Lohana Association of Greater Chicago celebrates its golden anniversary with a grand musical Diwali event
Lohana Association of Greater Chicago organized its annual Diwali celebration gala on Dec. 5 at Manav Seva Mandir in Bensenville.
The master of ceremony Prachi Jaitly started the event with a brief introduction of the organization, its founders, and the journey of the organization for last 50 years.
The association was founded in 1971 by Jayanti Bhai Thakkar, Prahlad Bhai Thakkar, Arvind Bhai Thakkar and Vinod Bhai Thakkar. The current president, Kirit Thakkar, with his wife, Bhavna Thakkar, and vice president Vasudev Thakkar with his wife, Nisha Thakkar, welcomed all the guests and thanked all the sponsors and supporters.
The event started with traditional lamp lighting by the association's executive board and other special guests and devotional singing by Rita Shah and chanting by Gina and Suhani. National anthems were sung by Dhir, Dhruvi, Neil and Nysa.
The event was full of musical surprises with singing by a variety of melodious singers.
Well-known vocalists Bhupinder Singh, Pavithra Anand and Rama Raghuraman filled the dance floor with the music enthusiasts. Beautiful surprise singing by Kirit Thakkar with Pinky Thakkar and Rita Thakkar added additional charm to the evening.
All the executive board members along with their spouses presented bouquets to the sponsors and the special guests. The chief guests of the event were Vasudev Bhai and Leela Ben. The sponsors and special guests present at the event were Pinky and Dinesh Thakkar, Jayanti Bhai Thakkar, Sunil and Rita Shah, Hitesh and Dimple Gandhi, Phani Krishna (AANA), Ashok Potdar, Haribhai and Leela Ben, Suresh Bodiwala, Tushar Vyas, Dr. Sanjay Thakkar, Jesse Singh, Anil Bhai Thakkar, Mahesh Bhai Thakkar, Mohan Bhai Chaudhry, Altaf Bukhari and many other community members. Media was represented by Asian Media Broadcasting team.
Kirit Thakkar thanked all the guests for attending the events and explained how the association has been working hard to bring the community together. He talked about all the events that the Lohana Association of Greater Chicago organizes every year.
Pinky Thakkar in her speech congratulated president Kirit Bhai Thakkar, Lohana Samaj, vice president Vasudev Thakkar, and all the team members who have kept this organization growing, congratulated them all for their hard work.
"Diwali is the festival of lights which brightens everything. May this festive season fill your life with happiness and brightness," said Pinky Thakkar. "Last but not the least, I would like to say thank you to my dear husband and my three sons for their love and support. Once again huge thanks to Kirit Bhai and Bhawna ben and Sunilbhai and Rita Ben for the support and respect they have given to me."
The music kept the guests dancing through the entire evening and the event concluded with a vote of thanks by the master of ceremony and the Lohana Association of Greater Chicago team.