Community Corner
The Library Launches Hispanic Heritage Month
Children gathered at the South End branch on September 15, celebrating their heritage and learning about other countries with a parade and discussions about their flags.
September 15 to October 15 is designated as National Hispanic Heritage Month. Yesterday, kicked off their Hispanic Heritage Month celebration with a Parade of Flags at their branch.
“My idea was to have each person carry their flag and have a parade, then we’ll talk about the flags and the culture,” Josephine Fulcher-Anderson, supervisor for the South End branch, told Patch.
Due to the rain outside, the children gathered at South End found their flags and then formed a parade up and down the hallway outside the library.
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Esmeralda Vivar, a student at , brought her own large Mexican flag with her to the library for the parade. As they gathered, studying and comparing notes on their flags, shouts of “Viva Ecuador!” and “Viva Mexico!” came from children and parents alike.
Back inside, the children came up to the front of the room in groups by country and spoke about their flag's colors and symbols, as well as sharing details about the culture of their country.
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“You need to be proud,” Claudia Machado told the children. “You need to learn both languages.”
Machado hails from Columbia, holding her flag she discussed the reasons for the similarities in the Columbian, Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan flags, which all originate from the same red, yellow, and blue tricolor flag.
Machado also spoke with the children about the celebrations for Mexican Independence Day -- a day that corresponds with the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month in the US.
Jirandy Sucuzhagnay, a student at Springdale Elementary School and her brother, Alex, a student at were two of the children with Ecuadorian heritage. The two had recently returned from a trip to Ecuador to visit family.
“The food is rice, soup, bananas,” Jirandy Sucuzhagnay said.
“What kind of games do children play there?” Fulcher-Anderson asked.
“Soccer,” Jirandy Sucuzhagnay replied. “And Playstation and computers.”
A few of the adults in the room laughed, while the children talked about their soccer teams before finding a seat to enjoy chips and salsa and listen to some music.
At 6 pm, “Undertow”, a 2009 Peruvian drama and the winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award, was screened at the Main Library. On October 13, the library will screen the Columbian film "Crab Trap" at 6:30 pm at the Main Library.
