[StBernard] Canary Islands descendants hold 30th festival in spite of Katrina

[Westley Annis]

Ironically, I missed the festival, because I was in the Canary islands and
have just returned. I made acquaintance with a couple that work for the
museum there and are eager to assist St. Bernard any way they can; they do
not speak any English and I only speak Spanglish. Is there anyone at the St.
Bernard Society that I can contact and put them in contact with them? Mudpie




	----- Original Message -----
	Canary Islands descendants hold 30th festival in spite of Katrina 
	3/24/2006, 4:27 p.m. CT 
	By JANET McCONNAUGHEY 
	The Associated Press 
	
	CHALMETTE, La. (AP) - Hurricane Katrina wrecked their museum, their
homes, 
	and their lives. But that couldn't keep descendants of Canary
Islanders who 
	came to St. Bernard Parish more than two centuries ago from
celebrating 
	their heritage with the 30th Islenos Fiesta. 
	
	"At first, we thought, `Could we have this festival? Could we pull
it off?'" 
	said Kathie Acosta, an evacuee who drove down from Murfreesboro,
Tenn., to 
	help with the festival, which will take place Saturday and Sunday. 
	
	"This festival is a celebration to let people know we'll be back,"
she said. 
	
	The hurricane flooded every building in St. Bernard Parish. 
	
	In addition, a tree fell on the main building of the museum, a
collection of 
	10 historic cottages donated to or bought by Los Islenos Cultural
and 
	Historical Society. Most were moved to the museum site in the town
of St. 
	Bernard. 
	
	Only one of those buildings can be repaired. The rest will have to
be all or 
	partly replaced, said festival chairwoman Rhonda Rodriguez Hannan.
"They're 
	no longer historical structures, basically," she said. 
	
	Last year's festival had more than 70 crafts vendors and
demonstrators, said 
	Donald "Put" Nunez, who was stapling palmetto leaves to frames of
2-by-4s - 
	the post-Katrina version of the palmetto huts which were Islenos'
first 
	shelters. 
	
	Most of them are gone. "I think only six will be coming this time,"
he said. 
	
	When he said they'll include a man who builds cypress rockers,
Acosta was 
	delighted. She had brought her two double-seated porch rockers
inside for 
	safekeeping before evacuating ahead of the storm. 
	
	"Where your house went?" Nunez asked. 
	
	Acosta shrugged and laughed. "I don't know." 
	
	Although the festival is smaller, "the food isn't going to be
smaller," 
	Acosta said. 
	
	On Friday, volunteers were chopping onions, green peppers, garlic
and other 
	seasonings for paella, white beans, Canary Islands shrimp, shrimp
and grits, 
	and other dishes traditional either on the islands or in the parish.

	
	Volunteers chopped fruit for sangria until 3 a.m. on a recent night,
Acosta 
	said. 
	
	The festival's displays will include the few exhibits salvaged from
the 
	museum - a 200-year-old handcarved cypress dugout, a clay water jug
from 
	Spain found in Lake Borgne, handcarved duck decoys and model ships. 
	
	A model ship in a glass case; several jugs; two hand-carved wooden
chairs, 
	one of them child-sized; two flags, six cardboard boxes and a carved
wooden 
	box sat under and next to a trailer ramp. 
	
	"This is the museum," Acosta said, her voice catching. 
	
	She swallowed her tears while opening the wooden box and showing a
small but 
	ornate silver crucifix, a small silver cup and a few other items.
Across the 
	sidewalk lay two pirogues including the dugout, which held a few
other items 
	including pirogue and cooking paddles. 
	
	Los Artesanos de Ingenio, a string band with more than 30 members,
is 
	performing at the festival and brought regional costumes for the
museum, 
	Hannan said. 
	
	The bandleader's brother is mayor of the Gran Canaria Island city of

	Ingenio, which is a sister city of St. Bernard Parish. Mayor Domingo

	Gonzales visited the parish weeks before Hurricane Katrina, and
arranged for 
	the band's visit. 
	
	Manuel Mora, who researched a documentary about the connection last
year, 
	will present his subtitled work, "La emigracion canaria a Luisiana
(The 
	Canary Islands Emigration to Louisiana)". 
	
	"While he's here, he's going to do a post-Katrina documentary,"
Hannan said.