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First of all, “THANK YOU” to all the different NCI Ethnic groups that participated during the Indy 500 Festival Parade and to University of Indianapolis, International Division, for allowing us to use the international flags for the parade.
June is another busy month for NCI; we are participating this coming June 4, 2011 in the Asian Festival that will be held at Garfield Arts Center, 2432 Conservatory Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46203 from 10:00 A.M. through 4:00 P.M. Then on June 11, 2011, we are participating in PBS for Kids at Military Park, Indianapolis Downtown, from 10:00 A.M. thru 4:00 P.M.
The 2012 NCI calendar lottery will be at the June 13 meeting. Our goal is to have the final version of the 2012 calendar available in early October.
I look forward to meeting everyone in the upcoming NCI meeting June 13, 2011.
Second Monday of the Month, (except December and January).
The new days and hours that parking meters operate Downtown have changed to Monday - Saturday, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. The new parking meters offer convenient payment options including coins, credit cards and debit cards.
in the Ethnic Hoosier
1. Announcements must be submitted in plain text as with MS Notepad's text format. We cannot publish posters or flyers, and we prefer the owner of the event edit the ad and provide the text. Images should be in JPEG or GIF format and less than 75K in size.
2. Sufficient contact info such as the contact person and phone/ website/ email is necessary.
3. The announcements in the Ethnic Hoosier (EH) are usually less than 50 words with no images. The Editor reserves the right to edit the announcement text and graphics.
4. Not all events are included in the Ethnic Hoosier. NCI's complete list is found at Indy's International Calendar at NCI's website with much greater detail.
Deadline: 23rd day of the month.
Visit
(http://NationalitiesCouncil.org) or contact Marlon Alfonso, [email protected].
(http://indyinternationalfestival.org) or contact Pat Hubley, [email protected].
As in previous years, many nationalities and ethnic groups participated in the NCI Parade Unit including Native Americans, Sikhs, Chinese, Turkish, Irish, Germans, Scottish, Asian Indians, Hawaiians, Filipinos, South Koreans, Vietnamese, and many others. The representatives were colorfully dressed in their native and festive costumes. The 200-strong NCI Unit was led by a colorful Chinese dragon and included the Chinese lion dancers.
One could witness great pride, fun, and a spirit of friendship among the various participants as they were preparing for the Festival Parade to begin. Once the Parade began, it was a deeply moving experience to see the enthusiasm and excitement of the estimated 300,000 Parade spectators along the Parade route. The young children, many with digital cameras, were waving and Hoosiers and guests from around the world were smiling and clapping as the Chinese dragon, turbaned Sikhs, elegantly dressed South Korean and Hawaiian dancers, Filipinos, and other nationality groups moved along the nearly three mile route on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Indianapolis has been opening new doors to the many ethnic, cultural, and faith communities over the past forty years under the leadership of the last five Mayors. The invitation to participate in the IPL 500 Festival Parade and a myriad of other opportunities is a welcome recognition of the growing diversity as an important and significant reality. Many enlightened minds in Indiana and the nation see immigrants as people with many innovative and fabled experiences; they represent a brave new pioneering spirit and intense pride to be Americans. Today, immigrants from many countries make Indianapolis their home, serve as leaders in many fields, and are contributing to the rich cultural and international spirit of Indiana.
This year’s Parade and other 500 festivities were a fabulous lead-in to the historic 100th running of the 500 Mile Race on May 29th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, expected to attract about 400,000 racing fans, including some from many countries, to enjoy the greatest spectacle in racing.