Heritage Night is Start of New Borough Tradition

Chelsea Newman has been a fan of Japanese culture for most of her life, so when it came time to choose an exhibit topic for the International Cultural Heritage Night at Naugatuck High School, the choice was obvious.

“I’m doing an exhibit on Japan with origami and Manga,” said Newman, a sophomore. “I’ve always been interested in the culture, and with the recent tsunami in Japan, I wanted to show people how great of a culture it is and that we need to help out.”

Newman’s booth at the heritage night was dotted with a number of Japanese Manga — graphic novels drawn in the iconic anime tradition — and with diagrams on various paper-folding techniques. In between greeting friends and guests, she took requests for origami animals and flowers. In one corner of the table sat a large jug with donations for tsunami relief.

“I think some people take advantage of how great we have it, and I think they need to know how other people — although different — are still just as great,” Newman continued. “We should learn about them and not just know only about ourselves.”

The idea of broadening one’s horizons was very much the theme of Thursday night’s cultural event, an initiative organized by the borough’s Cultural Council and by Anne Marie Chuckrey, head of the World Language Department at Naugatuck High School. Filled with information, displays, food samplings and performances, the heritage night was a resounding success with many borough residents and students in attendance.

“You know, you never know what to expect when you have a first night like this,” said Chuckrey as people poured through the doors of Naugatuck High School. “Seven years ago, we did something on a much smaller scale through just our department here…. But to expand it out into the community was a big undertaking — it was a little fearful. You don’t know. So, it’s just great! I’m excited!”

That excitement was shared by both presenters and attendees alike as visitors traveled from booth to booth and to the food stand at the rear of the cafeteria. There, exuberant members of the school’s culinary department served up some of the treats they had made in the hours leading up to the event: tapas, paella, desserts and beverages. In between the entrance and the food court, though, were display booths on counties as familiar as Italy, Scotland and France, and as exotic as Pakistan, Laos and Bengali.

“Today we tried to present common Pakistani ways through their lives and the artifacts they use,” said Seyda Shagufta, who ran the booth on Pakistan with members of her family. Among the “artifacts” that she presented were models of traditional looms and furniture, and examples of Pakistani woodworking.

“The best thing about these is that they are only made from one log,” Shagufta added as her fingers traced the delicate vine pattern on a collapsible wooden bowl.

Meanwhile, at the Italy booth, sophomore Megan Purcaro offered a slide presentation on Italian culture, heritage and, of course, food.

“We have ethnic cookie recipes that we had the cafeteria make for us, and people can sample them,” said Purcaro.

Of course, the students weren’t the only ones rightly proud of the night’s success; Naugatuck High School Principal Francis Serratore was equally pleased with the effort exerted by the school’s population and the Cultural Council to get the heritage night started.

“The people making presentation are very happy to present what they’re showing,” said Serratore. “You can see the pride on their faces as they display some of their artifacts. It’s a real nice night to be proud of your heritage and your culture.”

The presentations in the cafeteria lasted until about 8 pm, when attendees were ushered into the school’s auditorium for a number of ethnic performances. The high school chamber choir sang songs from Africa, Italy and Bosnia before Sokol Taekwondo gave a demonstration on the Korean martial art. Interspersed with these and other performances were a number of slideshows, a poetry reading and a routine by the Naugatuck High School Dance Team.

Prior to the start of the performances, Mayor Robert A. Mezzo spoke briefly about the importance of hosting an event that celebrates multiculturalism.

“I think it’s important that any community should cherish the traditions and the heritages of the people that comprise it,” the mayor explained. “I know some people think of cultural diversity as a bad thing, as something that divides us. And I completely disagree. … I think it’s actually a uniting, binding experience, and I’m glad that Naugatuck is trying to portray itself as a community that cherishes the traditions of the cultures that have been here for years and is welcoming those that are coming as new populations to the borough.”

For Mezzo, Chuckrey and others, Thursday’s heritage night promises to be the start of a new tradition that can unite borough residents for years to come.

Added Chuckrey: “It’s a lot of work, but to see this — it does matter to the community. We see a turnout like this, it does matter. And I think they had a good time, they enjoyed themselves.”