Mixer Music and more

Published at Hokubei.com yesterday:

SACRAMENTO — Claire Mix, an elementary school music teacher and choral director in Elk Grove, is producing a documentary about her mother’s experience working in an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.

In the fall of 1942, Ruth Mix began volunteering on weekends as a nurse’s aide at Butte Camp Hospital at Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona. During the summer months, she volunteered full-time and lived onsite in a barrack with her mother.

Ruth’s mother, Frida Mix, was employed as a school teacher for the Japanese American children. Frida was incensed by the internment and gave up a teaching position in Washington to help make life more bearable at Gila River. “We must make right a terrible wrong,” Frida told Ruth as they rode a military bus into the prison camp for Ruth’s first day at the hospital.

Read/download a pdf of the entire article.
Read the article at the Hokubei.com web site.

Claire Mix met with Franklin High School’s Asian Invasion Club today. This wonderful group of teens will be starring in the reenactments for the documentary. Special thanks to Tiffany Phan (back row, 3rd from the left) for organizing this meeting.

Claire, and the entire Gila River and Mama staff, are very excited to have them as part of the team!!! Claire wonders just how much mischievousness she, Jo-Jo and Jennifer will create on the first day of filming…watch out!

WELCOME ABOARD!!!

A Century of Grace: A People of God in A House of God

Over the weekend of December 6-7, J.D. (on the right) joined Father Anthony Garibaldi in a book signing event following each mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Sacramento, CA.

J.D. wrote on his web site, “I had the extreme good fortune to be involved as Editor on this book with Father Anthony Garibaldi, O.F.M. For more than a year we worked to develop a spiritually rich concept, which included a focus on the people of God. I also had the remarkable opportunity to do some of the writing and photography.”

J.D. does musical arrangement for Mixer, is the webmaster for clairemix.com and this blog, and runs lights and sound at many of the Mixer Kids performances. He will also be doing the arrangement of music for the score of Mixer’s documentary.

A SUCCESSFUL SHOOT

The Gila River crew was in Los Angeles to film the first three interviews with former Gila Internees, Ben Tonooka, Hy Shishino, and Shige Murikama. It was an emotional experience for all. Claire cried the moment she met Shige Murikama, who was one of her Grandmother’s first grade students.

Ben, Hy and Claire were thrilled to finally meet each other, there was lot’s of hugging and smiling.

Executive Producer Charles Class, was the driving force that made the entire day a success. Because of his complete professionalism, and staying one step ahead of a problem, made everyones job easier - especially Claire’s.

Director of Photography, Ben Ferrer, was brilliant! Claire looks forward to shooting the reenactments with him. Special thanks to the Asst. DP, Lamar. Tamika, Donna, and Mitzi - and to Hy, for a great dinner!!!

Claire Mix will be the keynote speaker at the Eugene Day of Remembrance 2009. The event will be held at the University of Oregon School of Law, February 21, 2009. The theme of the event is “Bearing Witness to Injustice - Empowerment by Example.”

February, 19, 1942 is the day President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which forced American Citizens of Japanese Ancestry, into prison camps.

Claire will discuss the experiences of her Grandmother, and Mother, at Gila River.

Accompanied by the Ohio Symphonic Orchestra, Sandy and her Choir were fabulous!!!

We are so proud of you!!!

Published today at the Modesto Bee web site:

DID YOU KNOW HER?

During World War II, young Ruth Mix volunteered as a nurse at the Gila River Japanese internment camp in Arizona. Breaking camp rules that prohibited fraternizing with the internees, Mix befriended many of them and smuggled in items ranging from soaps and lotions to camera film, the latter of which was considered contraband.

She was only 15 at the time and the only white person working in the hospital. She saw a great injustice being done to these American citizens of Japanese ancestry, and tried to make their lives a bit better.

Her daughter, Claire Mix of Sacramento, and niece Sandy Mix of San Francisco, recently received a grant to develop a documentary about her time and role in the camp. Many of the JapaneseAmericans, Claire Mix said, came from the Central Valley and the Modesto area in particular. She is looking for former internees who might have known her mother. Some might not recall Mix by name but might remember her for her shocking red hair. Mix hopes to find people to interview for the documentary, which she would like to finish by July.

For more info go to ruthmix.clairemix.com
Read the article online at the Modesto Bee web site
Download/view a PDF of the page featuring the article

Published today on the Rafu Shimpo (L.A.’s Japanese Daily News) web site:

Documentary project sheds light on two Caucasian women standing against the grain of society at Gila River.

Claire Mix was always puzzled by the fact that her mother, Ruth, didn’t like fireworks. Firecrackers made her jump, and she dreaded the Fourth of July. When she was 12 years old, Claire found out the truth. Ruth Mix had spent her adoles­cence in what she described as a “war zone” — the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona. The sound of fireworks reminded her of the gunshots she would hear as guards fired at the fence of the concentration camp from the watchtower to stave off any escape attempts. According to Claire, these experiences changed her mother forever.

Ruth Mix volunteered at Gila River for three and a half years, from 1942 to 1945, as a nurse’s aide in the camp hospital. At 5 foot 8 and a half inches, with bright red hair, Ruth stood out as the only Caucasian on staff. It took a lie from her mother, Frida, to get the 15-year-old onto the grounds, where camp administrators were told she was 18. However, Frida thought it was important for her daughter to understand the injustice against her fellow Americans and to do what she could to help them. Her motto was, “we must right a terrible wrong.”

• Read the entire article on the Rafu Shimpo web site
• Download/view a PDF screenshot of the Rafu Shimpo page.

Published today on the San Jose (CA) Mercury News web site:

Herhold: Teen witnesses a wartime injustice

Before she died in October at the age of 79, Ruth Mix Campidonica carried the weight of the past with her. The sound of a firecracker would startle the vivacious and passionate San Jose drama coach. It reminded her of the gunshots she heard more than six decades ago.

At 15, Ruth volunteered at a place unknown to most teenagers of her era: the Gila River Internment Camp for Japanese-Americans, 50 miles southeast of Phoenix. It left her with a permanent sense of guilt - and a heightened dislike of injustice.

Today, her daughter, Claire Mix, is putting together a documentary about her mother’s experience. You can see the opening scenes on her Web site, www.clairemix.com, including interviews with Ruth.

• Read the entire article on the Mercury News web site
• Download/view a PDF screenshot of the Mercury News page.

A SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO DENVER FOR THE DOCUMENTARY AT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES CONFERENCE!!! I met and spoke long with Norm Mineta, and George, and Brad … see the pic, don’t i look like I’m in heaven!!

I met and interviewed MANY former Gila internees. What’s funny is many already knew who I was, and about the documentary. The word is definitely getting out, and donations coming in.

We cried and laughed together. One group from Manzinar Camp adopted me as part of their family, it was unbelievable! Some wept as they watched the demo of Mom’s interviews. One woman hugged me so tight, and said “arigato” over, and over - it means “thank you”. ありがとうございました

A big article about Mom and Gila was just printed in the Los Angeles paper The Pacific Citizen. It is posted here.

A HUGE thank you to the Gila River Reunion Committee: Hy Shishino, and Ben Tanooka, for helping me get there!!! And to my assistants Joanie Chew and Michael Tann.

Claire