future. thank you very much. [applause] >> ok. all right. we have some competition on the stage right now. >> a couple of other people we need to thank. we have a bunch of co-hosts, the san francisco board of supervisors.

a round of applause, please. [applause] our event shares and co-chairs. [reading names] >> all right, thank you. [applause] >> those people give money, so please applaud. >> next, i would like to introduce betty yee, the 2014 candidate for controller.

john, maybe you could give her some advice. [applause] >> good evening. as we celebrate the contributions of some very important figures in our history, who have contributed to the development of our country, every state, of this great city, as we honor the achievements of the congressmen, ongoing contributions, and our mayor in san francisco. each of us could not be doing the work we are doing, that we have done, without the doors of opportunity having been opened for each of us.

making sure we are developing the leaders of tomorrow as part of the integral programs of leadership development and civic engagement. the internships program is designed to prepare college students to become our future leaders. by providing them with the opportunities to work with government agencies, they develop their leadership skills, public policy experience, and broaden their civic engagement. they have demonstrated a dedication to the community, and they will continue in their engagement by working professionally with their fellow peers and mentors. warning in workshops to enhance their leadership skills emperor -- learning and workshops to enhance their leadership skills. we thank the local state and federal offices before hosting an intern and we think of the elected officials for their continued leadership and for opening the door for mentoring

are new leaders. please join me in congratulating and welcoming the internships class of 2012. will you please join me on stage? [applause] mayor, will you join us for a photograph, please?

>> thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. one more round of applause. [applause] if you look around you tonight, you will see poster board. celebrating, acknowledging, the first asian americans. we have the first asian-american actress in hollywood. the first asian-american nba player. the first members of congress. these interns are the future of our community. they are the reason why we are here today. we're also here to celebrate and recognize one of the greatest members of our community. this year it is the first year we are giving the lifetime

achievement award. the lifetime achievement award this year is going to secretary norman manetta. he is a trailblazer. a man who paved the way for many of us. he was the first asian-american mayor of a major city. he was elected to congress 10 times. he was the first person to serve two presidents in a cabinet. first as secretary of commerce to president clinton, secretary of transportation to president bush. it was on 9/11 that secretary mineta showed us what he was made of. he made the call to ground all of the planes.

it was secretary mineta who instituted the policy is -- policies at tsa. it was secretary mineta who prevented the profiling of arab- americans and muslim americans in our country. tonight, we honor secretary mineta and we give them -- him this for a very special reason. i want to thank the san francisco giants for donating this bat. the reason why we are giving this back to secretary mineta is because of what happened to him when he was a young boy. secretary mineta was forced to relocate into the internment camps.

as a young boy, he was taken to the train station by military police officers. as a young boy, he was a huge baseball fan and he had his prized possession with him, his baseball bat. military police saw the young boy with his baseball bat and said you are not taking it with you. that is a weapon. what did they do? they took away his prized possession. later on in his life as a member of congress, a very generous person heard the story and offered him an autographed hank aaron bat. as a member of congress, you are not allowed to accept a gift valued over $200. so the government took away his back again. tonight, we cannot replace the bat that was taken away from

that young boy. but we do give them something that we hope will take its place. ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the first ever recipient to of the lifetime achievement award for services rendered to the asian american community and services rendered to our nation. i give to you secretary mineta. [applause] >> i cannot think of a more appropriate gift tonight than to receive this bat. i want to thank the mayor, and everyone, members of the board

of supervisors, for hosting this event tonight. all of us who have had the privilege of serving in public service have gone to that point because we were standing on the shoulders of those who preceded us. i want everybody here to remember that whenever they do in the future, bring everything you are and bring everything you want to the jobs you are going to be doing. there are tremendous opportunities that are out there. asian-pacific american heritage week is a time for all of us to be able to show the majority community what we are capable of doing.

it is also a time when people in the asian pacific american community are learning about each other. many people say that the united states should be a melting pot. i did not believe in the melting pot theory. when you have a melting pot, you put all the ingredients into the bowl, stir it up, and everybody loses their identity. in the asian pacific american community, there are over 150 languages, religions, cultures, everything you can think of. we do not want to lose that identity of our own history regardless of where our forefathers have come from.

i want everybody to be proud to of the language of their forbearers, the religion, the history, the culture, and the arts. again, i do not want us to lose our identity and the community in this great nation. again, thank you very much to the members of the boards for this wonderful gift bestowed upon me, and let's go ahead to continue to hit the ball park -- hit the ball at the ballpark. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will

bring up our founder to say a few last words. we would like to ask all of the previous speakers to come up for a photograph. it is the hard work of these board members -- without their hard work, none of this would happen. thank you to everyone.

>> we would also like for the judicial officers in the audience to come up as well. if you are a sponsor, please come on up.

we will ask the founder to speak a few words. ladies and gentlemen, we will start our cultural program after words. food will be served in the four corners of the program is going on. i present you the founder. >> thank you very much. thank you. i especially want to thank the organizers and the leaders of the event. i want to thank you for coming here to celebrate the heritage

month. i especially want to thank the state leaders, some are here, and some are not. enjoy the rest of the celebration. have a good time, take care. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, i would like to give a round of applause to our emceed tonight. tonight.

i'm derek, i'm hyungry, and ready to eat. these vendors offer a variety of the streets near you. these mobile restaurants are serving up original, creative and unusual combinations. you can grab something simple like a grilled cheese sandwich or something unique like curry. we areher here in the average eight -- upper haight.

you will be competing in the quick buy food challenge. an appetizer and if you are the winner you will get the title of the quitck bite "chompion." i am here with matt cohen, from off the grid. >> we assembled trucks and put them into a really unique heurban settings. >> what inspired you to start off the grid? >> i was helping people lodge mobile food trucks. the work asking for what can we get -- part together?

we started our first location and then from there we expanded locations. >> why do think food trucks have grown? >> i have gotten popular because the high cost of starting a brick and mortar or strong, the rise of social media, trucks can be easily located, and food trucks to offer a unique outdoor experience that is not easily replaced by any of their setting any worlwhere else in san franc. san francisco eaters are interested in cuisine. there adventuress. the fact theyuse grea use great ingredients and make gourmet food makes unpopular.

>> i have been dying to have these. >> i have had that roach coach experience. it is great they're making food they can trust. >> have you decided? >> we are in the thick of the competition? >> my game was thrown off because they pulled out of my first appetizer choice. >> how we going to crush clear? >> it will be easy. probably everyone has tried, something bacon tell us delicious. >> -- people tell us is delicious. >> hopefully you think the same thing.

>> hopefully i am going to win. we're in the financial district. there is a food truck right there. every day changes. it is easy and fun to go down. these are going to be really good. >> how are you going to dominate? >> i think he does not know what he is doing. >> i was thinking of doing [unintelligible] we are underrepresented. >> i was singing of starting an irish pub. that was my idea. >> one our biggest is the corned beef and cabbage. we are asking people what they're thinking in getting some feedback. >> for a lot of people i am sure this combination looks very wrong. it might not sound right on paper but when you taste it to

or have it in your mouth, it is a variety. this is one of the best ways in creating community. people gather around and talk about it and get to know different cultures. that brings people together and i hope more off the grid style and people can mingle and interact and remove all our differences and work on our similarities. this creates opportunity. >> the time has come and i am very hungry. what have you got? >> i got this from on the go, a sandwich, and a caramel cupcake. i went with home cooking. what de think? >> i will have another bite.

>> sounds good. >> that was fantastic. let's start with you. >> i had the fried mac and cheese, and twinkies. i wanted to get something kind of classic with a twist on it. >> it was crispy. >> i will admit. >> want to try fieried mac and cheese? >> was that the best twinkie? >> would you say you had the winning male? >> definitely. >> no. >> you are the "chompion."

clair has won. you are the first "chompion." >> they know it iwas me because i got a free meal. and check a map on -- check them out on facebook. take a peek at the stuff we have cut. to get our -- check out our blog. i will have >> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to

feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece. this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in. >> the people who just started

taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography. >> we get to build the community here. this is different. first of all, this is a great location. it is in a less-populated area.

>> of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. it is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. the people have a lot, they can really come together and share a love and a passion. >> we offer everything from traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to process your first roll of film. we offer classes and workshops in digital camera, digital printing. we offer classes basically in the shooting, ton the town at night, treasure island. there is a way for the programs exploring everyone who would like to spend the day on this

program. >> hello, my name is jennifer. >> my name is simone. we are going on a field trip to take pictures up the hill. >> c'mon, c'mon, c'mon. >> actually, i have been here a lot. i have never looked closely enough to see everything. now, i get to take pictures. >> we want to try to get them to be more creative with it. we let them to be free with them but at the same time, we give them a little bit of direction. >> you can focus in here. >> that was cool.