Coleman Park celebrates different cultures of communities with food and activities
The Tennessean-May 30, 2008
Several hundred people gathered at Coleman Park to celebrate the cultural changes of the past few years in the Woodbine, Glencliff, Radnor and Sadler Village neighborhoods at the first annual Hands Together in Flatrock Music and Arts Festival.
Musical artists included platinum country songwriter Irene Kelley, the '60s and '70s tribute band Boomerang, and Latin pop-rocker Danny Salazar. They performed at the event, which also featured a variety of ethnic foods vendors and the works of several Flatrock-area artists.
Woodbine resident T.C. Weber, who led the efforts to organize the event, said that the festival took on a life of its own as soon as he and a small group of Flatrock-area residents began to gauge interest in the event.
"I sort of become the de facto director, and the more we talked about this, everybody and their brother jumped on, including local businesses," he said. "I have never seen a project like this where someone didn't have to beg for money. It was amazing."
Weber said the event was also partially funded by Vanderbilt Medical Center and the Metro Nashville Arts Commission.
"This is the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Nashville," Weber said. "Glencliff has 45 different nationalities represented and a rich history of people who have lived there for years and are proud of that history. So we need to celebrate that history and the diversity we have."
Frank Feinstein is a Glencliff resident who was on the organizing board. He said he believes that holding the event each year will be a major factor in bringing the area's growing number of cultures and nationalities together.
"We have such an influx of people here, and all types of restaurants and businesses now," he said. "It's important to bring all the different people together, and an event like this is a great way to do it."
'It came from the heart'
Rubio Hernandez lives in Madison, but works in the Nolensville Road area. He and his family attended the event. He said he thought the idea of the festival was a good one in terms of getting residents of different nationalities together.
"I like it," he said, as his wife and three daughters looked at the works in the art booths. "I think it helps us all become one family."
Donna Pack of Wilson County attended the festival with her teenage daughter, Casey, who was helping run a booth for the Sudanese Community Center.
"Even though I don't live here now, I grew up in this park, playing on the merry-go-round," she said. "It's so multi-cultural here now, not the way it was when I was growing up. This is an awesome event, and my kids were all raised in a neighborhood in Mount Juliet, so this is so good for them."
Patricia Nalini Paiva is the former owner of the recently closed Aurora Bakery on Nolensville Road and is a native of Sri Lanka. As one of the event's organizers, she said she hopes that the event will cause more people in the area to get to know each other and to become more accepting of each other's cultures.
"This is an extraordinary event, and no one prompted anybody to do it," she said. "It came from the heart, from the people who live here. This is being done by many of the original residents of the area, and it's amazing and beautiful the way they want to welcome the new ethnic groups."
Weber said that, as the planning meetings for the event progressed, he knew the organizers were onto something. "We had Latinos, Kurdish residents and more represented at the meetings," he said. "It really looked like the neighborhood."
The Tennessean-May 30, 2008
Several hundred people gathered at Coleman Park to celebrate the cultural changes of the past few years in the Woodbine, Glencliff, Radnor and Sadler Village neighborhoods at the first annual Hands Together in Flatrock Music and Arts Festival.
Musical artists included platinum country songwriter Irene Kelley, the '60s and '70s tribute band Boomerang, and Latin pop-rocker Danny Salazar. They performed at the event, which also featured a variety of ethnic foods vendors and the works of several Flatrock-area artists.
Woodbine resident T.C. Weber, who led the efforts to organize the event, said that the festival took on a life of its own as soon as he and a small group of Flatrock-area residents began to gauge interest in the event.
"I sort of become the de facto director, and the more we talked about this, everybody and their brother jumped on, including local businesses," he said. "I have never seen a project like this where someone didn't have to beg for money. It was amazing."
Weber said the event was also partially funded by Vanderbilt Medical Center and the Metro Nashville Arts Commission.
"This is the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Nashville," Weber said. "Glencliff has 45 different nationalities represented and a rich history of people who have lived there for years and are proud of that history. So we need to celebrate that history and the diversity we have."
Frank Feinstein is a Glencliff resident who was on the organizing board. He said he believes that holding the event each year will be a major factor in bringing the area's growing number of cultures and nationalities together.
"We have such an influx of people here, and all types of restaurants and businesses now," he said. "It's important to bring all the different people together, and an event like this is a great way to do it."
'It came from the heart'
Rubio Hernandez lives in Madison, but works in the Nolensville Road area. He and his family attended the event. He said he thought the idea of the festival was a good one in terms of getting residents of different nationalities together.
"I like it," he said, as his wife and three daughters looked at the works in the art booths. "I think it helps us all become one family."
Donna Pack of Wilson County attended the festival with her teenage daughter, Casey, who was helping run a booth for the Sudanese Community Center.
"Even though I don't live here now, I grew up in this park, playing on the merry-go-round," she said. "It's so multi-cultural here now, not the way it was when I was growing up. This is an awesome event, and my kids were all raised in a neighborhood in Mount Juliet, so this is so good for them."
Patricia Nalini Paiva is the former owner of the recently closed Aurora Bakery on Nolensville Road and is a native of Sri Lanka. As one of the event's organizers, she said she hopes that the event will cause more people in the area to get to know each other and to become more accepting of each other's cultures.
"This is an extraordinary event, and no one prompted anybody to do it," she said. "It came from the heart, from the people who live here. This is being done by many of the original residents of the area, and it's amazing and beautiful the way they want to welcome the new ethnic groups."
Weber said that, as the planning meetings for the event progressed, he knew the organizers were onto something. "We had Latinos, Kurdish residents and more represented at the meetings," he said. "It really looked like the neighborhood."
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