17 January 2020
USA

TANA Mid-Atlantic Sankranthi Celebrations at Harrisburg, PA

TANA (Telugu Association of North America) Mid-Atlantic Team organized Sankranthi Celebrations on Saturday, January 11th at the Cumberland Valley Middle School, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania amidst a lot of pomp and gaiety with more than 1500 people in attendance.

This event started with the Ganesha prayer song followed by lamp lighting ceremony by TANA Harrisburg team followed by both USA and Indian National Anthems. Inaugural program received thunderous applause from the audience. The cultural programs by local talent were also conducted on the main stage throughout the evening upholding the tradition of TANA as longtime supporters of dance, drama and stage plays. More than 200 participants performed in 16 different performances. Kudos to the coordinator Srinivas Kakarla and team for all the hard work and commitment. In the evening organizing committee – Mr. Satish Chundru (Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator), Venkat Singu, and TANA Harrisburg Committee welcomed the audience and TANA leadership. All 16 Local programs which includes classical dances, dance competations, and ladies fashion show are well received by the audiences. Singing Local Singer Krishna also

TANA President Mr. Jay Talluri gave an inspirational speech explaining the history and contributions of the elders over the past forty-three years highlighting the services and contributions of TANA to the Telugu community. Mr. Jay Talluri also announced that 23rd TANA conference will be in Philadelphia at Philadephia Convention center. He also congratulated TANA Secretary Mr. Ravi Potluri for being elected as Conference Convener. Mr. Ravi Potluri appreciated Satish Chundru and TANA Harrisburg Team for making Sankranthi Celebrations huge success. Mr. Harish Koya and Mr. Ravi Mandalapu also spoke on this occasions and congratulated TANA Harrisburg Team for successfully conducting Sankranthi Celebrations since more than 4 years. TANA Mid-Atlantic RC Satish Chundru thanked the TANA Harrisburg Core Committee, Sponsors, Program Coordinators, Participants and Volunteers. Everyone enjoyed the Food which is served by Parivaar Restaurant, Harrisburg TANA Team and Volunteers. Special thanks to Sambu Ancha from Parivaar who is a Grand Sponsor for this event as well.

The highlight of this program is to promote Telugu language among NRI kids by reading Telugu Poems by more than 200 Kid participants. TANA President Jay Talluri joined along with TANA Mid-Atlantic leadership as part of Amma-Nanna-Guruvu poems which were written by Chigurumalla Srinivas. This program is coordinated by Krishna Nandamuri. TANA Harrisburg Team is also recognized TANA youth who successfully conducted Food Drive and donated 1037 lbs of Food to Central Pennsylvania Food Bank few weeks ago.

TANA leadership richly felicitated President Jay Talluri for tireless efforts in serving the Telugu Community. TANA Team richly felicitated Mr. Kotapati Sambasiva Rao for his services towards TANA Foundation.

TANA US Congressmen Scott Perry and Pennsylvania House of Representative Gregg Rothman attended and appreciated TANA for their community service within Greater Harrisburg Area. This was followed by the grand finale event of the night, musical concert by Super Singer Anjana Sowmya and Dheeraj. Actress Ankita entertained the audience with dance steps from Chema Chema song from blockbuster Simhadri movie. The actress and singers were facilitated on the stage by Satish Chundru and Team. The concert enthralled the audience for about 2 hours & went on to till 10 PM and was very well received by the satisfied audience. The emcee of the event is Srilakshmi Kulakarni who sets the tone and she warm up the crowd to prepare them for the program. Himabindu Koduru successfully conducted Veg. Carving, Moggula potilu and Kite competations.

TANA Leadership attended the event are – President Jay Talluri, Board Chairman Hairsh Koya, Secretary Ravi Potluri, Foundation Secretary Ravi Mandalapu, Foundation Trustee Rao Yalamamanchili, Patasala National Chair Nagaraju Nalajula and EC Members – Satish Chundru, Sumanth Ramisetty, and Sri Atluri.

The TANA Leadership and Mid-Atlantic team would like to thank the local community for its support, and the sponsors for their gracious contributions and the vendors for their support and the volunteers for their service and the media for all the support and Mr. Ujwal Kasthala, for artist coordination of the event. TV9 media coverage is done by Mr. Uzwal and TV5 media coverage is done by Mr. Srikar. Special Thanks to Each and Every sponsor for making this program happened and Undavalli Constructions who served coffee from Araku Bhoomi Instant Coffee. TANA Mid-Atlantic RC Satish Chundru and Team also recognized Anushka Konka for her academic achievements in the schooling.

Many Thanks to Mid-Atlantic TANA team Ravi Potluri, Harish Koya, Ravi Mandalapu, Satish Chundru, Venkat Singu, Sambu Ancha, Kishore Konka, Srinivas Kakarla, Sambha Nimmagadda, Sashi Jasthy, Laxman Bellam, HimaBindu Koduru, Babu Danda, Rambabu Kavuri, Venkat Chimmilli, Sandeep Mamunuri, Venu Makkena, Srinivas Kota, Madhu Koka, Nagarjuna Nalabohula, Naveen Thokkala, Raju Gundala, Sunil Ponduri, Vamshi Muppala, Venkat Muppa, Upendra Devineni, Ramu Karanam, Chandra Verella, Ramu Cherukumalli, Praveen Jampana, Ashok Vanama, Venkatrao Nelluri, Chandu Valluri, Nagaraju Nalajula, Sambaiah Kotapati, Sai Jarugula, Mohan Santosh Malla, Sunil Koganti, Gopi Vagvala, Venu Sangani, Srilakshmi Kulkarni, Krishna Konagalla, Ranjith Mamidi, Saroja Pavuluri, Phani Kantheti, Rajeswari Kantheti etc. Our sincere thanks to Mr. Sada Bharatha for live telecasting of the event, Mr. Atreia Sindiri and Mr. Srinivas Bandi for taking pictures.