Harmony Day Friends
Dear friends,
Over the course of today, July 3, 2011, a couple of hundred Staten
Islanders resurrected the spirit of Harmony Day at Miller Field.
Thank you to everyone who came and made this day possible.
At 10:30 am, David, Mike, Luke, and I arrived. We stood around looking
at the stormy skies and compared notes of forecast downpours. It was
quiet in the park. No traffic. Across the field, soccer teams were
playing. Jim of Whitefeather stopped by to look for the best place to
hold the drumming circle. We took heart and started a couple of the
grills. Pete and Renee, nearby neighbors of the park, walked over,
introduced themselves, completely embracing the idea of a Harmony Day
picnic. By this time, we were completely emboldened. We swung into
action and pulled the food out of the cars.
Before long, more and more cars pulled up along the picnic area dropping
off salads, ice, watermelon, corn, hot dogs, hamburger, shish kebabs,
cakes, and people. NY1 set up under an umbrella for interviews. Advance
photographer Hilton Flores took shots of Addie Corn’s spectacular
salads. Hakan Baydere, Hakan Tale, and their colleagues from the
Turkish Cultural Center grilled shish kebabs. Buddy Corn filled another
grill with corn on the cob. Mike May did duty with hamburgers and
Richie Marini never slowed with the hot dogs. Thank goodness for
Dorothy Clark — helping Addie on the salads.
Eileen Bardel, Elaine Brower, Mary Hernandez, and Diane Matyas made sure
everyone had a name tag and got a raffle ticket. For a couple of
hours it didn’t rain at all. Dorothy Mannino and her daughter Tess
pulled out the face paint and the games. All the children went away
with prizes. The Whitefeather drummers sat under the large tree across
the road and invited us to join them listening and feeling the heart
beat of the earth. We danced in a circle and heard the story of the
hawk who bravely brought fire on a burning branch back from the sky to
the earth’s people. A medicine healer from Ecuador presented an eagle
feather to Jim.
The break in the weather brought another wave of neighbors to the
picnic. The grills were stoked, the salads served, and watermelon
sliced until all were sated. Councilwoman Debi Rose and her niece
Tanisha stopped by. Our gathering reflected the many communities of
Staten Island, especially from New Dorp. The park rangers said they’d
like us to come back and do it again.
Help us write the story of bringing back Harmony Day to Staten Island.
Add your reflections to this and we’ll save it. Post your pictures and
we’ll share.
Sally Jones
