By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
4-23-2009

Saturday’s 40th annual pilgrimage to the Manzanar World War II internment camp will include tributes and premieres fitting for such a milestone event.
Several groups are sponsoring the events, including the Manzanar Committee, the group responsible for organizing the pilgrimage, the Manzanar Historic Site, the Independence Chamber of Commerce, Lone Pine High School and the Eastern California Museum. The pilgrimage is also one of the final events for the Inyo County Superintendent of Schools Community Reads project, “Farewell to Manzanar.”
The pilgrimage is scheduled for Saturday, but activities begin Friday night in Independence.

The loud and highly choreographed Taiko drummers will be performing again at the Manzanar Pilgrimage this Saturday. A whole weekend of pilgrimage events starts Friday. File photo

Highlights include:
• The chamber and museum will host a reception at the Eastern California Museum from 4-6 p.m. on Friday. The museum’s current exhibits include the Manzanar collection of Shiro and Mary Nomura. The museum is located at 155 Grant St., Independence. For more information, call 878-0258.
• At 7 p.m. on Friday, the Museum of Lone Pine Film History will host a special screening of two documentary films by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan.
The first is “The National Parks: This Is America,” a 45-minute piece based on the upcoming six-part, 12-hour series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” which airs on PBS in September.
The second film is the short feature, “Manzanar – Never Again.” The film is based on the interconnected stories of Japanese internment during World War II and the ongoing work of the site and the committee to educate visitors about civil rights. The film museum is at the south end of Lone Pine on Main Street/U.S. 395. Call 876-9909 for more information.
• The pilgrimage is slated to begin  at noon on Saturday at the Manzanar National Historic Site, located on the west side of U.S. 395 between Lone Pine and Independence.
Events for the pilgrimage include a performance by the Kyodo Taiko drummers from UCLA. Led by directors Andrew Chan and Keiko Harada, the group is comprised entirely of UCLA students.
Along with many speakers and poets, there will be a presentation by keynote speaker Ron Wakabayashi, regional director for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and who also participated in the first pilgrimage in 1969.
• Later in the afternoon will be the Pilgrimage Ceremony at the site’s cemetery that will include an interfaith service featuring ministers from Buddhist, Christian, Konko and Muslim faiths and traditional Japanese Ondo-style community dance.
• After the pilgrimage ceremonies conclude, the Site will offer guided walks by park rangers and volunteers from 2:30-3:30 p.m. to explore the area and its stories.
• At the Manzanar Interpretive Center from 3-4 p.m., author Joanne Oppenheim, author of more than 50 children’s books, will be giving talks about the experiences of young Japanese Americans during World War II and signing her books about Japanese American internment, “Dear Miss Breed” and “Stanley Hayami: Nesei Son.”
• The “madness” starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday with the popular Manzanar at Dusk, or MAD program, at the Lone Pine High School, located on the south end of Lone Pine across from McDonald’s on Main Street/U.S. 395.
The film “Manzanar – Never Again” will be featured at MAD and there will also be panel discussions and an open mic, giving participants a chance to interact with former internees in attendance, ask questions and discuss the relevance of the internment camp experience to current events. 
• April 25 is also National Junior Ranger Day, so “kids of all ages” can receive a free activity booklet and earn a badge and certificate. 
• On Sunday, the Interpretive Center will be showing the documentary “Remembering Manzanar” every half-hour from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Oppenheim will be presenting talks from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and will be signing books from 11 a.m.-noon and from 2-3 p.m. at the Interpretive Center.
Also on display at the center until May 3 is the exhibition and sale of the works of selected artists from the Henry Fukuhara Annual Alabama Hills and Manzanar Workshop.
There are no facilities at Manzanar, and so pilgrims are asked to bring water, food and any other necessities, such as a hat, sunscreen or jacket.
While there has been no official announcements, there will undoubtedly be an homage to the co-author of “Farewell to Manzanar,” John D.  Houston, who died at his home in Santa Cruz on April 16, 2009.
For more information, go www.manzanarcommittee.org, www.nps.gov/manz, or call the Interpretive Center at 878-2194, or the Manzanar Committee at (323) 662-5102.