Lewiston council to celebrate those who call city home May 11

LEWISTON — People from various origins, ethnicities and cultures call Lewiston home. On Thursday, May 11, the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council, in partnership with LA Arts, plans to highlight that diversity from 6-8 p.m.

Let Diversity Shine — a free event to be held at LA Arts, 168 Lisbon St. — aims to provide attendees many opportunities to enjoy and learn, according to a news release from Dottie Perham-Whittier, city community relations coordinator.

The scope of the events:

• Interactive information booths to include Somalia, the Ivory Coast, the Irish, the French, the Hungarians, the Sudanese and the Gabonese. More are welcome to participate by signing up at lewistonmaine.gov/letdiversityshine;

• Booths will feature an explanation of practices, memorabilia, flags, books, jewelry, food samples and words in the respective language for attendees to learn;

• A red carpet will be on site for booth representatives to take center stage with a presentation. Rep. Margaret Craven, for instance, will provide an Irish demonstration.

• Fiddler Greg Boardman will perform a set of French folk music commencing at 6:30 p.m. Council member Ava Golder will provide a looping cultural music playlist as a backdrop for the event, and the council hopes to book additional musical performances before the event date.

• Council members will provide historic facts about Lewiston’s five largest waves of immigration: Irish, French, Greek, Lithuanian and Somali.

• An international basket will be featured as a door prize, which will be filled with various cultural items, to include books on Lewiston history and ethnic cookbooks. Lewiston restaurant gift cards will also be part of another drawing.

• A post-it area for people to share what they know about diversity will be available upon arrival, as well as a post-it area to share what attendees have learned during the event as they exit.

Attendees can come in their own cultural attire, and a few LYAC members will be doing the same in light of the group’s own diversity, which includes the Dominican Republic, Somali and China.

For more information, contact Perham-Whittier at 207-513-3018 or dottie@lewistonmaine.gov.