ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 15, 1997 TAG: 9703170039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: A CUPPA JOE
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY
It hardly fits her image, but Pearl Fu has a problem.
She needs money, for two reasons. One is to put on Local Colors, the annual ethnic celebration, which operates largely on board contributions.
The other is to enable her to segue from the role of unsalaried but highly visible Roanoke Valley promoter to paid director of the event.
Unless you moved to the Roanoke Valley just this morning, you probably have heard of Pearl Fu.
She is a Roanoke Valley Tourism Ambassador - she received the annual award from the Convention and Visitors Bureau in 1992 - and a staunch supporter of Mill Mountain Theatre, among other things.
If you've been here a bit, then you probably know her story - born in China to a prominent family, moved to America to study voice at Peabody Conservatory, moved from New Jersey to Roanoke in 1987 as the wife of a research chemist at Ingersoll-Rand.
Quickly, she became one of the valley's most visible volunteers. One of her most visible projects is Local Colors, a downtown, Sunday afternoon celebration that began seven years ago with representatives of four foreign countries - and that this year will boast 43.
It will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. April 20 on the Roanoke City Market and at Center in the Square.
Great job; bad salary
Once she arrived here, Fu gave up her job in the hotel industry to promote the valley full time, through speeches and the like, and to teach area business people how to relate to foreign clients. She also has helped international newcomers learn how to adapt to life here.
Nowadays, Local Colors takes most of her time.
"I feel like this is my job," she said the other morning at a downtown coffee shop, "but I don't get any income."
The celebration has become "a whole, year-round thing," she said, and "I've already reached burnout."
That's what happens when you become too generous with your money, your time and anything else. After a while, people assume you don't want to be compensated.
But that's not her biggest problem. The biggest problem is that Fu, so outer-directed when working on behalf of others, is shy about seeking moola for herself.
"I need an agent for me," she said.
On the money trail
Fortunately, she does have friends, one of whom is helping her with a grant application to the city to underwrite her salary for next year.
Fu said she needs the money because her consulting work has dipped and because she spends a lot out of pocket. She visited Wendi Schultz, the doyenne of Roanoke festival-givers as the paid executive director of Festival in the Park, for advice about how to move from volunteer status to paid.
Schultz said: Corporate sponsors.
So Fu is making the rounds.
She doesn't like to ask for money. But she knows that dogs that don't bark don't eat.
So she asks. She'd rather talk about Local Colors.
It drew thousands of people last year, but many, including me, are vague about it. Well, I'm not vague any more, not after hearing her describe it all, from the ethnic foods to the international fashion show, in which "real people" wear clothes from their homelands and tell why they came to America.
Always looking to improve the event, Fu has lined up David Wiley, the Roanoke Symphony conductor, to lead several choirs in a "really, really powerful" finale of "We Are the World."
That alone sounds worth the price of admission, if there were one. But Local Colors is free, just like its director, Pearl Fu - who hopes she won't be for long.
What's your story? Give me a call at 981-3256, send e-mail to joe@roanoke.com or write to P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB