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EK: So hopping right into just Seattle JACL, how and why did you become active with the Seattle JACL chapter?

BT: Well, I think I mentioned that, for one reason or another, JACL has always been in our blood. And actually I joined when I was thirteen, becoming active with the Cleveland Junior JACL and meeting a lot of people, we had a very active organization, and it was fun. We had chapters all around the Midwest, we would get together three times a year, and we ranged everywhere from Twin Cities, Minnesota, down the St. Louis down to Detroit, Chicago. And if you can imagine when you're young, high school, college age, there's nothing better than to get together with friends your age, especially when you have a similar background. And that's where I developed my identification with Japanese Americans and JACL and became passionate about the goals that they had in terms of bettering our society. That kind of wove into my political interests because we're always looking for that type of agenda. And when I moved out to Seattle in 1981, I transferred my membership but wasn't totally active. It wasn't until my first partner passed away and I decided I need to get back into doing things. And then my really good friend, Elaine Akagi, said, "Bill, it's time to get back into JACL." And so I joined the board and the rest is history, it's kind of like, you just become involved and when they would go to a board meeting and would ask for a volunteer, it's kind of like, I would say to myself, "Well, I could do that, it doesn't sound like too much work." And so I'd raise my hand. After a while, I realized, you got to stop raising your hand here. [Laughs] But that's how it started.

EK: Perfect.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.