On Oct. 17, the Buddhist Church will be celebrating its centennial anniversary in Guadalupe at 1070 Olivera, starting at 10 a.m. with a group picture in front of the church, followed by a centennial service 30 minutes later.
Bishop Koshin Ogui, who is coming from the Bay Area, will head the special service.
“There will be four generations that will be present,” said Dawn Kamiya. “And a lot of these people have not been to this church for 60 years.”
The church has played a significant role in Central Coast history. After the internment camps that held Japanese-Americans during World War II closed down for good, the church provided shelter for many of those who had lost property from the move until they could find work.
Kamiya expects close to 200 people in the congregation to attend this serene event, which isn’t open to the public.
“We will be recognizing how the church has been a thread in Japanese-Americans’ lives,” Kamiya said. “It has kept many together in hard times, and kept a sane outlook.”
Intern Henry Houston compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2009.