Latino culture welcomes all

With food, dance and health/financial info, festival reaches out to greater community

WILKES-BARRE – The sounds and smells of Latin America wafted through the neighborhood surrounding the Catholic Youth Center on Sunday afternoon during the third annual Fiesta Latina de San Juan.

A variety of Latin foods provided the smells, and Latin dance groups provided the music and costumes for attendees to enjoy as they wandered the grounds outside the youth center.

“The purpose is to bring the community together, celebrating our culture and just trying to spread diversity,” said Carmen Vasquez, chairwoman of the youth center’s Latino Committee, which presented the festival.

“In Puerto Rico, we celebrate the feast of St. John the Baptist near the end of June. We want to share that tradition with the entire community,” Vasquez explained.

Entertainment included dancing by the Latino Multicultural Dancers – a group Vasquez leads – and Comparza Guadalupana Morelos – a group from Scranton performing Mexican dances.

The numerous children’s activities included free swimming and a fire safety house. The festival also offered a health and financial information fair, with 26 different organizations and businesses. Participants ranged from law firms and insurance companies to colleges, stores and various potential employers in the area.

Dr. Alan Frank, of Kingston, helped man a booth from the Jewish Federation of Wilkes-Barre.

“The Jewish people came to this country with a different language and a different culture, and we know what it’s like trying to gain acceptance. … By reaching out, we hope to make the transition for the Latino community a little easier,” Frank said.

Daniel Diaz, of Hazleton, provided free bottles of water and juice boxes to promote his new store – Danny’s Market, on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre.

“I think it’s great. It’s a way for everybody to meet people of different ethnic backgrounds,” Diaz said of the festival.

Trooper Manuel R. Hicks Sr., a recruitment coordinator for Pennsylvania State Police, said he and Lt. Col. John R. “Rick” Brown, deputy commissioner of Administration and Professional Responsibility, were there to recruit cadets.

Hicks encouraged folks to apply at www.patrooper.com, and he planned to follow up with those who submitted contact information to discuss opportunities in greater detail.

Brown said Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration is trying to make the state police and all state government more representative of the state’s population, so efforts are being made to recruit more women and minorities.

By the end of the year, Brown hopes to have in place an initiative in which – with consent from state police applicants who are not accepted for employment after the test – the unsuccessful cadet applicants could be referred to other state agencies such as the departments of Corrections, Aging or Labor and Industry for potential public service employment opportunities.

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