Community events slated for Saturday

Date: 6/16/2010

June 16, 2010.

By Mike Briotta

PRIME Editor

HOLYOKE -- Two family-friendly events open to the public are scheduled for Saturday in Holyoke: the "Reclaiming Our Families" March and Emanuel Fest Community Fair hosted by the Centro de Restauracion Emanuel; and the Co-op Powers Sixth Annual Sustainable Energy Summit of Nuestras Raices.

The march through the city is set to begin at Holyoke High School at 11:30 a.m. and proceed via High Street to Heritage State Park, located across from the city police station. Family fair activities begin there at noon and run until 4 p.m.

"The whole community has been invited. We've had hundreds of people attend events in the past," Brendaly Hererdla, administrative assistant for Centro de Restauracion Emanuel, said.

According to the group, the main focus of the event is the march, which aims to address social issues such as parental involvement in the healthy growth of children and teens, and saying "no" to drugs and criminal influences that the group says adversely affect the people of Holyoke.

"There's a high rate of absentee fathers in the city," event coordinator Felicita Lopez said. "The city also has a high rate of teenage pregnancy. If I'm not mistaken, it's the highest in Massachusetts. We'd also like to address issues like domestic violence. There are many social issues facing people. We want to treat the person as a whole."

Another focal point of the march and fair events will be to provide information about human service programs serving city residents. These include spiritual, health-related, social and educational opportunities that citizens may not be aware are available to them. The group has invited several service organizations to attend.

"Some of the groups we've invited are Small Smiles, Holyoke Pediatric, the Department of Social Services, foster care agencies, the Boys and Girls Club of Holyoke, Holyoke Health Center, and Breast Cancer Awareness," Lopez said. "In the past, we've had more than 30 agencies. We also invite local insurance companies, because there are a lot of people still need to be insured."

Amenities at the fair are to include live music, show horses from Puerto Rico, children's entertainment, mimes, free food, and a Tae Kwon Do presentation.

"We're also having a domestic violence dramatic presentation again this year, involving the local police department, ambulance service and fire department," Lopez said.

"We have different family events all day," she continued regarding the Saturday schedule. "It's really great, we get a large turnout. We're expecting more than 1,000 people this year.

Her group is continuing its 2010 mission by hosting informal events as well as supporting the community with new backpacks and school supplies. During similar events last year, the Centro de Restauracion Emanuel handed out about 500 backpacks full of school supplies to area children -- a number they hope to increase this year, to be handed out Aug. 14.

The weekend fun continues this Saturday with and the Co-op Powers Sixth Annual Sustainable Energy Summit. Nuestras Raices will be hosting the event from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at a farm located at 24 Jones Ferry Rd.

The summit will celebrate the work that Co-op Power has done in the past year and upcoming plans to help individuals and communities reduce their energy costs, use renewable energy, strengthen local communities, and build a sustainable future.

The group plans to offer child-oriented games and activities as well as food vendors, music, dancing and fun. In addition, Co-op Powers will have a keynote speaker, nine hands-on workshops, exhibits and activity centers.

"We are expecting over 1,000 attendees, as food, dancing, activities and workshops [will] bring them together," the group said in a press release. "We have secured great musical performances from the area including Jackson Gillman, The Equalities, Red Valley Fog, El Grupo Cache and many more."

Anyone seeking further information about the energy summit may contact event coordinator Ramiro Davaro-Comas at 535-1789 ext. 110.