Cheryle King (Richard McGuire file photo)
A new event in November will celebrate local cultural diversity, especially in agriculture.
Harvesting Diversity is sponsored by the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC) and will be held at the Sonora Community Centre in Osoyoos on Nov. 7.
Cheryle King, the chamber member organizing the event, said it reflects SOCC’s desire to broaden its membership to include more agricultural businesses run by people from several cultural communities.
The event will feature music, dance and food from five cultures: Portuguese, Indo-Canadian, First Nations, Mexican and Ukrainian, she said.
Using the slogan “differences enrich us all” on posters, the event encourages people to embrace the differences in each culture.
“By embracing them, we understand them and we won’t be judgmental,” said King.
The idea for the event, said King, grew from cultural diversity events that she and her husband, Osoyoos town councillor Jim King, organized for the local chamber when they lived in Surrey.
“I suggested we do an event here,” she said. “We thought it would be nice to embrace the five cultures that are involved in our agricultural business segment in the South Okanagan.”
Many of the wineries and fruit businesses were developed by people from a Portuguese background, King said.
In recent years, Indo-Canadian families have moved from growing grapes for other wineries to opening a number of their own successful wineries.
The Osoyoos Indian Band has also played a key role in agriculture and the wine business, in particular through Nk’Mip Cellars, Canada’s first aboriginal-owned and operated winery, which has spun off into a thriving tourist industry.
Although this year’s early harvest means many Mexican seasonal workers will have gone home by the time of the event, King said she is working through Osoyoos business people Mara Marquez and Sonia Lopez to include a Mexican element.
The Ukrainian element, she admits, was more of an add-on. It came about because one of the SOCC board members is physiotherapist Grant Storzuk, who happens to be a world-class Ukrainian dancer.
“He’s travelled the world with a Ukrainian dance troupe,” said King. “Grant is training dancers and hopefully he will dance himself because he’s phenomenal.”
And of course the buffet dinner of ethnic delicacies will likely include pierogis and kubasa sausage along with mouth-watering Portuguese foods, curries, spicy Mexican foods and perhaps salmon and bannock.
A Mexican dance troupe will also be coming from Vancouver to perform, King said.
Guests at the event are encouraged to wear regalia and outfits from their cultures, she added.
“For the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce, we want cultural diversity in our membership,” said King. “By doing an event like this, we thought people would feel a lot more comfortable knowing that they are welcome to be part of the chamber of commerce.”
Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $35 and are available from Office Pro and the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
