The Community

Party celebrates holiday, heritage
Magi: A Latino outreach center in Fells Point organizes a Three Kings Day event for children.

By Mary Gail Hare
Sun Staff

January 11, 2004

Surrounded by 100 children tearing into presents, Esperanza Cardenas, 6, sat primly yesterday on a metal chair, her arms clutching a large box wrapped in red foil. She shook the box occasionally, stuck her small hands beneath the foil and waited.

At the Education-Based Latino Outreach center in Fells Point yesterday, the staff abandoned the regular Saturday morning schedule and indulged in holiday fun. They observed the Feast of Three Kings with gifts to the children, who spend hours in mentor programs. The holiday, widely celebrated in Latin America, is also known as Epiphany and is officially celebrated on Jan. 6. It honors the Magi, three biblical wise men who followed a star to Bethlehem and laid gifts before the Christ child.

The outreach center has organized the celebration for several years with help from corporate sponsors, who contributed about $4,000 this year.

"Basically, we lose this culture when we come here," said Jose O. Ruiz, founder of Education-Based Latino Outreach and Mayor Martin O'Malley's Hispanic liaison. "With this event, our kids celebrate both holidays."

Harold Santana, 9, echoed the sentiment. "I get two Christmases. It is a really good deal."

The children, who ranged in age from babies to teens, gathered in front of a tree-decorated stage in the center on South Ann Street. While singing carols in Spanish and English, many kept their eyes on the doorway, waiting to see the kings enter.

After the group's rendition of "Feliz Navidad," three men costumed in glittery crowns, long, colorful robes and flowing beards took their seats on a makeshift throne. They called each child by name to the stage. Many children quickly recognized and laughed at Miguel Vicente, the center's volunteer coordinator, in his royal raiment.

"I am usually on the other side getting gifts, so this was a big change and a lot of fun for me," said Vicente.

Esperanza was the first child to receive a gift and nearly the last to open one. The noise level escalated as children ripped away paper to find talking trucks, games and craft kits, dolls, sports gear and cuddly stuffed animals. Finally, at the urging of her older brothers, the little girl with long brown hair delicately removed the wrappings and smiled. Then, she paraded around the room showing off her Diva Starz doll, its car and myriad other accessories.

"The kings gave me this," she said repeatedly.

For children of Hispanic heritage, the tradition of Christmas gifts extends beyond Dec. 25 to the Feast of Three Kings.

"This day was the big event, not Christmas," said Edgar Devarie, president of the Latin American Motorcycle Association of Baltimore, a group that helped sponsor the event. "We cannot lose a tradition that has been with us forever."

Christian Cardenas, Esperanza's 11-year-old brother, said, "I like both Christmases but this one I get to see all my friends and play around here." He had two gifts - "scientific stuff and a rescue hero."

Brother Eric Cardenas, 9, received a truck, a car and a bubble pen. He also had a few impromptu lessons on the cuatro, a stringed instrument similar to a guitar, from Guillermo Brown, who teaches English classes at the center and Spanish at the Institute of Notre Dame.

"Hit it lightly and you are playing," Brown said to Eric.

Brown brought several student volunteers with him, and many planned to return.

"I come on the craziest day of the year here," said Cate Kramer, 17, a senior at Notre Dame Preparatory School. "I will be back to help out."

Before the celebrants left, the center passed out bags filled with candy, gum and bottles of bubbles. Many children left sucking on lollipops. Bubbles were floating throughout the building. Esperanza was last seen clutching her doll and asking if its barrettes might work in her hair.

Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun

Comunicado de Prensa

Contacto: Sr. José Ruiz
Enlace Hispano del Alcalde O'Malley's
(410) 545-6532

La Oficina del Enlace Hispano del Alcalde Martin O'Malley y la Oficina de Oportunidades de Negocios para Negociantes Minoritarios y Mujeres presentan
"Tercer Foro para Negociantes Hispanos" el Jueves 22 de Enero del 2004 a las 6 p.m. en el Curran Room, 4to piso, City Hall.

La Oficina del Enlace Hispano del Alcalde Martin O'Malley y la Oficina de Oportunidades de Negocios para Negociantes Minoritarios y Mujeres presentan "Tercer Foro para Negociantes Hispanos" para explicar y discutir sobre el proceso de la Ciudad de Baltimore para la obtención de bienes y servicios. Los temas del programa incluirán la clarificación del proceso de obtención, certificación y oportunidades de negocio con la Ciudad de Baltimore para contratistas y subcontratistas. Representantes del Buró de Compras, Departamento de Obras Públicas, Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Comunitario, Sistema de Educación Pública y la Oficina del Alcalde para el Desarrollo de Negocios Minoritarios de la Ciudad de Baltimore estarán presentes para contestar preguntas. Los participantes recibirán una lista de bienes y servicios que serán obtenidos en 2004.

El Alcalde Martin O'Malley está comprometido a expandir la participación de mujeres y minorías en el proceso de obtención. Interpretación simultanea al Español estará disponible. Para más información llame al 410-545-6532. Para asegurar participación debido a espacio limitado, llame antes del 20 de Enero del 2004.

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: December 11th, 2003
Contact: Mr. José Ruiz
Mayor O'Malley's Hispanic Liaison
(410) 545-6532

Mayor Martin O'Malley's Hispanic Liaison Office and Minority and Women's Business Opportunity Office hosts the "Third Hispanic Business Owners Forum"
Thursday, January 22nd, 2004 at 6 p.m. in the Curran Room, 4th floor, City Hall.

The Mayor's Hispanic Liaison Office and Minority and Women's Business Opportunity Office are hosting the "Third Hispanic Business Owners Forum" to explain and discuss Baltimore City's process for procuring goods and services. Program topics will include clarification of the procurement process, certification issues, and primary contractor and subcontractor opportunities with the City of Baltimore.

Representatives from the Baltimore City Bureau of Purchases, Department of Public Works, Department of Housing and Community Development, Baltimore City Public Schools System, and the Mayor's Office of Minority Business Development will be present to answer questions. Attendees will receive a list of goods and services that will to be purchased in 2004.

Mayor Martin O'Malley is committed to expanding the participation of women and minorities in the procurement process. Simultaneous interpretation into Spanish will be available. For more information call 410-545-6532. To insure registration due to limited space, call by January 20th, 2004.

Dear Friend of the MHRC,

The year 2003 was a banner year for the Maryland Hispanic Republican Caucus (MHRC). Our membership soared fivefold. We implemented an aggressive leadership development plan and have already identified over 12 Maryland Hispanic Republican leaders who will be candidates for elected office in 2006. We have sent untold numbers of email messages to over 2000 addressees and distributed thousands of pieces of literature for President Bush in major events where no other Maryland Republican organization has been present, such as the recent Fells Point Festival in Baltimore, and the Maryland Hispanic Business Conference and Minority Legislative Breakfast in Silver Spring and Bethesda respectively. And we have instituted an aggressive fundraising plan to help Hispanic candidates launch their campaigns.

Soon we will be on the airwaves and the Internet broadcasting our message of self-reliance, compassion, justice, traditional values of family and country, and of a free enterprise system that relies on strong economic development, global economic leadership, and peace—and not on the insatiable greed of special interest groups.

Over 10% of MHRC members have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in war and peace, and we are pleased to note that American Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen were recently honored by Time magazine as the 2003 Persons of the Year.

Hispanic Americans believe in fair play and in the traditional values and ideals of the Republican Party, not in the Tammany Hall tactics of the past. Our strength lies in raising votes not in raising piles of money from special interest groups. Maryland is not for sale—it belongs to the people of Maryland and not to special interest groups.

Hispanics are poised to become one of the most successful immigrant groups in this land of immigrants because of their extraordinary work ethics, entrepreneurial spirit, and family and community values. We are not better or lesser than anyone else, but just the same as everyone else. And we will never tolerate being treated otherwise.

Without the active and meaningful participation of minority groups, the Maryland Republican Party will continue to be an irrelevant political entity, and no other ethnic or racial group is more receptive to its message of aspiration and self-reliance as are Hispanic Americans. And few become what Vladimir Lenin called the “useful idiots”—mindless followers that totalitarian leaders need in order to parrot the partisan rhetoric and generate the cults of personality that keep these leaders in power.

We have been working diligently to help President George W. Bush be reelected. Our internal polls indicate that he will carry Maryland by a solid margin, but the same may not be true for Maryland Republican candidates who are challenging Democratic congressional incumbents—despite President Bush’s predicted success at the polls. Those Republican candidates who will listen to us will run competitive races and those who will not are doomed to fail. And 2004 will be a harbinger of things to pass in 2006.

The MHRC is here to stay and play a major role in ensuring that Republican values and ideals—largely conceived in the ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures of the Mediterranean basin and ultimately blossomed in America—will be preserved for future generations in this land and around the world.

Our very best wishes to you and your loved ones for a prosperous, healthy, and happy New Year!

Jorge Ribas
MHRC State Chair

Man Who May Be Oldest Living Veteran Tells Some
By ABBY GOODNOUGH, the New York Times

ISABELA, P.R., Dec. 19 — Emiliano Mercado del Toro remembers little of his time as an American soldier, the only stretch of his working life spent away from the sugar cane plantations of southwestern Puerto Rico, where he was born.

That he remembers anything is remarkable, for Don Emiliano, as he is known around this seaside town, is 112: a frail, blind, nearly deaf wisp of a man living with his 86-year-old niece in her small stucco home here. He served in World War I for just two months in 1918, then returned to the sugar cane fields and retired at 80.

Now Mr. Mercado spends most days in bed, thinking only, he says, of two women he loved but, for reasons of fate, never married. He is out of ambitions, but his family is seeking a formidable honor on his behalf: they want the United States to recognize him as its oldest living veteran.

The Disabled Veterans of America chapter in Isabela, nearly 70 miles west of San Juan, has joined the family's quest, for Mr. Mercado is one of its own. He was the grand marshal of the chapter's Veterans Day parade last year, leading the procession in his wheelchair and navy-and-gold garrison cap.

The chapter leaders did some research and learned that an older veteran lived in North Carolina, but the man, Robert Hodges, died at 115 last month. They persuaded Army officers from Fort Buchanan, outside San Juan, to interview Mr. Mercado, hoping it would lead to recognition from Washington.

"But we hear nothing yet," said José L. Gutiérrez, the chapter commander, who is 70 and sits at Mr. Mercado's side like a grandchild, coaxing stories out of him. "Maybe if we hear something, Don Emiliano can be in — how do you say? Guinness Book."

The recognition might also serve as a balm to thousands of veterans in Puerto Rico. Many feel underappreciated by the country they served and resented by a contingent of the island population that thinks Puerto Ricans should not be fighting American wars.

Puerto Ricans have served in the military since 1917, when they were made citizens partly out of concern that Allied forces would need more troops. About 18,000 Puerto Ricans served in World War I, more than 60,000 in World War II, 48,000 in Vietnam and 43,500 in the Korean War, which had the largest number of Puerto Rican casualties — about 750 — according to National Archives data.

The nearly four million residents of the island cannot vote in United States elections and have no voting representative in Congress, which critics say is reason enough for Puerto Ricans not to serve in American wars. When nearly 1,000 Puerto Rican reservists were called to active duty three weeks ago, joining several thousand other Puerto Rican reservists and National Guard members already serving in the war in Iraq, some groups, including the Puerto Rico Bar Association, urged Gov. Sila M. Calderón to stop authorizing deployments.

Mr. Gutiérrez and other aging veterans visiting Mr. Mercado on this warm winter day bristled at that suggestion: they said military duty was an honor that Puerto Ricans willingly sought.

"Some people here, they think Puerto Ricans serving in Iraq should be called back," Mr. Gutiérrez said. "Why? They signed a contract. They wanted a better life."

Mr. Mercado's service was not voluntary: he was drafted, reporting for duty on Oct. 7, 1918, according to weathered documents his family kept. The Army sent him to Panama for basic training, where he remembers learning how to fire a bolt-action rifle.

But the armistice ending the war was signed on Nov. 11, and Mr. Mercado was discharged on Dec. 4 with a certificate his nieces preserved in a plastic envelope. He was 25, with chestnut eyes, chestnut hair and a good character, according to the certificate. Now his hair and winglike eyebrows are white, his unseeing eyes ringed with dark circles.

Phil Budahn, a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, said the department did not keep a running tally of oldest veterans, but estimated that fewer than 200 remained from World War I. He took Mr. Mercado's name and birth date, Aug. 21, 1891, promised to do some research, and asked, "Is he a good interview?"

In fact, Mr. Mercado is. His fingers are in constant motion, fluttering as he greets visitors gamely and gathers his strength for the inevitable barrage of questions. He grasps their hands and answers when he feels like it. His great-niece, Dolores Martínez, 46, kneels before his wheelchair and trumpets the questions into his ear, hollering, "Tío!" ("Uncle!") to get his full attention.

What does Mr. Mercado remember from his early life? His teachers at the public school in the town of Cabo Rojo, which he attended through the sixth grade. Hurricane San Ciriaco, which swept across Puerto Rico in 1899, killing 3,400 people. He says he even recalls the landing of American troops at Guánica, on the island's southern coast, in 1898, when they wrested the island from Spanish control.

He chooses not to answer a question about the war in Iraq, in which at least 13 Puerto Ricans have died. Ms. Martínez, his great-niece, says her son is serving there.

How did Mr. Mercado come to live this long? His family credits the fact that he never married. He, a wistful romantic, prefers to cite his diet of boiled cornmeal, cod and coconut milk.

On the porch of his niece's home, Mr. Mercado smiles for photos but then asks to return to bed, where he reclines with a cool washcloth over his eyes. Perhaps he has returned to thinking about lost loves: one died young, another went to live with her family in the states. But his family and Mr. Gutiérrez are still thinking about the recognition they want for him.

"He's like the history of our family," Ms. Martínez said. And of Puerto Rico, too.