TANA (Telugu Association of North America) organized Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on October 13th and 14th at the North Penn High School, Lansdale, Pennsylvania amidst a lot of pomp and gaiety with more than 3500 people in attendance.
The mood was ecstatic as the rigorous effort put on the by the TANA Leadership and Mid-Atlantic TANA team for a month unfolded as a vibrant and vivid display for two days and was nothing short of phenomenal.
A Banquet Dinner was conducted on October 13th evening at Blue Bell Country Club to honor and felicitate TANA Leadership, stalwarts and donors that have made impactful contributions to the society. There were 500 people from all over the Unites States in attendance.
Legendary Singer Smt. Chithra was the Chief Guest and Sri Payyavula Keshav (MLC), Sri Dhulipalla Narendra (MLA), Sri Komati Jayaram (Andhra Pradesh Govt Special Representative of North America) were the guest of honor. TANA President Mr. Satish Vemana and Treasurer Ravi Potluri, Mr. Sridhar Chillara, Board of Director Harish Koya, Foundation Trustee Ravi Mandalapu, Mid-Atlantic Regional coordinator Nagaraju Nalajula released the special Souvenir “Telugu Paluku” on the occasion of TANA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference.
TANA President Mr. Satish Vemana honored the sponsors and community leaders with applause from the audience. This was followed by a mellifluous musical concert by singers Adarsh, Aditi Bhavaraju, Neha Anumolu, Sindhu & Bhaskari Budhavarapu which captivated the audience. Prominent stage drama artist Sri Aradhyula Kotewara Rao enthralled the audience with his Ekapathrabhinayam. Delicious Vindu Bhojanam was served by Mr. Govardhan Bobba.
The thirteen (13) Hour Non-Stop main event on October 14th in North Penn High School started with the prayer song followed by lamp lighting ceremony by TANA Leadership. Inaugural dance “Telugu Pandugalu” performed by very talented local children from Guru Sridevi Mungara received thunderous applause from the audience. The cultural programs by local talent were also conducted on the main stage throughout the afternoon upholding the tradition of TANA as longtime supporters of dance, drama and stage plays. Kudos to the cultural committee chair Smt. Saroja Sagaram and Team for all the hard work and commitment.
In the evening organizing committee - Mr. Ravi Potluri (TANA Treasurer), Mr. Harish Koya TANA Board of Director, Mr. Ravi Mandalapu TANA Foundation Trustee and Mr. Nagaraju Nalajula. TANA Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative distributed the prizes to the winners of sports competitions.
Prime time started at 4PM, with a heart touching program Mommy & Me a program by Moms, Grand Moms and children coordinated by Gopi, Suneetha & Aparna Vagvala made the evening very emotional followed by Bhakta Prahladha and Bhuvana Vijayam dramas followed by a dance medley choreographed by Mrs. Shaila Mandala received thunderous applause from the audience. The main highlight of the evening was the dance ballet “Telugu Sambaralu” choreographed by Guru Smt. Swathi Gundapuneedi was a glorious sight to watch the 45 minutes non-stop performance by more than 80+ talented dancers and a proud moment for the parents of participants which received standing ovation from the audience.
TANA richly felicitated Smt. Swathi Gundapuneedi for her contribution to Telugu Culture. Another highlight of the evening was fashion show with live performances coordinated by Srikantha Akula & team mesmerized the audience.
TANA President Mr. Satish Vemana gave an inspirational speech explaining the history and contributions of the elders over the past forty years highlighting the services and contributions of TANA to the Telugu community. The Event coordinator Ravi Potluri thanked the Executive Committee and volunteers and the donors.
Mr. Satish Vemana along with TANA Women Services Coordinator Mrs. Laxmi Devineni launched TANA Mahila Raksha - new initiative of TANA for the needs Telugu origin women living in North America. Mr. Satish Vemana explained the need of TANA Mahila Raksha and he also mentioned TANA will start statewide Mahila Raksha chapters and appreciated the efforts of Mrs. Laxmi Devineni for the initiative.
TANA leadership felicitated Mr. Payyavula Keshav (MLC), Mr. Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar (MLA), Mr. Raghunandan Rao (Telangana BJP Official Spokes Person) and Mr. Komati Jayaram for tireless efforts in serving the Telugu Community. This regional conference will go down in the annals of history as the first time a small region organized regional conference on par with national conventions.
Mr. Govardhan Bobba the Event Sponsor greeted & wished the audience with a video. Mr. Satish Vemana felicitated Grand Donors of the event. The Guest of Honor and Hero of the evening was Mr. Ian Grillot, who was wounded while trying to stop a gunman in Kansas City received thunderous applause and standing ovation from the audience.
TANA founding member Dr Guttikonda Ravindranath attended the event along with Past President Sri Gangadhar Nadella. It was an emotional moment with a standing ovation when Sri Guttikonda Ravindranath was invited on to the stage and felicitated for his life-long community service.
This was followed by the grand finale event of the night, an out of the world musical concert by Smt.Chithra and her troupe - Sri Krishna, Hemachandra, Geetha Madhuri, Sameera Bharadwaj and Prudhvi Chandra. The choice of songs, the live orchestra and the rendition of the singers coupled with Smt. Chithra actively facilitating on the stage was a feast to the eyes and the ears.
The concert enthralled the audience for about 3 hours & went on to till 1 AM and was very well received by the satisfied audience. More than 1500+ audience were present at 1 AM in the auditorium which showcased the magic of Chithramma.
TANA Leadership attended the event are - Board Chairman Chalapathi Kondrakunta, Exec Vice President Jay Talluri, Foundation Chairman Niranjan Srungavarapu, TANA Secretary Anjaiah Chowdary, Board Secretary Jagadish Prabhala, Foundation Secretary Srinivas Lavu, Foundation Treasurer Ramakanth Koya, Community Services Coordinator Sateesh Vemuri, EC Members - Vidyadhar Garapati, Malli Vemana, Sunil Pantra, Raghu Meka, Viswanath Nayunipati, Bharath Maddineni and Board of Directors Dr. Nagendra Srinivas Kodal, etc attended the event.
The TANA Leadership and Mid-Atlantic team would like to thank the local community for its support, and the Grand Sponsor Sri Govardhan Bobba for their gracious contributions and the vendors for their support and the volunteers for their service and the media, Sri Sreedhar Chillara, Srikanth & Eshwar Banda, Mr. Dan Nandan, Gokul Krishna and Anand for their media & photo/video coverage and Mr. Ujwal Kasthala for artist coordination of the event.
Special Thanks to Seshu Akula and Krishna Anumolu for their commitment in producing amazing background visuals and Murthy Nuthanapati, Ramana Kumar and Sunil Koganti for the Audio Video support. Sincere thanks to Satish Tummala, Sambaiah Kotapati, Sai Jarugula, Rahul (Bobby) Yerra, Sharma Saripalli, Gopi Vagvala, Rama Muddana, Satish Chundru, Venu Sangani, Aditya Yeluri (Nani), Manju Bhargava, Vamsi Vasireddy, Sudhakar Kandhayala, Srilakshmi Kulkarni, Krishna Nandamuri, Saroja Pavuluri, Lakshmi Manda, Lakshmi Addanki, Vijayasri Parchuri, Rakesh Kothapalli, Vamsi Nalajula, Phani Kantheti, Johnmark Alfred, Venkat Singu, Srinivas Sagaram, Yadi Pathkula, Suneetha Vagvala, Chalam Pavuluri, Krishna Konagalla, Chaitanya Vadlapatla, Koti Yaganti, Mohan Santosh Malla, Srinivas Bharathavarapu, Murthy Chavali, Suresh Yalamanchili, etc.
Banquet photos Oct 13th, 2017: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FGgjfvWlvXUovs7U2
Main Event Photos Oct 14th, 2017: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FeE3RZ7z7z7R7U7D3
Telugu Association of North America (or TANA, as it is well known) is the oldest and biggest Indo-American organization in North America. TANA was founded in 1977 and TANA’s mission is to identify and address social, cultural and educational needs of North American Telugu Community in particular and Telugu people in general. TANA aims to perpetuate, integrate, and assimilate the cultural heritage of the Telugu-speaking people into the mainstream of North America. Telugu and Indian ethnic organizations around the world look up to TANA as a pioneer and role model for its various innovations in promoting culture and serving the community.
For more details please visit www.tana.org
Visit TANA Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TANA-Telugu-Association-of-North-America-148580031842798/
Press release by: Indian Clicks, LLC
