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GUNNISON -- A family whose ancestors started a new life in Utah is coming home to their roots. They are returning to a community that gave so much decades ago to return the kindness paid to their grandparents so many years ago.
At the Inouye Arts Institute, a week long camp in Gunnison, children of all ages get a wide range of opportunities involving creative writing, visual art and music. But the roots of this story go back to World War II.
Charles and Bessie Inouye, both American born but of Japanese descent, were sent to an internment camp in Wyoming, during World War II. At the end of the war, with just $25 and a train ticket, they began a new life working the fields of central Utah.
"These wonderful people from Sigurd, Utah, were so kind to my parents and they showed them a lot of love and compassion. So my parents decided to stay and farm," said the Inouye'a daughter, Elizabeth Ann Takasaki.
Eventually, the Inouyes moved to Gunnison and raised their children. But more than 60 years later, this arts camp is the creation of Charles and Bessie's.
"These now adult cousins decided they wanted to do something for the Gunnison people," said Elizabeth Ann. "To give back for being so good to my parents."
So, with prestigious college educations and prominent careers around the country, each summer the grandchildren return to Gunnison to share their talents and abilities.
These now adult cousins decided they wanted to do something for the Gunnison people. To give back for being so good to my parents.
–- Elizabeth Ann Takasaki
"We were the only Asian family in Gunnison, but that didn't seem to matter, we were part of the community, but we always wanted to come back," said the Inouye's granddaughter, Mika Inouye. "The music and the dance and the art, it's sort of the medium that we teach them how to reach deep in themselves and develop that confidence and resourcefulness and that creativity that my grandparents had to find, to meet new challenges."
While their grandchildren are giving back, the non-profit arts camp they sponsor is helping develop a stronger bond among themselves and carrying on their grandparents' traditions to yet another generation. A family legacy that started from so little and now means so much.
Later this summer, the extended Inouye family will travel to the dedication of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center in Wyoming. It is located at the former internment camp, where their grandparents met during World War II.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
