Long Island Gujarati Cultural Society Celebrates 25th Anniversary With A Gala

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The Long Island Gujarati Cultural Society (LIGCS), a non-profit organization serving Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island, New York, celebrated its 25^th anniversary with a gala November 6, 2022 at the Long Island Hilton. Founded in 1997, LIGCS has been organizing cultural, spiritual, educational, and charity events.

The evening’s celebration opened with the traditional lighting of the lamp, a Ganesh Vandana by Jhanvi Patel and Bollywood Kathak performance by Anjali Patel.

Suffolk County Deputy Executive Jon Kaiman and a representative from the Nassau County Office of Public Affairs were special guests of the evening and presented the organization with citations of recognition.

Other guests included guest of honor Harshad Patel of Gujarati Samaj; Anil Shah of VTNY; Naveen Shah of Navika Capital; Amneal Pharma Group; and Deputy Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Innovation Dilip Chauhan.

The LIGCS executive committee members Jagdish Mehta, Suresh Udeshi, Prakash Patel, Jayesh Shah, Paresh Parekh and Gopi Udeshi and many volunteers contributed several hours of effort to set up the venue, to decorate the cake and to handle the front desk.

Throwing open the evening’s program, President Vijay Shah said LIGCS had served the community for 25 years and intended to continue for another 25 years. Sponsored by member Mayur Shah and family, the gala was emceed by silver jubilee convention coordinator and Vice President of Programs Flora Parekh.

The gala celebration also included recognition and honors all of its past presidents Dr. Manibhai Patel, Tribhovanbhai Patel, Mafatbhai Patel and Bakulbhai Matalia. Also honored were long time members Mayur Shah, Bhadresh Acharya, Govind Akruwala, Amarish Kachhy and Ketan Upadhyaya. Flora Parekh, Harshad Patel and Kaushik Shah also received special recognition.

An important feature of the evening’s gala was the regular celebrating of each month’s birthdays of its members including President Vijay Shah, youth volunteer Harshil Parekh and specially invited guest Smitaben with a specially decorated cake.

The entertainment was provided by DJ Parth and singers Mahesh Mehta and Rekha Raval. LIGCS also distributed souvenirs and special silver jubilee coins. The gala was also marked with a three course dinner.