Sikhs prepare for parade

Sarbjit Johl, 56, walked in the Yuba City Sikh Parade 30 years ago when it had just a few floats and attracted a couple of thousand people.

Like he's done every year since then, he'll walk part of it again this Sunday when the annual event is expected to draw an estimated 75,000 from throughout California and beyond.

"This has grown from a very small local event to an almost international event," said Johl, a member of the temple board. People from throughout California, the United States and Canada are expected to attend.

"People look forward to it," he said. "It's a big celebration, a social event."

The three-day Yuba City Nagar Kirtan and Sikh Parade celebration, centered at Sikh Temple Gurdwara and organized by new directors, begins Friday at 8 a.m. with the start of the traditional 48-hour reading of the holy book Sri Guru Granth and ends Sunday with the parade from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The new board has different styles of doing things, Johl said. "Things are coming together very nicely."

The 4-mile parade starts and ends at the temple, 2468 Tierra Buena Road in Yuba City.

Activities also include a fireworks show and free dinner from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, with the fireworks display at 8 p.m.; and an open house and reception from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday with a short presentation and education video and a seminar about Sikhism.

Sunday's activities will continue until 8 p.m. at the temple.

The weekend also includes free meals served throughout the day. Women, all volunteers from various Sikh temples, have been preparing the free meals for the past week.

Vendors taking part Sunday include representatives from California Rural Legal Assistance, the Employment Development Department and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

This year's event also has a canned vegetarian food drive, with bins for donations located throughout the temple grounds.

The temple's basic principle is to feed the needy people, said Tejinder Singh Dosangh, 56, temple board member.

"That's what we stand for," he said, adding that the temple offers free meals every single day all year round.

The canned food drive is a way the Sikh temple felt it could meet the needs of the community, especially with the holiday season approaching, said Ed Vasquez, Temple Gurdwara spokesman.

"This community is fortunate and blessed," Vasquez said. "This is a way for people to give back to the community."

Before the Yuba City temple was built in 1969, local Sikhs traveled to Stockton to attend services, Dosangh said. Since then, he said, "We are still enjoying it (the temple) and adding something to it."

Sikh temples throughout the state host parades, Johl said. But a lot of people still come back to Yuba City.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Leticia Gutierrez at 749-4722 or at lgutierrez@appealdemocrat.com.