CHICAGO: The nearly decade and half old Indian Christian Federation of Midwest (ICF) came out with a unique idea of celebrating Christmas this time, and to the good credit of organizers, it was by hosting Gujarati Garba and Dandiya. The grand Christmas Party celebration was on Saturday, December 6 at Levy Center in Evanston, a north side suburb of Chicago.
This was the first time that the ICF held such an event here. The attendees ranged from toddlers to seniors and were dressed in vibrant and colorful Indian attire. Despite adverse weather, over 300 members came in and had a fun feast during their stay, observed Babu Varma and Clerin Parmar, the main Coordinators.
Clerin Parmar, Manish Varma, Irene Christian, Ruth Varma and Veena Bhagat gracefully emceed the program.
The Banquet was attended by dignitaries including Rev. Timothy Rathod, Rev. Dr. John Rathod from Emmanuel United Methodist Church. Rev. Walter Christian, Shailesh Alendry, Irene Christian, Vivek Solanki, Shailesh Christian, Vidhyaben Christian, Ester Christian (Chair person) and Ruthben Vyas from Gujarati Christian Fellowship of Naperville and members from Bolingbrook, Gujarati fellowship.
The program started with Rev Timothy Rathod performing a prayer followed by delicious dinner – chicken Biryani, Chicken Chapli Kabob, Begun Bartua, 4 kinds of different Naan, Salad and 3 different kinds of chutney served by Masti Grill.
Clerin Parmar welcomed everyone attending the event while Babu Varma, president, Indian Christian Federation of Midwest., said that it was a record attendance. He still wanted all Christians living in Midwest area to join the federation and make it a strong organization. “This event would not have been possible without the support of all members from various churches” said Rev. Timothy Rathod.
Babu Varma introduced the entire board of Indian Christian Federation of Midwest and sponsors of the event on stage.
Naperville Christian youth performed devotional Christmas song “Yeshu Masih Tere Jaisa hai koi Nahi” joyfully sung by members of Indian Christian Federation of Midwest.
The first half of the event was Garba and the second was Dandiya. Garba was performed by Women’s Group of Evanston Church and also Gujarati Christian Fellowship of Naperville. Another unique feature of the event was the prizes for the Best Attire male and female (adult and youth). The prizes were distributed to the following four winners: Kamlesh Gohil, Denise Parmar, Amrita Varma, Priya Shields by owner of Mehndi Neo Salon (Amita Chitnis).
Christmas gifts were distributed to children under 10. The vote of thanks was proposed by secretary, Girish Christie. Bollywood songs were presented by well known local singers Imran Durrani, Rajesh Chalam, Shaila Khedkar and Mahijit S. Virdee.
The sponsors of the event were Travel King, Medstar Laboratory, National Bankcard, Travel King, Masti Grill, Lake Street Dental, Subway (Nita Dabhi) Modern Accounting, New York Life (Sunil Shah), Sher Rajput, and Mehndi Neo Salon (Amita Chitnis).
Executive Committee: Vinubhai Chitnis (Chairman), Babu Varma (President), Clerin Parmar (Vice President), Girish Christie (Secretary) and Oliver Parmar (Treasurer).
Board of Directors & Advisory Committee: Samson Macwan, Raman Sutaria, Smita Christian, Ruth Varma, Jyoti Sutaria, Dilip Rathod, Irene Christian, Veena Bhagat, Shailesh Christian, Binny Christian, Jayman Chitnis, Deborah Cowper and Rev. John Rathod (Mission work advisor).
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