Cultures on display at International Village

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
While McKeesport’s International Village is a place for family, friends, church parishioners, neighbors and strangers to come together for laughs, good food and dancing, it was originally intended to recognize the city as a “melting pot.”
Founded in 1960, International Village is a three-day celebration of various cultural traditions and heritage, including food, music, dancing, traditional clothing and crafts.
This year, for the 59th anniversary, the committee in charge of planning the Village decided they wanted to make sure that message didn’t get lost, and have asked each group representing each different nation to give a 10-20 minute educational “Heritage Presentation” about what makes their homeland special.
“Heritage Presentations have fallen by the wayside the past couple of years, and we’re bringing it back this year,” International Village secretary Annette James said. “This was always something special that we would do, and since it has been gone people have really missed it.”
She said the point of the presentations is to “make sure that the next generations and guests who have never been to International Village don’t miss out on the true meaning of why we are here.”
The various speakers will “talk about anything that they feel makes their culture special,” James said. “They can tell us where their country is geographically located, or how to decorate a piece of clothing or craft, or teach the steps to their favorite ethnic dance.
“If they want to they can even get up there and teach us how to make a pierogi, which I’m sure is the thing everyone is really dying to know.”

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