Fiesta 2011 a Success!

This year's annual Spanish Heritage Fiesta was well attended and most appeared to be enjoying themselves. Our Spanish conversation group "Reunion en Espanol" performed the four Spanish songs that we had practiced over the past 8 weeks. The songs were traditional songs selected by our musical director, Oscar. For 8 weeks every Monday night, several members would meet at the home of Oscar & Debbie to practice singing. Oscar not only plays guitar beautifully, he sings and writes songs, too. He has a small music studio in his basement! The songs included: "Piel Canela" "Quizas" "Perfidia" and "La Bamba." There were over 90 people who attended our fiesta this year. Wednesday before we decorated and had a dress rehearsal. We wore ethnic clothing and everyone looked fabulous! Julie, Sal, and Oscar played guitars, with Oscar on the lead guitar. Our performance was quite good until we made a mistake on the song La Bamba. But, we recovered quickly and laughed with the audience! After the fiesta we had a "cast party" to celebrate. All in all it was a fun filled evening, meeting new people, enlightening all about Hispanic cultural aspects, music and songs, in particular. Here are a few photos to highlight the evening.

Puppets arrive at North Valley Public Library!

Hi, Everyone! Last week we had a fantastic conversation en Espanol with 14 people in attendance, two from Missoula. The new puppets for the children's program puppet theater were a big hit! Erika had a "cerdito" (piglet) and Oscar had a "raton" (mouse.) Que divertido!! (How fun!)

Tell your friends who want to practice speaking and listening in Spanish, the North Valley Public Library is the place to go every Wednesday from 6-7:30 pm.

Oscar with a mouse puppet

El Dia de los Ninos, El Dia de los Libros

Hello, Everyone. The first annual American Library Association event "El Dia de los Ninos, El Dia de los Libros" was held at North Valley Public Library (NVPL) Saturday April 30, 2011. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This year Reunion en Espanol, the Spanish Conversation Group of NVPL, helped coordinate the event with a Spanish theme. There was a puppet show El Tres Cerditos (The Three Little Pigs) with a reading in both Spanish (Catalina Gerner) and English (Susie Brown) with children acting out the parts with hand puppets. Following that was a paper cutting craft project, Papel de Picos, where children and adults cut out pretty paper decorations similar to a Mexican tradition. There was a taco lunch with food provided by members of Reunion en Espanol. The grand finale was the breaking open of a pinata full of toys. Fun was had by all, considering we had to relocate the event indoors at the Library due to inclement weather. Next year, we will investigate other cultures, traditional stories and creative crafts and foods with children being the prime focus. Here are some photos of this year's event.

Thank you to all from Amy for MLA Award 2011

Hello! I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all of the support and encouragement you have provided to me and to the North Valley Public Library Spanish Language Outreach Program since its birth almost four ago. Last fall, our director, Renee McGrath, the President of the Board of Trustees, John Conlan, and all of the members of our Spanish Conversation group (YOU) nominated me for the Montana Library Association Support Staff Person of the Year and ...I WON!! This award means so much to me; I am deeply touched and honored. I couldn't do as much as I do without you and the tremendous support from my co-workers. We have an excellent team at NVPL with outstanding leadership from Renee and our Board. But, our program would not thrive without your undying commitment and participation. Our Spanish Language Outreach has been a truly rewarding endeavor. It continues to be so alive as newcomers join us, bringing with them new experiences and new requests for materials.

Keep your ideas coming and we will continue to support the program and the Hispanic Heritage cultures. See you Wednesday nights for the Spanish Conversation Group "Reunion en Espanol" on Fridays afternoons for children's Spanish class or Friday evenings for adult's Spanish class.

Hasta Luego! Amy

Viaje a la tierra del abuelo

Recently members of the North Valley Public Library Spanish Language Conversation group watched a film entitled "The Other Side of Immigration." This award winning documentary film focused on the effect upon the families and the communities throughout Mexico of so many able bodied men leaving in search of work in the United States. Very thought provoking film. Mario Bencastro has written a book about a young man born in El Salvador now living in the US who becomes very close to his grandfather while his parents work long hours in southern CA. Before he dies, his "abuelo" (grandfather) asks that he be buried in his home country of El Salvador. The book describes the journey of this young man as he transports his grandfather's body back to his homeland. The book does an excellent job of explaining how this young man feels torn between two countries and not really connected to either country. The book is written in Spanish, but since the target audience is young adults, it is fairly easy to understand for beginner Spanish speakers. Native speakers will greatly enjoy the story of current events happening between Central America and the United States.

Friday Evening Spanish Class at Fiesta en Jalisco

Hola, Everyone! Recently students of the Friday evening Spanish class (held at the North Valley Public Library) went on a field trip to a Mexican restaurant to practice their conversational skills for travel. It was a lively event to say the least! Teacher, Oscar Macz, was accompanied by his lovely wife, Debbie and their toddler son, Thomas, who was very entertaining. Besides other classmates, students were able to converse with the staff many of whom are natives of Mexico. Those staff members were informed of some of the services offered at their local library. Oscar has created a web site for his class. If you are interested in learning more, go to: www.spanishschoolscoban.com
Here is a photo of the NVPL Friday Evening Spanish class (also known as The Big Enchilada).

February Update from North Valley Public Library

Hello, Everyone! It has been a while so let me catch you up since the holidays.

Oscar Mazc is teaching a formal class on Spanish on Friday nights from 6:15 - 8 pm. So far we have had about 6 or 8 weeks of classes and there are approximately 8 regular students. Oscar also recently began teaching Spanish to home schooled children ages 5-10 years old on Friday afternoons from 4-5 pm. There are approximately 6 children in that class. Oscar is teaching these classes at no cost, asking only that students donate (whatever they can afford) to the library as we begin the major remodel of our buildings. Muchas gracias, Oscar, you are one of our heroes!

In January we had two celebrations - Spanish Conversation Group "Reunion en Espanol" members Catalina Gerner (our facilitator) (on the left) and Marge Wood (on the right) both had "cumpleanos" (birthdays). We had a fiesta one week, then another the following week (boy, we sure like to party!) when Missoula members, Walter and Tricia, visited to celebrate the birthdays of Catalina and Marge.

Last week we watched the documentary film "Other Side of Immigration" produced by Roy Germano. This 2009 film won numerous awards world wide. Germano interviewed over 700 native Mexicans, many of whom continue to emigrate to the US to work. The film focused on the reasons behind the mass exodus of immigrants from Mexico to the US and the effect this is having on their family members left behind, as well as the economies of their regions. The interviews were mostly in Spanish with English sub titles which provided our audience with an excellent learning experience in the language; there were people with very different educational levels and people with many different dialects. A very informative and thought provoking film from the perspective of those who emigrate to our country. Highly recommend it!

Catalina Gerner and I are working on the edits to the North Valley Public Library website's Spanish section. Check out our website at www.northvalleylibrary.org. Suggestions are welcome!

Maybe some photos of our annual fiestas??? Or links to some relevant websites??

We will continue our weekly conversation group at our usual time of 6-7:30 pm on Wednesdays. If you are interested in joining our Spanish language class on Fridays, please do! You are all welcome. If you know of any newcomers to our area of Hispanic heritage, please invite them to join our conversation group.

Hasta Luego! Amy

Sunday evening Clothes Exchange at Ana & Tony's

Last Sunday (Dec 5th) Reunion en Espanol gathered at the home of conversation group member, Ana and her husband, Tony in Stevensville. There was a holiday "Clothes Exchange" during which members gave away clothes they no longer wanted and took home clothes they liked that others brought to share. The remaining clothing went to "Clothes Closet" the local free store featuring unwanted, clean clothes and household goods. There is a great need for affordable clothing during the winter in Montana. After our clothes swapping, we enjoyed home made pizza made by Tony and Ana and a wide variety of dishes made by other members. After dinner, we danced to salsa music while new member, Alberto, played the Congo drum. What fun! We laughed and danced and spoke in Spanish throughout the evening and a great time was had by all! Thank you to Ana & Tony Napolitano for their warm hospitality and for all who shared their no-longer-wanted clothing and delicious food!

On another note, tonight was the 3rd formal Spanish class taught by Oscar Macz at the North Valley Public Library. This class is free to the public (small donations to the Library are welcome) and is held each Friday evening from 6:15 - 8 pm in the Community Room of the Library. Join us!!

Cooking Cuban Cuisine with Colombian Chef Jorge

One of the most popular events in our annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage is cooking classes with Chef Jorge Morales. This year Jorge created a Cuban-American sandwich called "Medianoche" which means "midnight." These sandwiches became popular in Miami after the influx of Cuban immigrants during the 1950's. The story behind the sandwich is that Cuban people would go out late at night, come home around midnight, open up the refrigerator finding pork (all time favorite of Caribbean cultures), pickles, mustard, etc. - all of the ingredients put together make up a "medianoche" sandwich! Jorge enhanced the basic recipe by adding a mustard/mango salsa on top of the pork, which had been marinated with a variety of citrus fruits. There were 41 people in attendance and each person received a sample of medianoches and plantain chips. This was such a hit that next year NVPL may host two cooking classes.

Early Literacy Videos in Spanish

The Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy have created 15 videos in English and Spanish of songs and rhymes for very young children: http://www.storyblocks.org/.

The videos are one minute each and help library staff and childcare staff with literacy tips, activities, and ideas for baby, toddler and preschool storytimes.

The project was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library services.

MT libraries might want to check it out!!

Another great Hispanic Heritage celebration at NVPL! Way to go Amy....

Peru Presentation

Continuing 2010 Hispanic Heritage events, Elizabeth Ballard (member of "Reunion en Espanol" the Spanish conversation group of the North Valley Public Library) presented an educational program about Peru. "Betsy" and her family traveled recently with a tour group to experience, first-hand, weaving communities throughout Peru. Betsy shared with the audience many of these woven products including articles of clothing, bags, belts and hats. The audience viewed spectacular photos taken by Betsy, showing the many historical sites, ancient ruins, native people in traditional clothing, the diverse landscapes, as well as numerous slides of the weaving process. There were 41 people in attendance, including many members of the Missoula Spanish Conversation Group.

Puerto Rico Travelogue

Marshell Woodgates, native of Puerto Rico, presented our first in a month long series of events for Hispanic Heritage Month 2010 at the North Valley Public Library. Marshell described a brief history of how Puerto Rico came to be the last remaining territory in the US and it's current relationship to the mainland US. Ms. Woodgates showed the audience a power point presentation containing many photos from her recent visit back to her home land. She described how so many things have changed in the past 30+ years, including changes in industries, reduction of available work for locals, expansion of housing construction, increased emphasis (dependence) on tourism as well as the growing unrest among students and young adults concerning the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US. There were many audience members who were also born and raised in Puerto Rico who contributed to lively discussions throughout the presentation. After the presentation, many attendees remained to get to know each other and share stories.
It was very informative and fun-filled evening. We look forward to more occasions to work with Marshell Woodgates at the North Valley Public Library.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2010 Success!

Hello, All! You are probably wondering what has taken so long for me to post this latest blog. Well, I was very busy organizing and working on the events the North Valley Public Library held during our 3rd annual Hispanic Heritage month in September. First, at our kick-off event "Grand Fiesta" the members of our Spanish Conversation Group "Reunion en Espanol" along with members of the staff and Board of Trustees at the Library, created some delicious dishes from around the world, of course from countries of Hispanic cultures. One of our most prominent members Oscar Macz performed some of the songs he had written, singing and playing guitar, to provide lovely background music while everyone enjoyed the food. After dinner, professional dancer, Kimberlee Carlson, and her group of Hispanic dancers performed several traditional dances to the delight of the audience of over 100 people. It was a fabulous event, many dressed in native dresses, several people drove all the way down from Missoula and there was much laughter and many happy people. A GREAT way to start our month! More updates to come...stay tuned! Photos to follow..

Special Dinner: NVPL "Reunion en Espanol"

Hello, Fellow bloggers! The NVPL SLO group met for a special dinner hosted by member Joseph Gallagher at his home. Joseph created a 5 course dinner featuring Italian cuisine for 16. We had wine, dinner, much discussion and many laughs and even salsa dancing! The group met to celebrate Joseph's new home and begin preparation for the upcoming month-long Hispanic Heritage celebration at the North Valley Public Library. We have submitted a grant application to the Missoula Community Foundation and await notice soon. In the meantime, Oscar Macz and I added some dialog to our play "Cenicienta" as well as assigned roles to members. Hispanic Heritage month posters have been distributed all over the area, including Missoula. Lot of little little details to work out but we are well along in the process.
Here are a few photos of our evening at Joseph's home. A fun time was had by all!
Amy

Wa Correia - SLO Volunteer Extrordinaire

OOPS! Somehow this photo of Wa was not included in our last post. So, here she is! Today Wa just created a gorgeous poster collage of photos from last year's Hispanic Heritage Fiesta. Wonderful marketing tool!

Wa Correia - GREAT Volunteer

Hello, All. This month we are waiting to hear if our project "Hispanic Heritage Month" will be funded by the Missoula Community Foundation. Meanwhile, we are moving forward with our plans for our play "Cenicienta" or Cinderella in Spanish. Many of our native speakers will play the major roles. Oscar Macz (Guatemala) is working on adding more dialogue to the script and has agreed to be our director. Oscar will also perform during our kick off event, Hispanic Fiesta, on First Friday, Sept. 3rd, in Stevensville. Oscar plays guitar and sings beautiful songs, many of which he has written himself. Wa Correia (Mexico) was featured recently as Volunteer Extrordinaire by the RSVP - Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Here is a photo of Wa. She is very busy giving so much of her time and energy to help others. We encourage anyone who has photos of interest to our Spanish Language Outreach bloggers to submit them to the blog. This fall I have plans to attend nearby schools during Parent-Teacher nights to "reach out" to those folks of Hispanic heritage. I will provide them with information on all we offer at our North Valley Public Library. I will even do my best to communicate in Spanish! Amy Ling

Working on play "Cinderella" in Espanol

Hello, All my fellow bloggers! Recently our group "Reunion en Espanol" has been planning the activities of upcoming "Hispanic Heritage Month" at the North Valley Public Library. One of the most involved (and so far, FUN) projects is the play (la obra) "Cinderella" or "Cenicienta" which will be presented in both Spanish & English. Catalina Gerner will be working with new member Noemi to help migrant workers in the Flathead Valley during cherry picking season this month. Catalina will be working with the children while Noemi will be working in the mobile medical clinic. Some of us would like to have a photo submitted with each new SLO blog post. Here is a picture of NVPL Reunion member, Joseph Gallagher, this spring when Erika & Alfonso Schumann & I went hiking near his home close to the national forest. The schedule of events for Hispanic Heritage month at NVPL will soon be completed and posted. As always, your suggestions are welcome.

New Friends, New Plans

NVPL has the good fortune to be the site of internship of University of MT grad student, Amber Lynch, as she prepares for her K-12 certification. Amber will be working to help promote our SLO program to more organizations and businesses. She will help us create marketing materials for NVPL Hispanic Heritage Month in September. This year we are planning to translate the story of Cinderella into a Spanish screen play with members of the NVPL Reunion en Espanol (Spanish Conversation Group) performing at the Stevensville Playhouse community theater. Guatemalan native, Oscar Macz, is not only translating but also changing the story to a screen play. Other ideas for 2010 Hispanic Heritage Month include our community fiesta on First Friday, Main Street, Sept. 3rd, travelogues of Puerto Rico & Peru and a class on Cuban cuisine. We are hoping our outreach efforts will encourage Hispanic natives to visit our library, visit our Spanish conversation group and participate in our events. If anyone has any suggestions, for our ongoing outreach or for our month long celebration of Hispanic Heritage, please share them with us.

Stevensville & Missoula SLO groups get together

Hello, Spanish Language Outreach followers! This month the Missoula group joined us in Stevensville to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. There were over 20 of us at Fiesta en Jalisco. Great food, great conversation in Spanish, including with the restaurant staff. The managers bring young Mexican immigrants to the US all the way up to MT to work in their restaurant. While here, they practice learning English and familiarize themselves with our American culture. The Missoula group meets twice a week; once during the day at the public library, once at night at a local brew pub. Another gathering of those interested in Hispanic cultures is the bi-monthly "Salsa Dance" at the Elks club in Missoula. Last week several of our group (Ana, Marina, Joseph, Erika) attended the dance. We are in the beginning stages of planning our annual Hispanic Heritage month events to be held throughout Sept. We will submit a grant application the the Missoula Community Foundation and hope for the best. Alfonso, husband of our dear friend, Erika Schumann, is currently working on a landscape architecture project in China for 3 months. Erika was just informed by their landlord that they need to find a new place to live. She will be re-locating to Missoula soon. We will miss her warm personality, especially me, to whom she has helped in so many ways, particularly breaking the barrier to speaking in Spanish, even if it isn't perfect. We remain good friends for life. Here are a few photos of our Cinco de Mayo dinner.