ClevelandPeople.Com Celebrating Cleveland's Cultural Diversity
Fun with Maps - Strait of Hormuz
Fun with Maps - Strait of Hormuz
In this episode of Fun with Maps, we look at an area that has been in the news - The Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and then the Arabian Sea and the open ocean so it is one of the world's most strategically important choke points since the Portuguese were there in the 1500s.
We also look at the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which border the Strait of Hormuz along with Iran. People are often confused about the UAE, Abu Dhabi and Dubai but we clear that up. Watch.
The French-American Chamber of Commerce (Ohio) (FACC) under the leadership of President Cédric Le Rouge and Board member Larry Miller, hosted a luncheon meet and greet at Edwin Restaurant on March 6, 2026 with the Consul General of France in Chicago, Charlotte Montel. She spoke about her work and the French Consulate's role and about the special relationship between France and the USA especially during this America 250 celebration year.
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, Consul General Charlotte Montel, Cédric Le Rouge and Larry Miller
The Dominican Club of Cleveland (Club Dominicano de Cleveland) is a non-profit organization established in April 2023 by a group of dedicated professionals with a shared vision to make a positive impact on society. They are proud to be Dominicans, and strive to promote, cultural, social/solidarity, sports, and educational initiatives that empower individuals and communities. They held a celebration of Independence on February 27, 2026 at Centro Villas 25 in Cleveland. The Dominican Republic declared independence from Haiti on February 27, 1844, when revolutionaries led by Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramón Matías Mella seized the Puerta del Conde fortress in Santo Domingo, raising the first national flag and proclaiming sovereignty. The event featured music, dance, poetry, presentations and more.
As the United States celebrates 250 years in 2026, Irish America 250 is celebrating the enduring contributions of Irish immigrants and their descendants to the fabric of American society. A special event was held at the historic Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland's Public Square. It began with members of the Jack McDonough Fife & Drum Corps from the Irish American Club East Side marching in to the monument.
Jack McDonough Fife & Drum Corps
Margaret Lynch, Executive Director of the Irish American Archives Society, spoke about the monument that was built to honor Civil War veterans from Cleveland and NE Ohio. Then, Marilyn Madigan, Immediate Past President of the national Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, spoke about the 23 Irish heritage US presidents.
There was a two-day celebration of Lunar New Year at Asia Plaza as we entered the Year of the Fire Horse. ClevelandPeople.com was honored to be a Media Sponsor and have a table at the event.
David Gilbert receives Rotary Club of Cleveland Honor
David Gilbert receives Rotary Club of Cleveland Honor
Every year, the Rotary Club of Cleveland honors a group or individual with their International Service Award. On February 19, 2026 they honored David Gilbert, President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Destination Cleveland, for his leadership.
The 14th Annual Cleveland Kurentovanje Parade was a record breaker - the most units and the largest attendance. The weather cooperated this year and the crowds filled the area.
Together We Can Do It!: George Voinovich and the Work of Government celebrates the life, leadership, and legacy of George Voinovich (1936–2016), a proud Clevelander whose Slovenian and Serbian heritage shaped his strong commitment to public service and global cooperation. Through a variety of artifacts, photos, archival materials, and personal stories, the exhibit explores his approach to leadership, highlighting his numerous accomplishments both at home and abroad. Hosted at the Slovenian Museum & Archives in Cleveland Ohio.
After the exhibit preview, a panel discussion and reception followed in the Slovenian National Home.
Panelists on the George Voinovich panel: Timothy Cosgrove, Michael Polensek, Faith Voinovich, Rev. Caviness, Elizabeth Sullivan and Joe Cimperman
Gerry Quinn Interview - Voice of Cleveland's Irish for almost 50 years
Gerry Quinn Interview - Voice of Cleveland's Irish for almost 50 years
Gerald Michael Quinn is an award winning broadcaster and community leader born in the tiny village of Garracloon, County Mayo in Ireland. It was a rural area with no electricity and no running water, so no indoor plumbing either. With eye issues preventing him from becoming a cadet to join the army he was sponsored by cousins in Cleveland Ohio to come to the US in 1961. He met his future wife Nellie at the West Side Irish American Club. They married in 1967 and had six children.
He and fellow tradesmen such as Bill Carney and Tim O'Brien discussed starting an Irish Club on the East Side and they started the group with Gerry as founding president. Gerry said the group grew to over 3000 members when Debbie Hanson was president.
Watch to hear about his job in Dublin that led to his award-winning radio show and the start of the Mayo Society of Cleveland to celebrate Achill Island, County Mayo and the rest of Ireland.
Gerry has earned countless awards such as Achievement in Radio Award (A.I.R) and Best Ethnic Program in Northeast Ohio. He was honored as Grand Marshall of the 2011 Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade and inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. He is a strong promoter of all nationality groups and efforts, not just the Irish. He has played a decisive part in keeping Cleveland area Irish in touch with their heritage and recent technology has seen his weekly show broadcast all over the world. Watch the interview.
2026 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame
2026 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame
The 2026 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame induction dinner ceremony will be held on Tuesday April 21, 2026. The class was selected with input from previous inductees from 94 worthy nominees.
The 2026 Class will consist of:
Andy Chakalis (Greek community)
Aklilu Demessie (Ethiopian)
Andy Fedynsky (Ukrainian)
Catherine Jorgensen McCutcheon (Norwegian)
Le Nguyen (Vietnamese)
Lucy Torres (Puerto Rican)
Tickets, sponsorships and other information coming soon. Look for bios and photos soon as well.
In addition, the first annual Debbie Hanson Forever Young Honors have been announced. Debbie's medical issues started in her 50's and her passing was way too early - hence she will remain Forever Young to us.
The honor will be awarded each year to a man and a woman who do not seek the limelight but are always there willing and able to help in any way possible with their community.
The first two honorees of the Debbie Hanson Forever Young Award are:
Mary Anne DeGrandis Baucco
Anjan Ghose
Congratulations to all!
Fun with Maps - Kathmandu and Nepal
Fun with Maps - Kathmandu and Nepal
This episode of Fun with Maps looks at the home of Mt. Everest, the highest place on Earth and its surrounding area. Host Dan Hanson shows the Himalayas and other interesting parts of the surrounding area such as the "chicken-neck" corridor in India separating Nepal and Bangladesh. Nepal is often associated with its neighbor, Bhutan, and we look at the similarities and differences. There are a lot of interesting items such as the birth place of the first Buddha, the only non-rectangular national flag and Hindu cremation rituals in the Bagmati River in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Plus, Kathmandu has a lot of modern music connections from Bob Seger to Rush to Cat Stevens and even John Lennon.
The Debbie Hanson Food Adventurers went to the Croatian Heritage Museum and then down the hall to the attached Dubrovnik Garden Restaurant in Eastlake, Ohio on January 9, 2026. Before the delicious Croatian dinner, there was a tour of the Croatian Museum and Library which still had their Christmas displays up. Tom Turkaly showed the original plaster statue of his father's Immigrant Mother in the Croatian Library.
Fun with Maps - Kiribati and the International Date Line
Fun with Maps - Kiribati and the International Date Line
Just in time for New Year's this episode of Fun with Maps looks at the Republic of Kiribati which redrew the International Date Line in order to have the entire country on the same day and be the first in the world to celebrate the Year 2000 and every New Year since. Host Dan Hanson tells some stories about the secret ceremony for sailors crossing the date line and the unusual naming of 4 cities on the island of Kiritimati - London, Paris, Chicago and Banana! Not to mention how the International Date Line was the (spoiler alert!) conclusion of the Jules Verne story Around the World in 80 Days.
The annual Magnum (parent company of ClevelandPeople.com) holiday lunch took place on Thursday December 11, 2025 at Bo Loong restaurant at 3922 St. Clair Ave in Cleveland. For over 20 years we have hosted this annual holiday event where we invite an eclectic group of friends and business associates for a holiday lunch. Many of them are from the ethnic and international communities. Here are pictures of most of the 75 guests. And here are a few more group and candid shots.
Who do you recognize? Thanks to Rada Abib for the photos.
Back Row - Campy Russell, Dan Hanson, Derrick Polk, Greg Bell Front Row - Dan Monroe, Bharat Kumar, Deepa Rao, Ingrida Bublys, Dennis Kane, Arun Rao
Cleveland Opera Polish Christmas
Cleveland Opera Polish Christmas
Members of the Cleveland Opera presented a Polish Christmas concert at St Casimir Church. The program featured the beloved Polish music of Chopin, Wieniawski, Moniuszko,as well as Gaude Mater Polonia, Bogurodzica and Rota. It concluded with a selection of Polish carols with the artists leading a sing-along.
Wanda Sobieska, Jacek Sobieski, Dorota Sobieska and Sam Gross
Ingrida Bublys was honored December 6, 2025 as Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture 2025 Person of the Year in Chicago. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor.
Margaret Wong interviews Dan Hanson
Margaret Wong interviews Dan Hanson
Immigration attorney and author Margaret W. Wong sat down with Dan Hanson for a special edition of her podcast show. Watch.
Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses
Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses
The newly opened exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses illustrates how Italy's artistic and cultural heritage is continuously preserved in Italian fashion. If you are a fashionista or just interested in both historic and modern fashion trends from the fashion capital of Italy this is a must see.
It is also a very interesting (and colorful) presentation of historic and modern Italian art and culture.
Immigration attorney and author Margaret Wong hosted a conversation with Connie Chung at the Cuyahoga County Public Library Parma branch on October 1, 2025 in support of Connie Chung's book titled Connie: A Memoir.
I was honored to do an interview with WKYC anchor Russ Mitchell about ClevelandPeople.com, the Cleveland International Hall of Fame, the Cultural Gardens, etc. which ran the other day confirmed two of my beliefs: 1) Russ Mitchell is a real pro and 2) I have a face for radio. Lol. I didn't speak much/enough about Mom or Debbie because I still get choked up. Watch the interview (broken into 2 segments) below.
Cleveland Ethnic Bucket List
Cleveland Ethnic Bucket List
We always get asked what are the best ethnic events each year. While "best" is a subjective term we decided to put together a list of annual ethnic events that we have experienced and think that every Clevelander should attend at least once. There are a lot of one-time or every few years' events that you should attend as well (like the Lithuanian Song Festival in June or the Convencion Hispana every 3 years). But this initial list will be annual events.
We want your input. What does every resident of, and visitor to, The Land need to witness? We will be collecting your input and merging with our long list and then narrowing down to a definitive (in our opinion) checklist. Let us know how many of these you have already experienced. You can email us with your suggestions.
Here's a short alphabetical list of "must-do's" to get started. Don't be offended or worry if your favorite is not listed. This is just the start.
Cleveland Asian Festival (AsiaTown - 30th and Payne)
Columbus Day Parade (Little Italy)
Cleveland International Hall of Fame inductions (Windows on the River)
Feast of the Assumption (Little Italy)
Greek Independence Day Parade (West 14th)
India Republic Day (various)
Juneteenth Celebration (African American Cultural Garden)
Liszt Concert (Hungarian Cultural Garden)
Lunar New Year (AsiaPlaza and other)
Mexican Day of the Dead (Gordon Square)
Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival (County Fairgrounds)
Oktoberfest (County Fair Grounds)
One World Day (Cleveland Cultural Gardens)
Opera in the Italian Garden
Polish Constitution Day Parade (Polish Village in Parma)
Puerto Rican Day Parade (West 25th by Metro)
Romanian Festival (St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral)
Slovenian Kurentovaje (62nd and St. Clair)
St. Patrick's Day Parade (Superior Ave downtown)
Ukrainian Independence Day Parade (Ukrainian Village in Parma)
They're Baaaaack - in AsiaTown
They're Baaaaack - in AsiaTown
The three young unintentional heroes who solved a series of murders in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens find themselves in the middle of another mystery.
In Murder in AsiaTown DJ, Ren and Peggy, called a modern Mod Squad, discover a decades old murder case from Cleveland’s Chinatown. While working to showcase and document the history of the Chinese community and neighborhood they stumble upon some disturbing news. Their efforts take them all over the Chinatown and AsiaTown neighborhoods of Cleveland Ohio and includes numerous historic facts and stories. When it looks like they have the case solved, a surprising twist emerges.
This is Cleveland author Dan Hanson's second book. The first book, Murder in the Cultural Gardens, is a “whodunit” murder mystery set in the real world Cleveland Cultural Gardens. An unlikely new “Mod Squad” stumbles upon a series of murders in their beloved Gardens and assist in solving the crimes. All 30+ of the Cultural Gardens are covered in the book so readers learn about this treasure while trying to figure out the mystery.
You can find them on Amazon and in local bookstores like Mac'sBacks on Coventry. Or email for autogaphed copies. They make great Christmas gifts!
Murder in the Cultural Gardens
Murder in the Cultural Gardens
"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.
We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Please note that some of the links on this website are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
If you want your group's events listed in our Calendar, please send an e-mail to events@clevelandpeople.com with the details. Please allow at least 2 weeks lead time.
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!
