All People’s Day

Having grown up in an all-white company town in Texas has made me eager to explore and learn about world cultures. When I heard from my friend Linda about All People’s Day, an annual diversity festival sponsored by the Lake Worth Interfaith Network and Delray Beach Parks & Recreation, I decided to check it out. It was only 11 minutes away and an interesting contrast to our gated community. It exposed me to a wide variety of interesting people. Some were putting together this huge puzzle of the world:

A woman from an African country was leading an active work-out that I joined. It felt good!

At one table an intergenerational trio was displaying artwork they had created. It didn’t take me long to choose a couple of the granddaughter’s tribal bead bracelets for my own granddaughters.

While many types of world music played on the LOUD speakers, some people were playing chess. Others were promoting Kiwanis and other special-interest clubs.

A main attraction was free food from a variety of restaurants–Agliolio Italian, Goldstein’s Haitian Café, Paella de España, and Ziree Thai & Sushi. Waiting for the food to be served, I noticed one woman’s tee shirt. Yes, it was from Rice University–we were both surprised! Such shirts are rare in South Florida! Maggie, originally from China, is the mother of Luke, who graduated from Rice in 2023. When i told her about my family’s love for Rice, she was amazed to hear that Rice was once tuition-free! Of course, just because my brother Joel and I, my husband Steve, and his cousins Jay and Roger attended Rice during that period, that’s not the whole reason we love the place so much. I confessed that we paid full tuition for our son David; she admitted that her son had some tuition assistance. He is now studying for a master in health sciences here in Florida. Perhaps we’ll get to meet Luke someday. All People’s Day was fun–I’ll go again!