Fiesta de Mayo

By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item

May 11, 2008 12:57 am

— MILTON -- The Milton community and surrounding communities embraced diversity at the first Fiesta de Mayo Saturday.
"It went really well. We got more people than we expected," said Joe Rosa, lead pastor of Congregacion Menonita Shalom, a Hispanic Christian Evangelical congregation in New Columbia.
The Shalom church and its sister church, Community Mennonite Fellowship of Milton, operated a stand where most of the food was sold out by 3 p.m.
"We have had people here from Sunbury and Danville. They love the food and they'd like to see this again," Rosa said. He said many people told him a festival of this type, celebrating diversity, was long overdue.
Most people had heard of the dishes they served but weren't aware of serving them in a different manner. This included rice and pigeon peas and bread pudding from Puerto Rico and tacos with beef and hot tamales from Mexico.
"We sold out of tacos and hot tamales. All the rice and beans are gone and the pork is gone. We have a few puddings left," Rosa's sister-in-law Arlene Vazquez, of New Columbia, said.
She acted as translator for orders at the stand since many from the Shalom congregation speak Spanish. Members of the Community Mennonite church were also filling food orders there.
With the Hispanic church already having a stand at last fall's Harvest Festival, many people were familiar with the foods they were selling, said Vazquez who has spent half her life in Puerto Rico and the rest in the U.S. She has lived in this area for five years, having moved here to be near her sister Maggie and Rosa who live in Lewisburg.
"Some of the kids from our church did dances earlier from Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. My son and my nephew will be singing," she said.
Next to that stand was Keri Albright, CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way, dressed as Carmen Miranda. She handed out literature in both English and Spanish about the importance of quality child care. "I wanted to have fun and to celebrate the culture. This outfit is opening the door," she said of her rented get-up that included a hat of fruit. The festival was packed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and included a "great mix of people. It's super important to have this in the Valley. This is a great way for people to experience diversity," she said.
Jim and Courtney Godown, of Milton, were pushing daughter Riley, 4, and son Xavier, 2, in a stroller and ate tacos earlier.
"There are a lot of people around here from different nationalities. This will help our kids when they get to elementary school because there are lot of differences out there," Courtney said as they watched St. Andrew's Kingdom Kids Puppets perform in both English and Spanish.
The festival featured free swimming at the Milton YMCA where program director Ann Lawton said the pool was full of kids. "They did a wonderful job. It's a great turnout for the first year," she said. Lawton hopes the fiesta can become part of the Y's annual Spring Fling, which will be held May 17.
Also part of the festival were Steve Mitchell doing Caribbean hand drumming, a Miriachi band, music by the Shalom and Community Mennonite churches and a car show.
n E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.

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