OVEC and NAACP Partner at Tri-State Multi-Cultural Festival
by Janet Fout
Huntingtons beautiful Ritter Park was already
abuzz with activity when we arrived to set up our tent early on
September 4. We knew the parks shade would be welcome on what
promised to be a scorching reminder it was technically still summer.
Eric (Fout), Scott Straight (OVECs intern), and I were already
breaking a sweat!
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Lora Varney, an OVEC volunteer, explains
voter registration to a new registrant at the Tri-State
Multi-cultural festival.
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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 OVECs 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 OVECs 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 OVECs
work to stop/curb mountaintop removal and sold our T-shirts, tote bags,
hats, and the new Moving Mountains CDs.
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| NAACPs 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 ones name
in Japanese, or make an origami sculpture.
Thanks to our volunteers for making OVECs
participation in the Tri-State Multi-Cultural Festival successful!
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| 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! |
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