March 24, 2002 

Dear Fellow TAGC Members, 

Namaskaralu! 

We hope you all had a chance to look up the previous e-mail message from us and the attachment to it in which we have outlined our proposals for TAGC activities during the year 2002. We thank the members for offering suggestions about the various items in that message. In our meeting on March 2nd, we had further discussions about the TAGC’s proposed activities and about the UGADI Program.  

The UGADI PROGRAM will be held on April 13 (Saturday) at Cleveland State University UC Auditorium (Between Euclid & Chester and 21st & 22nd streets) starting at 5:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars and make it a point to attend the program. If you or your children want to participate in any of the items or if you have an item of your own, please contact us as soon as possible. We would also appreciate your help in the form of sponsorships for the UGADI PROGRAM. The program details will be mailed to you separately in a few days. 

We have learnt that some of our members have not received our previous e-mail informing you of the proposed TAGC activities for the year 2002. I am sending it again as an attachment to this e-mail. Please take a look at it and offer your comments and suggestions, if any.  

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Other Matters discussed during our March 2nd meeting: 

Please contact any of the following members of the Executive Committee with your suggestions and about your participation in the Ugadi program. 

Chenchuramaiah Bathala: cbathala@yahoo.com; Phone: (440) 878-9663

Mohan Kareti: gkareti@yahoo.com; Phone: (440) 816-0565

T. Seetharama Reddy: tsreddy@grc.nasa.gov; Phone: (440) 878-8907 

You may send membership dues and other contributions by checks payable to “TAGC” and mail them to:

T. Seetharama Reddy

17107 Woodlawn Ct., Strongsville, OH 44149 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF TAGC ACTIVITIES!!!!!!! 

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Please take a look at the program items listed below and make suggestions, if any. Also, if you or your children want to participate in any of the items or if you have an item of your own, please contact us as soon as possible.

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20 mts.  Songs / Poems – individuals or groups.

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2 hrs 45 mts.

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We will send an update on the Ugadi Program again during the first week of April – with the final list of items and names of all participants in the program. Please make it a point to attend the Ugadi Program. If you know of any Telugu persons or families new to the area, we would appreciate it if you let them know about TAGC and encourage them to attend the Ugadi program.


February 20, 2002 

Dear TAGC Members, 

Greetings!  

Since the beginning of the year, the Executive Committee consisting of Chenchuramaiah Bathala (President), Mohan Kareti (Vice President), Seetharama Reddy Thondapu (Treasurer) has been deliberating about a theme and programs for the year. The position of Secretary is still open. We need to fill the position ASAP and will appreciate it if someone comes forward volunteering for the position. 

This Year's Theme 

Lately, TAGC functions are becoming more like extended family gatherings. As in the formative years of TAGC, basement-type parties seem sufficient considering the fewer number of people attending our programs. None of us likes TAGC sliding in that direction. We also observe a declining trend in the number of paying members, which is quite disturbing. The Telugu community is a dominant force among the ethnic Indian groups in the Greater Cleveland area, demographically, professionally, and financially. In discussions with the long-standing community leaders, we find that TAGC prospered in the past with high involvement and enthusiasm of members in its various activities. With the help of generous sponsorships, TAGC was able to organize music and dance programs by top professional artists from India which cost in thousands of dollars. We would like to see the past support back again so we can enhance our sense of belonging to a common thread. Consistent with this overriding consideration, our theme for this year is,  

"Promote Membership Support for and Participation in TAGC Activities." 

Community Activities Planned for the Year 

Our first program will be UGADI CELEBRATION at Cleveland State University on APRIL 13 (Saturday). Tentatively, we are thinking of a cultural program (about an hour), food, and a Telugu movie. We will be meeting on March 2 to finalize the Ugadi program and discuss about other TAGC activities for the year. Please let us know your thoughts and suggestions. Anyone who wish to attend the meeting, please call Chenchuramaiah Bathala (440-878-9663), Mohan Kareti (440-816-0565), or Seetharama Reddy Tondapu (440-878-8907). 

As in the past, we will have a SUMMER PICNIC, either in metro parks or at the lake - during the month of JULY or AUGUST. We will let you know as soon as the date and venue are finalized. 

On September 8 (Sunday), we will have a program to celebrate VINAYAKA CHAVITHI at Shiva Vishnu Temple. We will arrange with the temple for having a special POOJA for TAGC members (starting around 11:00 am). It will be followed by our sponsorship of the SUNDAY LUNCH program. We will need volunteers to prepare food for this event. 

We would like to have our program for DEEPAVALI FESTIVAL on NOVEMBER 2 (Saturday). The Parma Community Center will work well for this function. It would cost $90 in rent and we need someone living in Parma to make the reservation for us. 

Last year, TAGC hosted a Year-end Banquet for its paid-members and it was well received. We will be happy to continue it, if we have enough funding available through membership dues or sponsorships. 

Other TAGC Activities 

(1) TAGC Web site (http://cleveland-telugu.tripod.com): Ravi Gudipati, last year's president, did some excellent work in developing our web site. With the help of his father, Gopal Gudipati, he also designed the logo for our organization. We will continue to make improvements to our website and enhance its usefulness to our members. Especially, we are thinking of enhancing the web site with (a) a narrative on the history and development of TAGC, (b) lists of previous office bearers, and life-members, (c) names and addresses of TAGC members, (d) links to other Telugu Associations, and (e) other links of interest to our members. We invite our members with a long standing association with TAGC, its past presidents, and other office bearers to send us (a) narratives about history and development of TAGC and (b) the list of office bearers (by year) starting from the inception of TAGC.  

Currently, we have our web site on a free server with limited space. If additional space or more capabilities are needed, we may have to consider a service provider for a cost. We invite comments and suggestions from our members regarding any additions they would like to have in the website. 

(2) Membership Directory: It has been some years since we have published a membership directory. This year, we intend to print one with an updated listing of our members. 

(3) Sports Activities: In order to encourage group sports (indoor and outdoor), we intend to initiate prizes for the winning teams in selected sports (e.g., volley ball, table tennis, caroms, and bridge). It will also help making our programs appealing to our children and youth. We can use our summer picnics for this purpose, in addition having some sports on an ongoing basis (in league format). The prize distribution will take place during the last function for the year. We will discuss this idea in our next meeting and develop guidelines. 

(4) Outstanding Telugu Citizen Award: In our community, we have individuals who have contributed to TAGC in numerous ways. We also have individuals who have distinguished themselves in their respective professions or made significant contributions to the Greater Cleveland community. We would like to initiate the "Outstanding Telugu Citizen Award" program in order to recognize such individuals who brought us pride and laurels. We ask our members to offer ideas and suggestions so we can make this a possibility during the year 2002. The award will be the highlight of our last function for the year. 

(5) TAGC Youth of the Year Award: Our youth are excelling in several ways - in academics, sports, community activities, and leadership skills. We think it is time we introduce youth award which will be given at our year-end function. Please let us know your thoughts on this idea as we will be working on guidelines for the award. 

Expectations from TAGC Members 

In our pursuit to accomplish the agenda for this year, we ask for wholehearted support and participation from our members. Here is the hierarchical list of what you can do for TAGC. 

First, please pay your annual membership dues ($35 for family, $20 for a single person) if you have not done so already. We only have about 40 families paying membership dues from out of a total of more than 150 Telugu families in our mailing list. The receipts from membership dues, in the range of $1,200 to $1,300, are not large enough even for programs of modest nature. 

Second, please attend the TAGC functions. The attendance has been generally poor at our programs, especially the summertime picnics. The largest gatherings have been around 80 - 100 persons, including children. Some functions cost anywhere from $600 to $800 each (rent, insurance, supplies, refreshments, etc.), which comes to about $8 to $10 per head. Let's lower the cost per head and feel good about spending the money by attending our programs in larger numbers. 

Third, participate in cultural programs (music, dance, skit, etc) and bring food to community events. Only a few individuals have been actively contributing to the on-stage programs at our functions. We need a wider participation to add variety to our programs.  

With our limited resources, we can't afford to have the food catered. Please do not hesitate to bring a dish, especially when asked. We don't think we should have programs without food, as the attendance will be even worse. 

Fourth, be a sponsor of our programs. Contributions of any amount are appreciated. They will go a long way for filling the shortfall in revenues from membership dues for supporting our community activities. Those contributing $100 or more to a particular program will be recognized for their generosity as "Sponsors of the Program." 

Fifth, make a life membership contribution $500. We have the previous life membership receipts in bank CDs. With more contributions, we can build an endowment and the interest it generates can be used to fund any ad hoc contributions from TAGC or scholarships for our youth. 

We hope our above ideas and programs for the year are consistent with the consensus opinion of our members. Please send us an e-mail if you have any suggestions for changes or improvement. From now on, we will be sending out e-mails on a regular basis to update our members about the TAGC activities or informing about matters of interest to us. We don't want you to miss our communication. To make sure you get our messages, please provide us the e-mail address which you use most frequently. 

We appreciate your cooperation and support for TAGC. 

Sincerely, 

Executive Committee, TAGC 

T. Seetharama Reddy

17107 Woodlawn Ct., Strongsville, OH 44149 

TAGC Website: http://cleveland-telugu.tripod.com

For Contact:

Chenchuramaiah Bathala: cbathala@yahoo.com - Phone: (440) 878-9663

Mohan Kareti: gkareti@yahoo.com - Phone: (440) 816-0565

T. Seetharama Reddy: tsreddy@grc.nasa.gov; - Phone: (440) 878-8907