On Nov. 20 the Hmong club hosted “The first Hmong Thanksgiving Dinner” at Velzy Commons in Ullsvik Hall.

Photograph by Tyler Stieber


The Hmong club held their 18th year of the Hmong Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 20. Guests were given the opportunity to watch a Hmong dance, film and wear Hmong customs to have their pictures taken and printed through Walgreens. The dinner consisted of turkey, broiled chicken, eggrolls, pork, purple sticky rice, sesame balls and pumpkin and squash drinks.

This was the eighteenth year the Hmong Thanksgiving dinner has been held. There were 350 free tickets provided for this event, and they were reserved quickly. The event lasted about three hours.

“I think the turnout was good,” president of Hmong club, Kong Thao said. “We were able to host a successful event.”

The Hmong Thanksgiving dinner consisted of Hmong-style roasted turkey, boiled chicken, eggrolls, pork and green veggie, purple sticky rice, sesame balls and pumpkin and squash drink.

“Since this was only the second year we held the event on campus we were anxious about the authenticity of the food,” Thao said. “Catering services exceeded our expectations and we would like to thank the chefs for the extra effort they put into ensuring the authenticity of the food.”

There was plenty of entertainment at the dinner. The Hmong club members performed a Hmong play, a Hmong dance was done by Wisconsin Rapids and a Hmong club film was shown. Participants at the event also were given the opportunity to wear Hmong customs and have their picture taken and printed for free at Walgreens as a souvenir.

The next event the Hmong club will host is having speaker Gao Kalia Moua come to UW-Platteville.