Mossy Moran performed at the 2022 Ohio Celtic Festival in Painesville just east of Cleveland.
He played this song about a man named Jake who had an extra leg. Jake the Peg was written by Rolf Harris who also wrote the classic Australian song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport".
The annual Cleveland Puerto Rican Parade was held Sunday August 7th. The Parade was put on by the Hispanic Police Officers' Association (HPOA) which has been proudly serving it's members and the greater Cleveland community since it was founded in 1986.
Click on the white arrow below to watch a video of some highlights of the Parade including former Cleveland Indians Carlos Baerga and Candy Maldonado. I did not include the cars and other vehicles in the parade - they will be in a separate video. I also did not include the many politicians in the parade.
I admit that I didn't know much about Jains and Jainism before this event.
Jainism is an ancient religion from India that teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live lives of harmlessness and renunciation. The essence of Jainism is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and for the health of the universe itself.
In this video, Atul Shah from the Jain Society of Greater Cleveland told of the 3 main principles of Jainism: Strict non-violence, Many-sided Reality and Non-attachment to possessions. Jains go beyond being vegans - what he called Jain Vegan where even root vegetables are not eaten. He estimates there are 350 or so Jains in the Cleveland area.
The Rotary Club of Cleveland had a special meeting at the Dunham Tavern Museum on Thursday July 28, 2022.
Once a stagecoach stop on Buffalo-Cleveland-Detroit post road, today Dunham Tavern Museum is the oldest building still standing on its original site in the city of Cleveland.
Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham came to the Western Reserve in 1819 from Massachusetts and built their first home on the site in 1824, and the existing taproom was built in 1842. It is believed to be the first building constructed on Euclid Avenue east of East 55th Street. It later became a stagecoach stop and tavern.
Cleveland activist and landscape architect, A. Donald Gray purchased the home in 1932, restoring the 19th century architecture and replanting the orchard.
They have a new Executive Director, a new neighbor (the Cleveland Foundation) and a new plan.
See photos and videos of the Dunham Tavern Museum
Dedicated in 1930 as "a symbol of the contribution of Italian culture," the Italian Cultural Garden hosted opera concerts in the 1930's and 1940's.
In 2008, Joyce Mariani led the effort to revive the concerts for the public and to showcase two of Italy's highest at forms: opera and ballet.
The annual Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden was held on Sunday July 24, 2022 and featured The Cleveland Opera and the Cleveland Ballet. The volunteer crew at the Garden included Matt Silvaggio, Robert Lippucci, Chuck Giomuso, Mike Spena, Tom Antonello, Tom Berardinelli, Brittany Giomuso Kroboth, Susan Varga, Laura DeCesare, Cori Lupton, Mary Anne Baucco, Connie Adams, Barbara Walker.
See photos and videos from the Opera/Ballet
One of the fun parts of the Opera is the people watching. See a full page of people at the opera. Who do you recognize?
Obon is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors. It is believed that each year during Obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives. It is a major holiday in Japan.
The annual Obon Festival was held on Sunday July 17, 2022 at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple.
The Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese dancers showed the audience how to perform many different traditional Japanese dances and the audience danced along with them.
The Yume Daiko taiko drummers also performed.
Cleveland Tall Ships Festival returned to Lake Erie for a 4-day maritime celebration.
Serving as the second host port of the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Great Lakes 2022 race series, Cleveland was honored to welcome a fleet of historic tall ships from harbors through the United States, Canada and Spain.
Watch this short video of a few characters from the Tall Ships grounds including Ginger Whimsy, Buccaneer Bob from Put in Bay and others. We also take a quick look at a ship from Seville Spain and the Pride of Baltimore II Clipper Ship.
The Serbian Cultural Garden in Cleveland continues to grow. A new bust of Jovan Ducic was dedicated on Sunday July 10th in the Serbian Cultural Garden.
Jovan Ducic (1871 - 1943) was a renowned Serbian poet, academic, diplomat and patriot. He served as Yugoslavia's Ambassador to multiple countries about which he wrote in his poems and travelogues. Following the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941 Ducic went into exile in the US where he led the Serbian National Defense Council fighting for the interests of the Serbian diaspora.
A blessing and dedication was held Sunday July 10, 2022.
The Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization (CAMEO) has been in existence for 52 years. C.A.M.E.O. is designed to articulate the political interest of more than 275,000 Northeastern Ohio residents of Middle Eastern Heritage, Arab Americans.
As Larry Miller, President, French-American Chamber Commerce (Ohio) said, it was fortunate that the Tall Ships Festival took place in between the 4th of July and Bastille Day celebrations. Not to mention during early stages of the Tour de France.
Yannick Tagand, who was appointed Consul General of France in Chicago in September 2021 with jurisdiction for thirteen States, visited Cleveland for the celebration and to honor Cédric Le Rouge as the new Honorary Consul.
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Cédric Le Rouge, Yannick Tagand and Larry Miller |
I admit that I knew very little about the Tour de France outside of hearing names like Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong and about the yellow jersey.
But while flipping through TV channels my sister and I saw some of the race and became hooked.
The peloton is particularly intriguing with the large group of riders mere inches from each other and the strategies for drafting and more. There are also meaningful green, white and polka dot jerseys.
The 2022 Tour de France began on July 1 with the Grand Départ in Denmark and ends July 24 in Paris.
Watch the special episode of Fun with Maps about the Tour de France.
In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson discusses a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) of the People's Republic of China called Macau.
Macau is known as the "Las Vegas of the East", and some call it the gaming capital of the world. It has a gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas.
The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and with a population of about 680,000 and an area of just 12.7 sq. miles, it is also the most densely populated region in the world.
This episode covers the history of the Portuguese settlement of Macau by Jorge Álvares to the transfer to China on December 20, 1999 after 442 years of Portuguese rule.
This episode looks at maps of the region around Macau including Hong Kong, the Pearl River Estuary and Delta and Guangdong Province and Guangzhou which you may know as Canton.
If you like learning about the world and its people by studying maps, consider subscribing to this series. See more Fun with Maps episodes
Albanian Ambassador to the United States Floreta Faber met with former Cleveland City Councilwoman Dona Brady and a group of Albanian community leaders for a tour of the Albanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland,Ohio USA.
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Juxhin Sazavari, Ajaz Emini, Ambassador Floreta Faber, Dona Brady and Soni Mihij |
Dona Brady has been a delegate representing the Albanian Garden and was involved in its dedication, the Mother Teresa statue and hosting the president of Albania, Mayor of Fier and other dignitaries. In their walk through the Garden, Ambassador Faber told how Albania had been closed off for many years till 1990 and the communists tried to convince the people that the United States was their biggest enemy. But once it opened up they are great friends of the US and joined NATO in 2009. As they continued their walk toward the Mother Teresa statue, Dona Brady told how the Garden came about and some of the events that have taken place there.
Watch the video of the Ambassador and Dona in the Albanian Garden.
HOLA Ohio is a 501c3 Latino organization based in Painesville with a mission to empower the Latino community by creating opportunities through education, outreach, leadership development and economic advancement.
In 2016 HOLA embarked on a project to develop a Hispanic community center to meet the demands of the growing Latino community and demand for its services.
On May 5, 2022 the HOLA Hispanic Community Center had its grand opening.
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| Leading the national anthem |
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| Ribbon Cutting |
Great traditional performances at the grand opening of the new HOLA Hispanic Community Center including Los Jilgueros de Altamira from Mexico and the HOLA Folkloric Dancers.
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| Los Jilgueros de Altamira |
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| HOLA Folkloric Dancers |
The Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 was the first constitution to follow the 1788 ratification of the United States Constitution. May 3 was restored as an official Polish holiday in April 1990, after the fall of communism. It is celebrated in Cleveland with events including a ceremony at the Polish American Cultural Center in Cleveland's historic Slavic Village neighborhood and this parade down Ridge Road in Parma.
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Fr. Eric Orzech and MC Bruce Kalinowski |
Fan Expo (formerly Wizard World) was back in Cleveland the weekend of April 30, 2022. Billed as "the ultimate playground for Comics, Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming. Three BIG days of citywide events, family-friendly attractions and world-renowned celebrities including William Shatner, Katee Sackhoff and many more.
The huge show floor had lots of vendors selling collectibles, original art, comic books, toys, games, clothes, gear, etc. There were also educational and entertainment sessions off the main show floor. As always the costumes of the vendors and attendees were the best part of the event.
The Rotary Club of Cleveland is the home club of Arch C. Klumph, known as the father of The Rotary Foundation. Every year Cleveland Rotarians live the Rotary International “Service Above Self” motto. With countless hours of member planning and execution lead by their service committees, they provide a meaningful impact in the community, internationally, with youth, and in the business community.
Each year they present an International Service Award to a person or group.
The Rotary Club of Cleveland's International Service Award was presented to the Cleveland Council on World Affairs on April 21, 2022. This award celebrates Rotary International's vision of a "world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves."
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| Ingrida Bublys, Yunus Badat and Carina Van Vliet |
The Cleveland Guardians are offering some new foods at Progressive Field for the 2022 baseball season.
This includes items such as a Chicken and Waffle sandwich, Plant-based Nachos, Pork Mac and Cheese in a waffle cone, Wisconsin brat burger on a pretzel bun and more.
You can go to the stands to get your food when you are at a game or order it on your phone for mobile delivery.
I really liked the Chicken and waffle and the Footlong Chili Dog which has a spicy chili and onion.
I tried the plant-based nachos and with the cheese and salsa and jalapenos did not even notice that the “beef” was plant-based. Hungry yet?
This episode of Fun with Maps takes a look at a very strategic piece of land called Königsberg or Kaliningrad.
Kaliningrad is actually a city in the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. Remember that an enclave is a piece of land that is totally surrounded by a foreign territory. An exclave is a piece of land that is politically attached to a larger piece but not physically having the same borders with it because of surrounding foreign territory. Many entities are both enclaves and exclaves. Kaliningrad is an exclave because while politically attached to Russia it is bordered by Poland and Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. An oblast is a political and administrative division of a country. Oblast is a term used by many former Soviet countries that is something like states or provinces.
So how did Russia get territory to the west of Lithuania and north of Poland? It’s a long story starting with Prussia. For much of the last 700 years or so this land was Königsberg, an historic Prussian city that then became German. As you will see, Germany was forced to give up huge patches of its conquered land at the end of WWII.
In 1945 the Potsdam Agreement was signed by the USSR, Britain and the USA. It specifically gave Kaliningrad (known as the German Königsberg at the time) to Russia, without opposition. As you can tell from the map, it’s very important as Russia’s Baltic Navy base.
It was also a center of knowledge and culture with people such as Immanuel Kant, Leonard Euler, Christian Goldbach and others there.
