With the theme “Songahm World Cruise: International Ports of Call,” the H.U. Lee Memorial Foundation of the American Taekwondo Association presented its annual Founder’s Gala on July 11 in the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center. The gala was among the high points of the association’s week long 2013 World Expo.
Prior to the event, a VIP reception was held at the Capital Hotel. Attendees mingled with association Grand Master In Ho Lee; Grand Master Emeritus Soon Ho Lee; chief executive officer Lawrence Spencer; Sun C. Lee, chairman of the foundation and known as the “first lady of Songahm Taekwondo”; members of the association’s Masters Council; and gala speaker Richard Marcinko - author, military consultant and talkshow host best known for his former role as commander of SEAL Team Six.
Later, reception guests joined other gala-goers at the convention center, where silent auction items and dinner awaited. Sun Lee greeted guests and discussed foundation achievements, including its scholarship program, and conferred several Soap and Candle awards for foundation fundraising. A documentary on the life of Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, founder of the American Taekwondo Association, followed, after which Chief Master Richard Reed shared memories of meeting Lee while in the military in the early 1960s.
Marcinko shared numerous anecdotes about his military days and praised the association for its dedication to students’ character development. The third Lifetime Achievement Award went to Chief Master Robert Allemier of Dallas. Allemier, the highest-ranking American-born master in the association’s Founder’s Council, was honored for his role in shaping Songahm tae kwon do.
High Profile, Pages 38 on 07/21/2013