>> (drums rolling). ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (clapping.) >> wow. what a wonderful performance. so good morning, everybody. . district manager and ladies and gentlemen good morning and thank you for being here today open

this about how far san francisco day. i'm the post master of san francisco. on above the of the united states positively services i want to welcome you to the 19th luna celebration the year of the horse is the 7 stamp in the series we're truly honored to be hosting this selection celebration let me begin by thanking the white crane dance group and the hosts of the performance. they've helped us today only today but year after year so what a wonderful vaccination and a applause. you'll be meeting our guest and other people a few people in the

audience. first someone who i work with frequently is san francisco marketing manager is martha she's right there. martha played a large roll in the success and she is retiring at the end of the month for or after 2 seven years of dedication so thank you very much martha. also in the audience today are jeff managing director of the investment and a doris the hilton director of community affairs. thank you, again, for supporting the lunar event and, of course, we're honored to have the artist who designed this today mr. kim.

where are you right there (clapping) thank you for sharing our beautiful art with the world and through this lunar event. i want to pause for a second and let everything know that the mayor will be here in three or four minutes hose in route. i know which of you have been with us brother but let me take a moment to explain. when the post office a city a selected for the national first day of issue and in this case, the year of the horse stamp it's once again an you honor to be selected as the city and we've received this many times over. today is the first day you can

purchase the year of the stamp no idea but outside here is the only day you can get it postmarked and this is a great keepsake and we have special sales in the lobby so, please make sure you stop by after the sermon. we have an existing program lined up shortly we'll hear from mayor ed lee and also from the possessive manager from the district as well as the distinguished guests but first it's my honor to introduce our master of sermons abc numbers and anchor and reporter is an award winning journalist and chorus 7 weekend news cast he

joined with assignments in texas and atlanta georgia. his coverage has included national stories like the columbia national crash in 2003 and helped to solve the murder of a 3-year-old boy and a federal bomb 3r0e78d a mystery solution solution and he addresses community issues and raise awareness and a sparks public change. he graduated from the texas in austin. ladies and gentlemen please join me in a warm welcome >> thank you it's my pleasure to be your mc for this dedication for the lunar year of

the horse forest stamp but before we give up the program we'll shatter or start with a color guard from the police department and a national anathema a learnted person and a ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of colors and the singing of our national anthem.

>> oh, can you see by the dawns early light. what so proudly we hail as the twilight last gleaming. who's bright stripes and bright stars through the perils night over the ram parts we watch were so gallantly dreaming. and the rockets red glare the

bombs busting in air. gave proof through the night that our flag was still tdr there are. oh, is does that stair spaniel banner yet wave. over the land of the free. and the home of the brave (clapping.) thank you michelle from ambassador high school give her

another round of applause please. i'd like to mention that our speaker eddy who is the president of the chinese chamber of commerce couldn't make it here today he had emergency eye city, of course, the chinese chamber of commerce is an integral part of this but we would like to recognize a few of the friends of this event from the office of congress woman nancy pelosi. also the following are city commissioners please stand. gregory chow and rodney and steven lee and leo and irene riling and julie sue, my good

friend right there please stand and cindy wu please give them a round of applause and other cities are celebrated the year of the hours from our sister city we have a representative and vietnam and the office of vietnam trade. there we are thank you. a special friend who's the president of the academy of art university. (clapping.) now, it's my pleasure to honor a chinese gentleman it's the oldest chinese embassy we have the association to thank please

join me in welcoming the gentleman mr. toy >

>> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping) happy new year. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping) >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping)

>> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping) >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping) >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping) >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (clapping.) thank you very much doctor doctor toy our next speaker is from the association of the organization c a that advanced the ri7 and, in fact, the oc a

suggested to the post office back in 18971 they issue the stamps celebrated chinese-american cultural. my mother was excited about the stampedes that 507b8gd our presence 2, 3, 4 the country. my mother had the whole package of stamps framed and i hung them optional my wall. for many of you there are so some chinese and asia cabinet that are spreading sprayed out and like i was it provided a huge source of pride. that's why those stamps are important you think they look

nice but to many people they mean more. please recognize dr. leslie (clapping.) thank you for that kind introduction. you know, this means a lot to oc a i want to express our expression to help us spreading our cultural to the nation it's a big deal to us the horoscope and zodiac. i know at the meeting we acknowledge the u.s. post office for initiating this series. i'd like to bring to your attention was it dr. cleveland you won't who's the current president of the organization c

in san francisco (clapping.) i'd like to acknowledge sherman tang the immediate past president of the organization c a and the chairman of the cultural foundation of san francisco. i'd like to closed to say something a little bit personal i loved stamps and collected them growing up and first place living in a time like today as a kid and those stamps came out every january it would make me feel so proud not only to be china's but also an american citizen they're helping us spread is an important part of our culture to the nation so thank you (clapping.) thank you, dr. mel csier when is

u.s. post office recognitions the china's culture it recognize the chinese-american from the new cabinets all the way up to the highest levies of those city with our chinese american mayor please welcome chinese-american mayor mayor ed lee (clapping.) well, thank you allen >> (speaking foreign language.) >> to our which they think so consolidated association and to the organization of the commenting and allen thank you for mcing and being gracious of our time. i always in every year look forward to joining our united

states postal service and you've begun u done a great job and to mr. showing to the recreational director thank you. again. this is the second series of the 7th series i look forward to this day because it signals just that fresh beginning seeing another about how far designed stamp and as both decreases said earlier it's an exception of our american culture and asia culture. i want to thank again sherman for your leadership at oc a that we take pride in not only a recreational subdivision e celebration this is national not international and i'm reminded again with allen's remarks we

have a history. sometimes, it wasn't as bright as we wanted it to be but those days it's brighter and brighter i get to lead the city and a traffic internationally all over the world we have is strong citizenry that reflects our cultures. everyday i get to serve the city of this city but represent them in international settings pr i want to emphasis one greeting this year because i told anita elimination to do that. when you intermediate people in chinese greeting it is a prosperity greeting. sunny is happy new year and

>> (speaking foreign language.) >> means good health but there's a phrase that people use and it's called. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> and i want to explain that because it's dragon and, of course, dollars celebratory zodiac animal and when people say this he two probable most popular zodiac symbols in the horoscope the dragon and horse are at peace with each other. that means this year it's going to be peaceful, hopefully, embraced time coordinators we're not going to get attracted like the year of the snake. that pulls you off course had

you have the most popular the horse and droorlg i'm trying to make sure that all our communities are strong, all of our strengthens are put together to match the challenge of the city and so this is what i want to say in teaching people and i'll be seeing saying it more is role good for you our city and good for the country because lo ma was not popular in washington, d.c. there wasn't a lot of peace but this year it's going to be different i get to preach that >> so as we look forward to the

stamp as well because you'll see a symbol there that i'm going to necessarily use for the the 9ers up in seattle we're going to have a lot of drumbeat ourself so thank you very much and happy new year to everybody. >> thank you for your insight and good ridden's to the year of the snake by the way, i was born in the year of the snake. i've seen the beautiful statesman and wanting can't wait to see the series of stamps. the artist has felon here from new york mr. kim please stand. he'll be here to audit graph our stamps he said he wanted to make this stamp that meant more about

the celebration itself so you may want see the horse taking over the whole canvas but it's a smaller superimposed imagine and the image is of the traditions and culture that meant so much to him. so a very personal series of paintings oil on canvas that kim making has made. now for the moment it's at the stamp dictation i'd like to welcome the poverty manager david stowe (clapping.) good morning and thank you allen for that kind introduction. it's a great pleasure to be here to celebrate the latest - excuse me. i couldn't see that. it's a great pleasure to be here

to celebrate the new lunar stamp and i'm pleased to be sharing the stage with mayor ed lee. hose been a tremendous support in san francisco. as allen mentioned a fumdz mayor ed lee has helped with the stamps including let's year of the dragon a few years ago. not just here in the united states is this important but indeed the start of the lunar new year is the biggest start of the for many people. it's a great reflecttion including our old chinese-american community here in san francisco. it's the customs and the 12

creatures the zodiac but it's a time to reinforce our values and to renew our lives the spirit of ancestors and the living come together and give blessing and prepare for good things to come. at the same time it's a time to clean the house from top to to bottom and resolve to what may come this year. it's time for parties and a festivals and a lot of fun. soon the streets of san francisco will be facilitated with dragons and people. lunar year is important for the united states postal service we

provide the service everyday and recognize the red lights of the diversity. in keeping with this tradition we introduced this lunar system in 18998 we celebrate the year of the rabbit and dragon and snake all during the respective years during the chinese calendar. today, we pay tribute to the horse on january 31st, 2014. people during the lunar year they have the traits and this is good buses. horses are popper and cleaver and refuse to be recognized to failure they can be stubborn and

hot termed. the key for horses is to find the balance to exercise control. with this new stamp we wish good future for everybody and hope it will bring the best out in all of us. in keeping with that hope this year's stamp is like the altercation of the drums. additional the drums are dictated for prosperity and working with the art directors two element were incorporated clarence paper cut design and the which they think so character was drawn. the inindicating cut flow of the lines symbolizes force.

once you see them you'll agree those colorful stamps are fantastic. please be sure to join us on february 15th and 16 where the postings will have the stamps for purchase. now without further ado i'd like to ask mayor ed lee and others to celebrate this year of the horticulture's and i want to share best wishes to the coming year to everyone >> (speaking foreign language.) >> happy new year everyone. thank you (clapping.) (drums rolling) (clapping)

everybody come closer. okay. all right. everybody look