Sierra Vista Herald

Pei Tseng and Mike Chao check out the Mexico booth on Saturday during "Greet Yourself Sierra Vista," a cultural diversity fair, at Buena High School.

By Adam Curtis
Sierra Vista Herald
In its sixth year, the city's annual cultural diversity fair continues to draw hundreds of Sierra Vistans together in a celebration of the wide ranging backgrounds and cultures that make up the fabric of the local community.
This year "Greet Yourself, Sierra Vista" was even better attended than in the past, possibly because the Copper Classic brought in a very different crowd to Buena High School on Saturday who might normally not have stopped by, said Megan Sneary, staff liaison to the city's ommission on Cultural Diversity, which organizes the event.

The fair once again featured more than 25 countries as local residents hosted booths to share their cultural information, food,  dance and music with fellow residents.  A major addition this year was the many students from the International Military Student Sponsorship Program on Fort Huachuca, who were required to attend the event for the first time ever, Sneary said. It was exciting to see so many of these military officers from places like Afghanistan and Tunisia because they were able to share their own heritage, while also learning about the different cultures present in this community.

Mujeebrahman Rashedi, an officer in the Afghanistan Army, was very happy to learn about all the different cultures and said he will never forget the experience. "I would like all of Afghanistan's officers to come here," Rashedi said. During his first trip to the United States, Rashedi was impressed with the country and Arizona in particular.  Rashedi likes America a lot and has met a lot of very, very good people, he said.
Newly elected City Council Member Gwen Calhoun did not have time to help out with the fair this year, but missed it so much, she said.  As one of the original commission members to found the event, Calhoun could not even find a word to describe how she feels to see it thriving six years later.  It's more than satisfying or fulfilling to see so many people coming together and learning from each other about their cultures, Calhoun said. "The more we know about each other, the less fighting there is."  She also noticed many children helping out with the booths and simply visiting the event, Calhoun said.

A teacher from Imagine Charter School helped start an Italian club at the school and hosted a booth at the fair with her students for the first time ever, Sneary said. In addition to the many people who return each year, there's always a few newcomers who want to share their heritage.  "The whole point of this event is we are all Americans and we're Americans that are from around the world," Sneary said. That's what America is all about, being proud of not just where you are but also where you come from.
This was Nancy Cormier's first time sharing information at the event and in addition to representing both her and her  usband's heritage, she made people aware of some local opportunities to track their genealogy.  As a member of the Sierra Vista Genealogy Club, she thinks exploring your family background can be very interesting, Cormier said. Her husband discovered that he is cousins with one of her neighbors and she met one of her own long, lost cousins in town as well.

But that's not all. Locals can also pay the Nancy Brua Animal Care Center to perform DNA testing on their dogs to find out exactly what breeds they are, Cormier said. They provide a genealogical breakdown of the animals makeup and describe the history of the different breeds. Local resident Geri Farnsworth attends the genealogy club sometimes and admits she has a very international family. Farnsworth herself is related to Swedish and Norwegian royalty and her husband, Russ Farnsworth, can trace his history back to King Alfred the Great, one of the most notable Englishman to ever live. They also have one grandchild from Vietnam and two from China, so it's always nice to learn about those countries, Geri Farnsworth said. After being involved in Tucson Meet Yourself in the past, she notes that the Sierra Vista fair is much smaller, but still enjoys coming back every year.  "I think it does real well," she said.