As far as Johnny Hsu is concerned, the Year of the Rabbit can just wiggle its nose and scamper off into the sunset. Between repercussions of a bad economy and a health scare, it was a year he’s glad to see end.
In fact, he can’t wait for Jan. 22, when the Year of the Dragon begins. The dragon is the fifth sign in the Chinese zodiac and signifies luck.
During the Year of the Rabbit, doctors discovered a tumor in Hsu’s stomach. It was eventually found to be benign, but it took major surgery to remove it. “The Year of the Rabbit was so-so at best,” Hsu said on Saturday when he and his wife, Anne, owners of the Imperial and the Palace Chinese restaurants, hosted their traditional Chinese New Year party. “I had a real scare, but in the end I was fortunate. I hope the Year of the Dragon will change things for those who were not.”
The party was held at the Palace Chinese Restaurant and guests enjoyed the traditional multi-course banquet that began with a “toss to prosperity” where everyone at the table uses chopsticks to mix the ingredients of a salmon salad. Legend has it that the higher the toss, the greater the prosperity.
A special guest was Ron Ouellet, a special assistant for FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. Johnny Hsu had served as Ouellet’s interpreter when he was an intelligence officer with the Special Forces B-43 Team in Vietnam in the late 1960s.
“We had some exciting times back then,” Ouellet recalled. In the fall, the two plan to make their first visit back to Cao Lanh in Kien Phong province.
Others enjoying the Hsus’ hospitality were Benny Cheng, former chairman of the Organization of American Chinese, and his wife, Diana; Denver Art Museum curator Ron Otsuka; husband-and-wife attorneys Woon Ki Lau and Margaret Choi with their son, Jason Lau; former Denver City Councilman Rick Garcia, now the regional director for HUD; Global Down Syndrome chief Michelle Sie Whitten and hubby Tom Whitten; Sheldon and Jan Steinhauser; dietician Mary Lee Chin and her husband, Jim Wagenlander, Colorado’s honorary consul for Mongolia; retired pilot Gary Ray and his wife, Gayle; attorney Kevin Gliwa and his wife, Denise; Clear Choice spokesman Ernie Bjorkman and girlfriend Sue Price; and Shu Liu, whose husband, Joe Sinisi, is the son of former Denver Post reporter J. Sebastian Sinisi and his wife, Randy. Shu Liu is pregnant with the couple’s first child, and it is due in February.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and
