Dominican Community in Washington Celebrates their Independence Day
Dominican Community in Washington Celebrates their Independence Day, Attracting Celebrities from the Dominican Republic
http://www.elojolatino.com/arc/0210/inddominicana0210.htm
Translation from the Spanish by Millie Ribeiro
Last Saturday, February 20th, over 300 persons turned out to celebrate one more year of Independence of the Dominican Republic at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. The celebration consisted of a Gala VIP, sponsored by the non-profit Unión Multicultural Latino Americana (UMLA) and La Unión Cultural Dominicana. Special guests for this event came from the Washington D.C. metro area.
Also enjoying the evening were guests of honor flown in from the Dominican Republic: the famous night time Dominican TV Diva also ex Miss República Dominicana, Milagros Germán and the Dominican TV Host Jochy Santos. Both were honored following the dinner. The second part of the event consisted of a Ball held at the same hotel with music provided by the Kinito Méndez orchestra. Everyone awaited the presentation of the ”Hombre Merengue”, which had been programmed to start after midnight.
“The idea is to provide the Dominican community and their friends with an event of this magnitude to celebrate Independence Day”, said Franklin Jimenez, UMLA’s Executive Director and coordinator for this event. “Dominicans are known for holding parties in other places, and we wanted to let everyone know that we also hold events in 5 star hotels such as the Bethesda Hyatt Regency.” concluded Mr. Jimenez. Maryland State Delegate, dominican-american Jocelyn Peña-Melnyk, pointed out how important it was for her to participate in the celebration.
Among other personalities attending the event were the Dominican Ambassador to the United States, Roberto Saladin, Chief of Police for Prince Georges County, Roberto Hylton, the owner of Radio América, Alejandro Carrasco, Maryland State Delegate, Jocelyn Peña-Melnyk, y the President of the Washington Latino Caucus, Franklin Garcia.
Photos of the event can be seen at http://www.unidaddominicana.com/eventos/drindepgala2010.htm. A video is also available at YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgxDgHhgJEA.
This Gala launched a series of celebrations which will be held in the Washington D.C. area. On February 25 the Inter American Development Bank will also be holding a private event for the Independence Day celebration. The White House will soon be sending out invitations for another Dominican Independence Day event programmed for March 1st.
Franklin Garcia.
Feb 22nd, 2010 |
