladder a million times to put up the huge decorations, and a special Thank You to Scot for coming out Saturday afternoon to take them down. Thank You to Wes for being on-site to test and troubleshoot the AV system the day of the event. Thank You to Adrianne for representing the Library in the opening remarks. Thank You to Stephani, Alicia, Anu, Lacey, Claire, and Sarah B for helping work the desk and manage the crowd the day of the event, and Thank You to Sarah Reynolds for answering my millions of questions about what went well and what didn’t last year! If I forgot anyone, apologies, but please know I’m grateful!