Texas-Oklahoma Oshwal samaj organized a spring picnic on April 25th, 2009, at Russell Creek Park in Plano, Texas.

We had a good turn out of about 50 people. All families participated in the potluck for appetizers, pizzas  and desserts. Jaybhai and Naynaben Shah of Sherman, Texas, were the sponsors for dinner which was very delicious: vegetable sandwiches and Kenyan style potates with kachri. Our new members, Bindesh and Minita Nagda, along with their family also joined us. They have recently moved from Kenya and were happy to meet all other families. The weather was beautiful and adults and kids were busy with volleyball, dodge ball, biking and walking. Being on a Saturday, it felt very relaxing.

We met at Ruchi Palace Restaurant in Carrollton, TX on the evening of Nov 1st, 2008. This year, about 60-65 guests were present at the Diwali dinner. We started with a social hour. This was followed by Arti, Mangal Divo and Navkar Mantra recital. Then all the members enjoyed a Punjabi dinner with variety of mistans. Later, in the childrens’ presentation, we had a variety ranging from importance of Diwali in Jainism, magic show and song recitals. Adults and children all participated in family game and antakshri. This year, we also planned a can food and basic home item drive on behalf of TX/OK Oshwal Samaj for a local TX food bank.

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Our annual northeast area Thanksgiving Gathering was held on Saturday, November 29, 2008, in Caldwell, New Jersey.  This year invitations went out by E-vite and an automated phone messagings system.  About 65 people attended, and spent the evening catching up with friends and relatives, and meeting several new Oshwals in the area.

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On June 15, 2008 over 40 people come together to celebrate a special Father’s Day with many friends and family at Dipak and Smita Shah’s residence in Lemont, Illinos.

Due to the weather, our planned picnic at the park was changed, but worked out for the best.

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The annual Father’s Day picnic in the New York Metro area was held on Sunday, June 15, 2008 at Haverstraw Bay Park, in Haverstraw, New York.  Over 50 people attended and enjoyed catching up, with the Hudson River as a backdrop.  There was plenty of food, including jalebi-gathiya, bagels, chai, sweet corn, veggie-kebabs, bhel, and sandwiches.

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Teaching children to appreciate differences in cultures is a key to overcoming racial intolerance, and a recent event held at Meadowbrook School Hillsdale, NJ, went pretty far toward that end.

Meadowbrook took the idea of standard lessons on cultures and ran with it. The school held its first Multi-Cultural Festival on Feb 1st 2007 and the second on April 1st 2008, in which kids could hop to Germany, skip to India and jump to Japan in the course of a day.

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Texas-Oklahoma Oshwal samaj organized a spring picnic on May 4th, 2008.

We had a good turn out of about 60 people. We were very glad to have Oshwal USA president, Mr Keshavbhai Shah, join us for the picnic. Satishbhai-Suryaben Shah were the grand sponsors for dinner which was very delicious- Ragda Pattis and Pizza. Other families participated in the potluck for appetizers and desserts. Our new Oshwal guests came from Austin, Texas, this year. The weather was beautiful and our adults and kids were busy with kite-flying, volley ball, dodge ball, biking and walking.

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A Diwali dinner was celebrated on Saturday evening, Nov 3rd, 2007 at Pasand Indian Restaurant in Irving, TX.

About 40-45 guests were present. We started the gathering with children’s craft which was sponsored by Avnish/Sangita Shah and Rashmi/Sandhya Shah. The craft was a coloring activity, which almost looked like a Rangoli. This was followed by Arti, Mangal Divo and Navkar Mantra recital. Then all the members enjoyed Gughara, Mathia and Punjabi Dinner. Later, in the childrens’ presentation, we had a variety ranging from importance of Diwali, Bhajans, Hello’s in different languages and a surprise fashion show. Then, the dance floor was open for garba and dances. Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you may be aware, we as Halari Visa Oshwals have been involved in JAINA for several years and we have significant impact every time we are involved. I have seen it from JAINA at Chicago to Canada to Philadelphia to Edison. We have been involved at several different levels.

To re-cap our involvement in JAINA at Edison: Read the rest of this entry »

This year, the Statue of Liberty and NYC skyline were the backdrop our New York Metro area picnic, held on Fathers Day, Sunday, June 17,from 10am to 4pm, at Liberty State Park, in Jersey City, NJ.

We had a fun filled day with a record attendance of 58 adults and children. The weather cooperated for the day, with the sea breeze helping cool us off. We had jalebi-gathiya, bagels, and chai for breakfast. We grilled sweet corn and set up a fresh sandwich bar for lunch. For desert we had chilled watermelon and ice cream.
Kids took the opportunity to fly kites with guidance from the adults, and many people enjoyed walking along the waterfront.

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Madhuben from Leominster MA, while having a prayer for her Father-in-law in early April at the Jain center, noticed that the Jain center needed to be cleaned up. So, she contacted one of the authorized person at the Center and asked if she could volunteer to clean up the Center. Once she recieved permission, she created volunteer team. They painted the wall, cleaned up the shelves, and did many other things, which you can see in the pictures. Thanks to Madhuben for her good thinking.

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Once again, a great Thanksgiving weekend gathering was held in the Northeast. This year, the gathering took place on Saturday, November 25, in Hackettstown, NJ. About 100 people in our extended Oshwal family attended, mostly from nearby New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut areas, but some attended from as far away as Massachusetts and Missouri.

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We held our Regional picnic on June 18, 2006, at Leominster, MA. Madhuben and Hemendrabhai were the host for the day. There was all together 28 Oshwals who enjoyed to create your own pizza, mogo and corn on the cob. We all had a great time at the picnic, and the weather did favor us. It was beautiful day.

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The rain stayed away for our recent Father’s Day picnic, on June 18, 2006. This event has become an annual tradition for the Oshwal community in the Northeast. This year, it was held at Merrill County Park in New Jersey. About 60 of us, young and old, enjoyed the company of family and friends.

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Nina and Asit Harshad Amritlal Shah of Carlsbad arranged a picnic on Sunday, October 5, at Salt Creek Beach, Orange County, California. It was attended by about 35 Oshwals living in Southern California. This was the first gathering of Oshwals of Southern California. Everybody had a good time – the ocean water was a little cool, but the kids being more adventerous did not mind swimming in the ocean. Nina and Ahit had made a special effort to provide roasted Mogo and Corn as appetizers, and the main entree was the Subway sandwich. Before saying good bye and heading home, everybody was happy to have a hot cup of Masala tea.

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