ClevelandPeople.Com Celebrating Cleveland's Cultural Diversity
Colombian Cultural Garden Dedication
Colombian Cultural Garden Dedication
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens consists of over 250 acres of land that includes about 40 (with 15 more in the works) gardens dedicated to various cultures. They are unique in the world and over 100 years old. After six years of planning, fund-raising and hard work the Ohio Colombian Foundation dedicated the Colombian Cultural Garden on Sunday November 17, 2024. It became the first Cultural Garden of a Latino culture.
A khatchkar is an Armenian cross-stone (khatch for cross and kar for stone). It's hand-carved and has a cross on it. The additional carvings are unique from piece to piece throughout Armenia and the rest of the world. No two are alike.
Armenian Khatchkar at John Carroll University
A khatchkar was installed on the campus of John Carroll University in honor of Ara Bagdasarian. On November 15, 2024 Fr. Hratch from St Gregory of Narek Church was joined by his Deacon and John Carroll's Father Bernie McAniff SJ for a blessing and short prayer service.
Helping Hands is a project of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA). Helping Hands supports South Asians in Cleveland and NE Ohio who are trying to break the cycle of domestic and sexual violence and take back control of their lives. They also provide Services to Seniors such as services and programs to promote health and independence for the elderly, information and referral services for medical, food, transportation, and meal programs.
In addition, the Helping Hands-Aangan initiative aims to engage the 50+ in the community understand issues of importance to them and bring in domain experts to talk about those issues.
After years of Zoom meetings they gathered in person on November 10, 2024 in the Beachwood Community Center.
Helping Hands founders Mona Alag, Dr. Jaya Shah and Dr. Gita Gidwani
The annual Czech Holiday Fair sponsored by Sokol Greater Cleveland was held Saturday, November 9, 2024. It might have been a record setting number of people attending to shop for imported Czech and Slovak items. There were arts and crafts along with authentic Czech Food and Beer for sale. People lined up to purchase traditional Czech holiday foods, homemade bakery, vanocky, strudel and more. Dinners featured pork, dumplings, sauerkraut & chicken paprikas.
Georgia Maresh and Sokol mannequin
Throughout the building there were historical and cultural displays including lots of Kroje (traditional Czech and Slovak folk costumes) and other Czech and Slovak artifacts and displays.
Paul Burik modeling the new 25 year gymnasium anniversary t-shirt
Padraig Pearse Presentation by Sister Maureen Burke
Padraig Pearse Presentation by Sister Maureen Burke
The Padraic Pearse Center Speaker Series of the Irish American Club East Side held a Stories and Signatures event on Thursday November 7, 2024. It featured Sr. Maureen Burke speaking about Irish leader and revolutionary Padraig (Patrick in English) Pearse.
MotivAsians for Cleveland is a non-profit organization established to cultivate a vibrant Asian community for Greater Cleveland by promoting the attraction and retention of Asian-American professionals. They hosted their first Taste of Asia gala banquet in the Dolan center of John Carroll University on Saturday November 2, 2024.
MotivAsians president Cynthia Bellian and MC Gabriel Kramer
The evening included Asian food, entertainment, cultural performances, silent auction and more.
Audience Participation Polynesian Dance led by Pacific Paradise Entertainment
The 20th Annual Día De Muertos / Day of the Dead Celebration and Parade was held on Saturday November 2, 2024 by Cleveland Public Theatre in and around 6205 Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square neighborhood. The annual "Day of the Dead" honors the memory of those who have passed and is a treasured holiday in Mexico and throughout Latin America. The celebration featured Altar Installations, Latin Food, Live Music, Folk Art Market, and more.
A highlight was the "Skulls & Skeletons" Procession down Detroit. The Grand Marshal was Ward 15 Councilperson Jenny Spencer and the Banner Leader was Olga Rosado. The Parade included a Mariachi Band, Aztec dancers, Samba da Cidade drummers, Cleveland Public Library, Stilt Walkers, Hathaway Brown HS, Minerva HS International Circle, HOLA, stilt walkers and more. There were two stops at altars at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and at the Craciun Berry Funeral Home altar. Here is a video of some highlights from the Skulls & Skeletons parade.
This year, FICA Diwali was celebrated at La Villa Banquet Hall. More than 350 people attended the event, and the highlight of the night was Hollywood/Bollywood star Mr. Omi Vaidya.
Mr. Omi Vaidya
The chief guest for the evening was Maria Stutsman y Marquez who serves as the Associate Dean of Recruitment and Enrollment at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. She was welcomed by FICA president Shekhar Ganore
There were other special guests, cultural programs and entertainment.
ClevelandPeople.com Ambassador Deepa Rao wrote "Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu Festival of Lights. It symbolizes the spiritual 'victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.' It is a privilege and honor for FICA members to the festival of lights with our honorable mayor of Cleveland Mr. Justin Bibb."
Fun with Maps - The Island of Dolls in Mexico City
Fun with Maps - The Island of Dolls in Mexico City
In this special episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson warns you not to be afraid as he looks at a scary topic just before Halloween and the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). The Island of Dolls (La Isla de las Muñecas) is an eerie, creepy destination in a borough of Mexico City south of the city center. The legend tells of a man who found a drown girl in the canal by his home. He also found her doll and hung it from a tree as a sign of respect. But he started hearing whispers, footsteps, and anguished wails in the darkness even though his hut-hidden deep inside the woods of the borough of Xochimilco-was miles away from civilization. Driven by fear, he spent the next fifty years hanging more and more dolls, some missing body parts, all over the island in an attempt to appease what he believed to be the drowned girl's spirit. Watch the video to see what happens.
This episode starts with an overview of the map of Mexico and then drills down to Mexico City and its 16 boroughs including Xochimilco. This borough has canals (like Venice) for transportation and tourism and chinampas for agriculture. Dan takes a look at the Day of the Dead and then finally to the scary Island of Dolls. See pictures and videos of the Day of the Dead Parade in Cleveland Ohio USA.
The 78th annual One World Day was another amazing event. One World Day has been the official event of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation since 1946.
The 78th annual One World Day was amazing! Here is a video of the Parade of Flags with over 50 heritages represented.
The Parade began with CCGF past president Sheila Murphy Crawford welcoming the crowd and thanking the Parade Chairs Angela Woodson and Dan Hanson.
In a sign of unity, the MCs for the Parade were from the 4 major TV stations in Cleveland (left to right in the photo): Tino Bovenzi from Fox8, Kelly Dobeck from WOIO, Jiovanni Lieggi from WKYC and Tracy Carloss from WEWS.
One World Day Parade of Flags MCs
The Parade marched down MLK Blvd. and began with the One World Day Banner, followed by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Dr. Wael Khoury (Board Chair of Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation). Then the Irish American Club East Side Pipe and Drums followed by the American Garden represented by members of the Rotary Club of Cleveland.
Then the representatives of the: Hungarian Garden, Greek Garden, Hebrew Garden, Slovak Garden, Italian Garden, Romanian Garden, Turkish Garden, Chinese Garden, Russian Garden, Finnish Garden, Lebanese Garden, Lithuanian Garden, German Garden, Ethiopian Garden, Ukrainian Garden, Irish Garden, Croatian Garden, Latvian Garden, Estonian Garden, Armenia Garden, African American Garden, British Garden, Slovenian Garden, Syrian Garden, Dominican Republic Community, Scottish Garden, Albanian Garden, Korean Garden, India Garden, French Garden, Polish Garden, Carpatho-Rusyn Garden, Uzbekistan Garden, Pakistan Garden, Peruvian Garden, Palestinian Garden, Morocco Community, Swiss Community, Indonesian Community, Kazakhstan Community, Native American Garden, Mexican Garden, Japanese Community, Bangladesh community, Iranian Community, Haitian Community, Filipino Garden, Colombian Garden, Brazilian Community, Chilean Community and Serbian Garden.
The largest annual gathering (sold out at 500 people with a waiting list) of Cleveland's ethnic leaders and grassroots gathered Tuesday April 23 at Windows on the River for the 14th annual Cleveland International Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.
The 2024 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame consists of:
Dona Brady (Albanian heritage) who was inducted by Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek.
Ambassador Edward Crawford (Irish) who was inducted by Irish Ambassador to the United States Geraldine Byrne Nason.
Veronica Dahlberg (Mexican and broader Hispanic) who was inducted by Cleveland City Councilwoman Jasmin Santana.
Dr. Eugene Jordan (African-American) who was inducted posthumously Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr.
Erika Puussaar (Estonian) who was inducted by Estonia´s Ambassador to the United States Mr. Kristjan Prikk
Johnny K. Wu (Chinese and broader Asian) was inducted by Margaret W. Wong.
Click on the names (above) to go to a page with the photos and videos of that person's induction. Below is a video of the entire evening taken by TV20 professionals Dan Monroe and Raulston Douse. Thanks guys.
Albert Ratner - Cleveland International Hall of Fame
Albert Ratner - Cleveland International Hall of Fame
Albert Ratner had a 66-year career at Forest City where he grew the company from a lumber supply company to a construction company to a home improvement retailer to a real estate development company. Forest City spearheaded the redevelopment of the Halle Building, which it purchased in 1982, and Tower City, which opened in 1990. It became publicly-traded in 1960, an $8.2 billion corporation that develops, owns and manages residential and commercial properties across the country. Its national portfolio now includes 32 retail centers, 36 office buildings and 115 apartment buildings.
He has always been interested in, and has become an expert in, population and immigration topics. He led the creation of Global Cleveland in 2011. He was inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame in 2011 and has given several keynote addresses at their induction ceremony. Unable to attend the 2024 induction ceremony in person he created this short video with his perspective and advice on population and immigration.
"It just didn't seem right to DJ. A body found bludgeoned in a place known for "Peace through Mutual Understanding." But there she was, crumpled behind a bust of composer Franz Liszt in the Hungarian Cultural Garden. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. "What is the nature of your emergency?" the dispatcher queried. With a suddenly very dry mouth DJ managed to get out, "There's been a murder in the Cultural Gardens."
That's the beginning of the recently published first novel by Dan Hanson.
The whodunit, titled Murder in the Cultural Gardens, takes place in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and all 30+ gardens are featured during the mystery. You may even recognize some of the characters.
Click the link above to learn more or to purchase in paperback or Kindle version from Amazon. Or contact Dan via the Murder in the Cultural Gardens webpage to have a signed book delivered.
Cleveland is a diverse city with about 120 distinct ethnic heritages represented. We at ClevelandPeople.com and the Cleveland International Hall of Fame believe that this ethnic diversity makes us a much richer city and that we should all celebrate this fact.
We asked people from various ethnic groups to create a tile representing their heritage. These 3 quilts are a product of that effort. We hope that other ethnic groups will want to add their own tile to these patchworks showcasing our ethnic diversity.
This DVD is a Living Rosary in the sense that over 200 people participated in saying a prayer. 3 bishops, numerous priests and sisters and a variety of lay people all said a prayer (Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary or Glory Be) that when put together combine to form the complete Rosary.
We hope that you will pray along with the diverse group of people on this DVD. They are young and old, different races and ethnicities, in Church and outside, alone and in groups. The prayers are said in English, but occasionally there is a prayer in another language. You may not know the language but will understand, and be able to pray along, because of the context.
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Do you need a Hungarian Flag? A shirt that says "I love Slovenian girls"? How about a sign that says No Parking except for Irish Grandmother?
These and hundreds of other items for your particular ethnic group are available for browsing at our on-line store. It's safe, fast, easy and fun. And there is a wide selection you will never find in the stores!
