The annual Cleveland Puerto Rican Parade was held Sunday August 7th. The Parade was put on by the Hispanic Police Officers' Association (HPOA) which has been proudly serving it's members and the greater Cleveland community since it was founded in 1986.
The 2022 Parade Honorees were:
Ramonita Vargas, Grand Marshal
Victor Ruiz, Padrino
Keisha González, Madrina
Zaria Ivelisse Ortiz, Miss Teen Puerto Rico 2022
Click on the white arrow below to watch a video of some highlights of the Parade including former Cleveland Indians Carlos Baerga and Candy Maldonado. I did not include the cars and other vehicles in the parade - they will be in a separate video. I also did not include the many politicians in the parade.
After the 2022 Cleveland Puerto Rican Parade, the crowds gathered at Roberto Clemente Park for a Festival with music, food, camaraderie and dignitaries.
Mayor Justin Bibb, Council President Blaine Griffin, Councils Jasmin Santana, Kerry McCormack and others spoke as well as Cleveland Indians great Carlos Baerga.
Fun with Maps - Sargasso Sea (and Bermuda Triangle)
Fun with Maps - Sargasso Sea (and Bermuda Triangle)
In this episode of Fun with Maps host Dan Hanson talks about the only sea in the world without a land boundary - the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean is bounded by 4 currents but no land! It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its characteristic brown Sargassum seaweed and often calm, clear, deep blue water.
There are five major ocean-wide gyres - the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres. The North Atlantic gyre has a pronounced thermohaline circulation, bringing salty water west from the Mediterranean Sea and then north to form the North Atlantic Deep Water. At the heart of the gyre is the Sargasso Sea, noted for its still waters and quite dense seaweed accumulations. Dan also tells the reason behind the name of the horse latitudes. He shows some highly camouflaged fish in the area.
Unfortunately, the gyre traps a high concentration of non-biodegradable plastic waste in its natural garbage or flotsam patch, in the same way the North Pacific Gyre has the Great Pacific garbage patch. The United Nations Environmental Program estimated that "for every square mile of ocean" there are about "46,000 pieces of plastic." The 10 largest emitters of oceanic plastic pollution worldwide are, from the most to the least, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, largely through the rivers Yangtze, Indus, Yellow, Hai, Nile, Ganges, Pearl, Amur, Niger, and the Mekong, and accounting for "90 percent of all the plastic that reaches the world's oceans." Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons.
The Sargasso Sea is often portrayed in literature and the media as an area of mystery. It is often depicted in fiction as a dangerous area where ships are mired in weed for centuries, unable to escape. So we look at some of that including the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. It's a fun episode. Watch to see the connection to Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland.
Dedicated in 1930 as "a symbol of the contribution of Italian culture," the Italian Cultural Garden hosted opera concerts in the 1930's and 1940's.
In 2008, Joyce Mariani led the effort to revive the concerts for the public and to showcase two of Italy's highest at forms: opera and ballet. The annual Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden was held on Sunday July 24, 2022 and featured The Cleveland Opera and the Cleveland Ballet.
Czech Marionette Show and Kings and Knights of Bohemia
Czech Marionette Show and Kings and Knights of Bohemia
On Saturday July 23, 2022 a celebration was held at the historic Bohemian Hall that featured a Marionette Show, Crooked River Aerial Circus, a lesson on the Kings and Knights of Bohemia and a joust between two armored knight on horses. That gave the event its name - Knights on Broadway! Of course there were also brats, pastry, Czech beer and a chance to pet the horses.
Fran Burik with knights and Maggie
The free community event began with a puppet show. Puppets and marionettes were popular in Europe for hundreds of years.
Sokol President Paul Burik and Ted Krejsa gave a presentation about the Kings of Bohemia.
Knights on Broadway - Jousting at the Bohemian Hall
Knights on Broadway - Jousting at the Bohemian Hall
Historically speaking, jousting began as a tool for training medieval armored cavalry. It evolved into a full-blown sport by the late middle ages. With the many castles in Bohemia, the kings needed knights to protect their land. Much like training in martial arts, the repeated exposure to oncoming danger helps to mold a rider (and the horse) into a formidable opponent on the battlefield. Members of Combatant's Keep came to the Bohemian National Hall and showcased Medieval Jousting and Mounted Skills.
Medieval Jousting and Mounted Skills at the Bohemian Hall
The American Nationalities Movement (ANM) was formed for the purpose of uniting all the nationalities in the United States in the goal to educate, advocate and represent their interests of all the diverse ethnic groups to the public and mostly to the political leaders of the United States.
Each year since 1959 they celebrate Captive Nations Week. On July 21, 2022 they honored the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio with their Freedom Award.
Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. The annual festival was held on Sunday July 17, 2022 at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation World on Stage series presented a night of music and the Ballet Folklorico Mexicano, a highly acclaimed folk dance group. This included a fashion show of dresses from different regions of Mexico. It was presented in conjunction with the Mexican Cultural Garden.
Jovan Ducic Bust Dedication in the Serbian Cultural Garden
Jovan Ducic Bust Dedication in the Serbian Cultural Garden
The Serbian Cultural Garden in Cleveland continues to grow. A new bust of Jovan Ducic was dedicated on Sunday July 10th in the Serbian Cultural Garden.
Jovan Ducic Bust
Jovan Ducic (1871 - 1943) was a renowned Serbian poet, academic, diplomat and patriot. He served as Yugoslavia's Ambassador to multiple countries about which he wrote in his poems and travelogues. Following the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941 Ducic went into exile in the US where he led the Serbian National Defense Council fighting for the interests of the Serbian diaspora.
A blessing and dedication was held Sunday July 10, 2022.
Bastille Day Celebration at the Tall Ships Festival
Bastille Day Celebration at the Tall Ships Festival
As Larry Miller, President, French-American Chamber Commerce (Ohio) said, it was fortunate that the Tall Ships Festival took place in between the 4th of July and Bastille Day celebrations. Not to mention during early stages of the Tour de France.
Yannick Tagand, who was appointed Consul General of France in Chicago in September 2021 with jurisdiction for thirteen States, visited Cleveland for the celebration and to honor Cédric Le Rouge as the new Honorary Consul.
Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization Picnic
Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization Picnic
The Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization (CAMEO) has been in existence for 52 years. C.A.M.E.O. is designed to articulate the political interest of more than 275,000 Northeastern Ohio residents of Middle Eastern Heritage, Arab Americans.
CAMEO leadership with County Executive Armond Budish
In this special episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson looks at the map of the most famous bicycle race in the world, the Tour de France. Dan admits that he knew very little about the Tour de France outside of hearing names like Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong and about the yellow jersey. But while flipping through TV channels he saw some of the race and became hooked.
The peloton is particularly intriguing with the large group of riders mere inches from each other and the individual and team strategies for drafting and more. He also learned about the significance of not just the yellow jersey but the green, white and polka dot jerseys. The 2022 Tour de France (going on right now) began on July 1 with the Grand Départ in Denmark, the 10th country to host a start. With about 5.8 million people in Denmark about 9 out of 10 Danes own a bicycle and there are about 12,000km of bike routes across the country. There are 673,000 bikes just in the capital city of Copenhagen which has been named the world's best cycling city.
In this video Dan touches on the history of the race and some of the countries it has passed through. He is looking forward to the final stage in Paris on July 24 as the cyclists ride down the Champs-Élysées.
This July 9, 2022 Argentinos en Cleveland celebrated Argentina's Independence Day at North Chagrin Reservation. It was a beautiful sunny day filled with smiles, and good talks. We met new people and reunited with good friends. We had delicious home made Argentine food and drinks.
We sang our Himno Nacional Argentino and all of us feel very proud of where we are from and prayed for a better future for our dear nation.
The Cleveland Tall Ships Festival returned to Lake Erie for a 4-day maritime celebration. Serving as the second host port of the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Great Lakes 2022 race series, Cleveland was honored to welcome a fleet of historic tall ships from harbors through the United States, Canada and Spain.
In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson discusses a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) of the People's Republic of China called Macau. Macau is known as the "Las Vegas of the East", and some call it the gaming capital of the world. It has a gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and with a population of about 680,000 and an area of just 12.7 sq. miles, it is also the most densely populated region in the world.
This episode covers the history of the Portuguese settlement of Macau by Jorge Álvares to the transfer to China on December 20, 1999 after 442 years of Portuguese rule. This episode looks at maps of the region around Macau including Hong Kong, the Pearl River Estuary and Delta and Guangdong Province and Guangzhou which you may know as Canton. If you like learning about the world and its people by studying maps, consider subscribing to this series.
Cleveland International Hall of Fame - What a Night!
Cleveland International Hall of Fame - What a Night!
Since 2010, the Cleveland International Hall of Fame (CIHF) has inducted people who have made significant and lasting contributions to our multicultural society. Cleveland is home to people representing about 120 different ethnic groups. The CIHF exists not only to honor those special people but also to inspire a new generation of leaders to follow in their footsteps.
Over 150 worthy candidates were nominated for both the 2020 and 2022 Classes of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. The selection committee was advised by previously inducted members of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.
Covid-19 forced the always sold out induction ceremonies to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021. We tried to induct the 2020 class virtually but it was not the same. So once we were able to gather together again, we included the 2020 class in the induction ceremony along with the 2022 class on June 7, 2022. The event at Windows on the River was a sell out and the 2020 class finally got their moment in the spotlight.
2022 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame
2022 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame Seated (l-r) Anda Cook, Taras Szmagala Standing - Victor Ruiz, Carl Robson MD
2020 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame
2020 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame Seated (l-r) Margaret Lynch, May Chen, Valarie McCall
Standing Berj Shakarian, Joe Valencic, Ramesh Shah
Two new monoliths have been added to the Hungarian Cultural Garden flanking Franz Liszt.
Franz Liszt
Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology.
Béla Bartók
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education.
Zoltán Kodály
You can see all three in the upper level of the Hungarian Cultural Garden on East Blvd.
Bartok, Liszt and Kodaly monoliths in Hungarian Cultural Garden
The Estonian Cultural Garden was dedicated June 19, 1966. Each year, the Estonian community and friends gather to celebrate Estonian Victory Day (Vőidupüha) and St John's Day (Jaanipäev).
Juneteenth in the African American Cultural Garden
Juneteenth in the African American Cultural Garden
The annual Juneteenth celebration in the African American Cultural Garden included music, drummers, storyellers, food, resources and remarks from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and others.
Albanian Ambassador Faber visits the Albanian Cultural Garden
Albanian Ambassador Faber visits the Albanian Cultural Garden
Albanian Ambassador to the United States Floreta Faber was given a tour of the Albanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio by former Cleveland City Councilwoman Dona Brady and leaders of the Albanian community.
Juxhin Sazavari, Ajaz Emini, Ambassador Floreta Faber, Dona Brady and Vilson Mihaj
She was especially impressed by the beautiful park-like setting and, of course, the Mother Teresa statue.
Quick Video Walk-through of the Albanian Cultural Garden
Quick Video Walk-through of the Albanian Cultural Garden
Here is a quick look at two of the main features of the Albanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio - the fountain and the statue of Mother Teresa. The Albanian Cultural Garden is one of about 30 in the Cleveland Cultural gardens chain. It was dedicated in 2012. This garden was created through the efforts of Cleveland City Councilwoman Dona Brady, working in conjunction with the Albanian community here and in Cleveland's sister city, Fier, in Albania. Its dedication ceremony was attended by Albanian President Bujar Nishani and the Albanian Ambassador to the United States, Gilbert Galanxhi and Fier Mayor Baftjar Zeqaj.
The first phase of the Albanian Cultural Garden features a statue of the beloved humanitarian and sister to the poor, Mother Teresa. The piece was created by noted Albanian sculptor Kreshnik Xhiku. The statue and garden dedication in 2012 also commemorated the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence.
The upper level fountain was added later. It was originally built in the 1920s and was in Cleveland's Willard Park for many years until Councilwoman Brady discovered the fountain dismantled. She saved it and donated it to the Albanian Cultural Garden.
Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland Annual Meeting and Tea
Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland Annual Meeting and Tea
The Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland was founded in 2004 as a not-for-profit corporation to provide a forum for information and activities of interest to individuals of Irish descent particularly those with ancestral ties to County Mayo. The annual meeting was held at John Carroll University.
Mayo Society President Gerry Quinn announced that Mike Gibbons would be the 2022 Mayo Person of the Year at the Mayo Ball in September. Ambassador Ed Crawford also spoke.
This episode of Fun with Maps takes a look at a very strategic piece of land called Königsberg or Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad is actually a city in the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. Remember that an enclave is a piece of land that is totally surrounded by a foreign territory. An exclave is a piece of land that is politically attached to a larger piece but not physically having the same borders with it because of surrounding foreign territory. Many entities are both enclaves and exclaves. Kaliningrad is an exclave because while politically attached to Russia it is bordered by Poland and Lithuania and the Baltic Sea.
An oblast is a political and administrative division of a country. Oblast is a term used by many former Soviet countries that is something like states or provinces.
So how did Russia get territory to the west of Lithuania and north of Poland? It's a long story starting with Prussia. For much of the last 700 years or so this land was Königsberg, an historic Prussian city that then became German. As you will see, Germany was forced to give up huge patches of its conquered land at the end of WWII. In 1945 the Potsdam Agreement was signed by the USSR, Britain and the USA. It specifically gave Kaliningrad (known as the German Königsberg at the time) to Russia, without opposition. As you can tell from the map, it's very important as Russia's Baltic Navy base. It was also a center of knowledge and culture with people such as Immanuel Kant, Leonard Euler, Christian Goldbach and others there.
We had always planned on doing a Fun with Maps episode about Ukraine but due to the tragic current situation we moved it up in order. People are understandably very curious to know more about the country of Ukraine. And yes it is a country. It is not THE Ukraine; it is the country of Ukraine. Using the term THE Ukraine makes it sound like a region of another country as opposed to a sovereign nation.
Ukraine is the second-largest country by area in Europe after Russia, which it borders to the east and north-east. Ukraine also shares borders with Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the south; and has a coastline along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It spans an area of 233,062 sq. miles with a population of 43.6 million. That makes it the eighth-most populous country in Europe.
We briefly talk about the history of Ukraine including the tragedy at Chernobyl and the Holodomor. We also touch on the great writer Lesya Ukrainka and pysanky Easter eggs.
Italian immigrants and Italian Americans have played an important part in the history and growth of Cleveland. This is on display at the Italian Museum of Cleveland located in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland.
In this video, Pamela Dorazio Dean, Director of the museum, led Dan Hanson on a quick tour of some of the Museum's displays and told the story of the Italians coming to Cleveland and helping build it and make it grow. The first wave of immigrants settled in what was called Big Italy but later moved to several neighborhoods in both the west and east sides including, of course, Little Italy.
Pamela told how many of the immigrants were skilled stone carvers and how they played an important role in the creation of the huge Guardians statues which became the inspiration for the Cleveland baseball team's name change from Indians to Guardians. The Feast of the Assumption and Columbus Day Parade were discussed and Pamela shared the history of how Columbus Day came to be celebrated. It resulted from the largest lynching in US history when 11 Italian immigrants were lynched in New Orleans in 1891. Pamela stressed that Columbus Day is mostly a celebration of Italian heritage.
The museum is free to visit and details can be found at www.iamcle.org.
Each year when the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation hosts the annual One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, ClevelandPeople.com makes sure everyone has fun with maps.
The ClevelandPeople.com booth had large 5' x 7' maps of Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, North America and the Middle East. Visitors placed a colorful dot on the map where there ancestors (or they) came from. At the end of the day almost 80 different countries were represented and various areas within countries. A real display of Cleveland's diversity. Here is a sample.
There are only 3 enclaved countries in the world. By enclaved we mean an independent country whose territory is completely surrounded by the territory of one other country. In Lesotho's case, it is within South Africa.
Lesotho is a unique and interesting country and the map really defines it. Did you know that the country of Wakanda in the Marvel superhero movie Black Panther was inspired by Lesotho? There's lots more interesting items about Lesotho. Keep having Fun with Maps.
Fun with Maps - Afghanistan and other "-Stan" Countries
Fun with Maps - Afghanistan and other "-Stan" Countries
We have always planned on doing a Fun with Maps episode on one or more of the "Stan" countries. Just not yet. Unfortunately, the news has made me change the schedule and focus on the map of a very troubled place - Afghanistan.
This episode looks at the group of seven countries known as the "Stan" countries in the heart of Central and South Asia. Then we drill down more into the map of Afghanistan, its capital Kabul and more.
"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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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!
