OVEC and NAACP Partner at Tri-State Multi-Cultural Festival

Huntington’s beautiful Ritter Park was already abuzz with activity when we arrived to set up our tent early on September 4. We knew the park’s shade would be welcome on what promised to be a scorching reminder it was technically still summer. Eric (Fout), Scott Straight (OVEC’s intern), and I were already breaking a sweat!

As in previous years, OVEC and the Huntington-Cabell Branch of NAACP shared tent and table space. Sylvia Ridgeway arrived early to bring NAACP literature. This hard-working lady was scheduled for double duty – first at OVEC’s table and then with the Ebenezer United Methodist Church.

Our volunteers, some of whom worked late into the evening, included board members Eric Fout, Elinore Taylor and Winnie Fox, and members Nancy Taylor, Janna Blanchard, Burt Dieringer, Lora Varney, Libby Callicoat, and Sidney Tweel. Some of these folks have been leading OVEC’s voter registration drive and saw the Tri-State Multi-cultural Festival as an another opportunity to get more people registered to vote. We had a steady stream of visitors as our volunteers not only registered new voters, but also provided information about OVEC’s work to stop/curb mountaintop removal and sold our T-shirts, tote bags, hats, and the new Moving Mountains CDs.

NAACP’s Sylvia Ridgeway.

We listened to such diverse music: Mariachi Azteca 2000, Sackcloth2joy, jazz and bluegrass. A youth ensemble performed interpretive dance, massage therapists gave free massages, a Marshall University club demonstrated martial arts, and children got to see a puppet show. One of the most popular booths, organized by Sachilko Watawbe and Haruka Hamaguchi (who teach Japanese at the public high schools) let people try on Japanese kimonos, learn to write one’s name in Japanese, or make an origami sculpture.

Thanks to our volunteers for making OVEC’s participation in the Tri-State Multi-Cultural Festival successful!

International students from Marshall University taught origami and offered kimonos for folks to try on during the Festival. This busy booth was a hit with kids!