Obon 2018

The 2018 Mountain View Buddhist Temple Obon was going to be very different from any other Obon in Mountain View history. The previous year, the MVBT Obon was inspected by the city of Mountain View and was written up for a host of code violations. Some of the issues included using unpermitted natural gas lines to fuel deep fryers and boiling udon; using unpermitted power poles to power lighting, p/a systems, and game booths; using food and game booths that were larger than 120 square feet; using natural gas rice cookers that were unventilated; and applying for and using the wrong permit for the event.

Of course, as luck would have it, Randy and good friend Craig were in charge this year. Meetings with the city to correct all the violations first took place in early September 2017. Follow up meetings with the 2018 Obon Committee took place every few weeks to try and identify what issues we could address versus problems only professionals could resolve. Subsequent meetings with the city and an architect ensued to properly apply for a Temporary Use Permit rather than the Special Events Permit we had been granted for at least the past 20 years.

In the end, all issues the city brought up were resolved. Food that was affected by the absence of natural gas was replaced by caterers (sushi and udon) or substituted (Japanese style hot dogs for spam musubi and Yakisoba for tempura). Our booths that measured 144 square feet were replaced by rented booths that satisfied the maximum 120 square foot restriction. Power poles were cut down and electricity was supplied by newly installed Event Panels.

Despite all the hardships, it was immensely gratifying to "open the doors" on Saturday, July 21, 2018 for the 66th annual MVBT Obon. To help commemorate the event, special "Change Happens" t-shirts were created and sold throughout the weekend. When odori finally took place on Sunday evening, we took a collective deep breath and considered the event a complete success.

While we were the Co-Chairs for this year's Obon, we were so very lucky to have been assisted from the beginning by the 2018 MVBT Obon Committee. They, along with the Maintenance Crew, temple Sangha, temple President, and the Resident Minister paved the way so we could host this Obon. We are extremely grateful for all the patience and support we were blessed with by this temple's Sangha.