Roots Aurora, the annual festival of ethnic cultures, is seeking individuals to be honored as Cultural Champions at the September 6 event in Aurora.
Nominees should have demonstrated effectiveness in preserving the history and traditions of their ethnic groups, passing them along to younger generations, and sharing them with all people of every background, especially within Aurora.
Examples of cultural preservation would include the teaching of language, the performance of music and dance, the development of culinary and artistic skills, and writing about ethnic traditions or history.
The festival will feature food, entertainment, and a youth talent show. It will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6 at the Water Street Mall in downtown Aurora. The date coincides with First Fridays events downtown and will have no admission cost.
Previous honorees include:
African American, Anthony Stanford, William Bigham, Onwa Olieh and Ricky Rodgers;
France, Josette Smith; Germany, Ed Schleining; Greece, Eva and Michael Kontos and Penny Panayiota Deligiannis;
Puerto Rico, Mirna Lopez-Freitag and Emilio Berrios; Mexico, Maria Lozano, Jesus Sanchez and Gonzalo Arroyo; Panama, Rene Cruz; Tejano, Arturo Velasquez and Alejandro Benavides;
Ireland, Dan Dolan; Italy, Anthony J. Prisco and Guy Prisco; Jewish, Marilyn Katz; Luxembourg, James Michels, David Frieders, and the American Luxemburger Independent Club; Romania, Viola Moldovan; India, Krishna Bansal and Prakasam Tata; All nations (research), Michael Fichtel.
More information about Roots Aurora and nomination guidelines are online at https://www.rootsaurora.org/cultural-champions-new.
Nominations can be sent to aurorahistoricalsocietyevents@gmail.com or mailed to the Aurora Historical Society at P.O. Box 905, Aurora, IL 60507. They are due by August 20.
— Aurora Historical Society