Patidar Samaj of New England held its Diwali Party at the Doubletree Hotel in Lowell, MA on Sunday November 7, 2004. The party attended by over 400 people was a grand celebration featuring authentic Gujarati food and fabulous live music by “Bombay Beats”, an Indian band that is currently touring the US.

The 2004 Community Service Award was presented to Ishwarbhai Patel, owner of Dartmouth Motor Inn in Dartmouth, MA for his outstanding contributions to India and the community in Dartmouth. Mr. Ishwarbhai Patel has worked on transforming his home town, Ena into a model village. He has raised over a quarter million dollars over the past 20 years to provide better schools,  improved water facility, paved roads, a new temple and a modern cricket ground. “Our school serves over 1200 students.  We have a school bus that allows for the safe transport of the children to and from the surrounding areas. This school also caters to the need of Adivasi children. We have a dorm where Adivasi children stay. All their needs are attended to completely by the school. We also installed a water purifying facility. This has enabled people to buy clean water at 25 paise a litre instead of the 12 to 13 rupees a litre that is sold by Bisleri.” said Patel.  Ishwarbhai Patel has also been instrumental in raising funds for the University of Dartmouth Indic Center which has become a priemere place for Indic studies in the US. 

The 2004 Scholarship Award worth $1000 was awarded to Ami Patel who is the daughter of  Dr. Bharat and Nila Patel of Stoughton, MA for her outstanding academic achievements. Ami was the Valedictorian at Stoughton high. She has won several honors and awards including the DAR National Christopher Columbus Essay Contest, The VFW Regional Essay Contest and the FOGANA National Essay Context and received recognition from the New England Scholastic Press association and the Annual Scholastic Press Forum for he fine writing skills.  Ami is enrolled in the seven-year honors program in medical education at Northwestern University. Proud parents Bharat and Nila Patel were very happy to receive the recognition on the daughter's behalf.  "Ami is a very talented writer and a hard working student. Her mother and I  are very proud of her accomplishements" said Dr. Bharat Patel.

Several raffle prizes and door prizes were given away including one for the most traditionally dressed man and the most colorfully dressed woman.  The evening ended with the opening of the dance floor and the guests danced the night away to old and new Bollywood favorites presented by “Bombay Beats”.  To learn more about Patidar Samaj, please visit their website at www. patidarsamaj.org

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