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!