Dan Hanson's Blog: 09/01/2017

Monday, September 25, 2017

Sikh Spiritual Leader Visit to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Giani Gurbachan Singh, the current Jathedar of the Akal Takhat and the spiritual leader of the Sikh religion, visited the United States Military Academy at West Point on September 11th, the first visit ever of a Sikh spiritual leader to any U.S. military installation.

Sikhs have faced hate crimes, bullying and job discrimination in the wake of 9/11.

As the founder of Sikh American Veteran’s Alliance (SAVA), LTC Kalsi states, “This visit helps to push back against discrimination by promoting Sikh military service in one of our nation’s oldest and most revered institutions.”

See more of the Sikh leader's visit to West Point

Kol Israel 2017 Holocaust Memorial

Kol Israel Foundation is an organization of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, their families, and supporters. Each year they hold an annual Memorial Service.

The 56th annual Memorial Service was held at Zion Memorial Park in Bedford Heights on Sunday September 24, 2017. It was co-sponsored by Kol Israel Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. In 1961, Kol Israel built one of the first monuments in the United States dedicated to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Ashes of the victims from concentration camps are buried beneath it and the names of deceased family members are engraved on its surrounding wall.

The ceremony included a special dedication of the Kol Israel Memorial Monument’s Historical Marker. The marker, granted by the Ohio History Connection, acknowledges the Monument as the first of its kind in the United States.

Photos and videos from the Holocaust Memorial event

Holocaust Survivors in Cleveland

Holocaust Memorial at Zion Memorial Park

In 1961, the Kol Israel Foundation built one of the first monuments in the United States dedicated to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Ashes of the victims from concentration camps are buried beneath it and the names of deceased family members are engraved on its surrounding wall.

Photos from the Holocaust Memorial

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Republic of Slovenia Prime Minister Miro Cerar in Cleveland

The Consul General of the Republic of Slovenia Mr. Andrej G. Rode hosted a reception in Honor of His Excellency Dr. Miro Cerar Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia on Friday, September 22, 2017 at the Slovenian National Home in Cleveland Ohio. Slovenian Ambassador to the US Stanislav Vidovic also attended.

See photos and videos from the Slovenian Prime Minister

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Cleveland Indians Hispanic Heritage Night

The Cleveland Indians hosted Hispanic Heritage Night on Friday, Sept. 15 at Progressive Field as part of Major League Baseball’s broader Hispanic Heritage Month efforts.

The Tribe played host to a large group of Hispanic fans at Progressive Field that evening, plus a DJ played the club’s players’ favorite Latin music throughout the game.

The Tribe’s 40-man roster includes 13 players of Hispanic descent, including fan favorites Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramírez, Carlos Carrasco, Edwin Encarnación and more. On Opening Day, 235 players -- almost 30 percent of the league -- were of Latino descent and in a recent ESPN poll, more than 60 percent of Hispanic people living in the U.S. consider themselves fans of Major League Baseball.

The increased activity surrounding Hispanic Heritage Month is an extension of the league’s “Ponle Acento” (“Put an Accent on It”) campaign, launched in 2016 to highlight the distinctive mark that Hispanic and Latino players and fans leave on the game.

Players wore #PonleAcento shirts during Batting Practice that day as seen in these photos by Brittney Zivcsak courtesy of the Cleveland Indians.

Carlos Santana

Francisco Lindor

Monday, September 18, 2017

Žumbercani Tamburitzans Orchestra in the Croatian Cultural Garden

The Croatian Heritage Museum & Library hosted a concert of Croatian tamburitza music in the Croatian Cultural Garden on Sunday September 17, 2017. The Žumbercani Tamburitzans Orchestra performed a concert of traditional Croatian tamburitza music.

Photos and videos of the Žumbercani Tamburitzans Orchestra performance

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Bayda Ukrainian Quartet on One World Day

The Bayda Ukrainian Quartet performed on the main stage of the 72nd annual One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

Watch videos of the 4 songs they sang at One World Day

Ukrainian Cultural Garden on One World Day

Over 25,000 people attended the 72nd annual One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on Sunday August 27, 2017. The Ukrainian Cultural Garden looked beautiful.

Members of the Ukrainian community marched in the Parade of Flags.

Friday, September 15, 2017

14th Annual Slovenian Sausage Festival

Smoked sausages and polka music attracted a crowd of more than 1,200 to SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, Ohio, for the 14th Annual Slovenian Sausage Festival hosted by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum on a warm and sunny Wednesday, September 13, 2017.

More from the Sausage Festival

Impromptu Polka Jam

Winner of judge's choice for best sausage

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Lucky Kids - American High School Students in China

This past summer (2017), twenty-seven American students from eleven different schools received the opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks to the co-sponsorship of the Honorable Marcia Fudge and Chinese Vice Premier LIU Yandong, these students were able to partake in the Chinese Bridge Program.

Through the program, organized by the Cleveland State University Confucius Institute and joint-organized by the Capital University of Economics and Business(CUEB) in Beijing and Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, students received the chance to spend two weeks immersed in Chinese language, history, food, sights and culture in the cities of Beijing and Kunming (of Yunnan Province).

See lots of photos and learn more about the Chinese Bridge Program.