Cultural Heritage the focus at festival in Naples’ River Park - Naples Daily News

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NAPLES — It began as an observance of black history. Now, it’s so much more.

“It started out as part of Black History Month, but over the years, it’s morphed into a celebration of unity of many cultures,” said Lynne Clarke of Saturday’s Cultural Heritage Celebration.

Clarke works with the city of Naples, sponsor of the event.

The Cultural Heritage Celebration took place at River Park and featured community-focused booths, including the Collier County Health Department and Planned Parenthood.

Attendance was low compared with what many booth occupants expected. A multitude of events occurred on Saturday throughout Naples.

Private companies also participated in the celebration.

Katie Covington staffed a booth for On the Spot Detailing.

“This is my first time participating,” Covington said. “We’ve been in business for seven years traveling all the way from Marco Island to Fort Myers, so we really enjoy supporting the community at festivals like this.”

Some of the clients are car dealerships in Collier and Lee counties, so Covington felt a connection in supporting the festival.

Gospel-rap performers and vocalists performed on the stage at the River Park Community Center, and kids took the stage to sing along with popular songs.

For kids, the most popular “person” at the event was Casey, a 10-week-old assistance golden retriever puppy.

Tiffany Campbell, proprietor of Paws of Love Assistance Dogs and Southwest Florida Professional Dog Trainers Alliance, brought Casey to educate those attending about therapy dogs.

“Events like this are great to learn about different cultures,” said Campbell, who contributes to the after-school program at the River Park Community Center.

Her educational program includes teaching youngsters about dog safety protocols and dog responsibility.

Paws for Love provides assistance dogs to families with autistic children and disabled Iraqi veterans.

Campbell’s dogs stay with her for at least a year for extensive training before they are placed with families in need.

Dogs slated to go to families with autistic children receive highly specialized training, to withstand the varying degrees of behavior autistic children can exhibit toward pets.

To ensure the health and safety of the dogs, they are taught to tolerate things like ear-pulling and roughhousing that assistance dogs placed with special needs children often experience.

Collier County schools provided information on English language learning. English classes are provided free of charge by experienced teachers like Fernand Billon of the Barron Collier language program.

The classes are paid for through federal and state reimbursements, so there is no cost for people who want to learn English.

Students simply have to put in the time and effort. For people who can’t get to the classes, Collier adult education provides distance learning English programs.

The Cultural Heritage Celebration also included food vendors, who participated in the celebration’s Taste of Soul cooking contest. Attendees got to sample a variety of cultural dishes.

The River Park Community Center includes an aquatic facility and auditorium with two dance floors, computer training lab, library and fitness room and game rooms. There is basketball, a playground, recreational yoga, martial arts, creative arts and dance classes.

An after-school program is available to young people as well as summer and holiday camp programs.

For more information on River Park Community Center and upcoming events, click to NaplesGov.com.

__ Contact Kelly Merritt at Kelly@Kelly-Merritt.com

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