The Westfield Puerto Rican Association celebrated its 27th annual ceremony of the flag of Puerto Rico as part of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Agma Maria Sweeney, the president of WEPRA acknowledged the leaders in attendance and thanked Mayor Michael McCabe who hosted the event. Also present were state Sen. John Velis and state Rep.Kelly Pease, Westfield State University President Dr. Linda Thompson and Westfield City Councilors Cindy Harris, Nick Morganelli, Bridgette Matthews-Kane and William Onyski. Other community leaders in attendance were Becky Blackburn of the Westfield Athenaeum, and Juan Falcon, ED of the Hispanic American Library of Springfield.
WEPRA is a non-profit organization that advocates for education, history and culture of the Puerto Rican community of Westfield and Western Mass. They achieve these goals through mutual respect, friendship, and appreciation for the other. They invite people to join the organization who are looking to share and work together. For a membership applications and info, email them at WEPRA.Westfield@gmail.com.
They celebrate Puerto Rican culture with events like the ceremony to raise the island’s flag along with folkloric musicians Ismael Santiago and his children Beatriz and Marcos accompanied by guitar player Doña Lydia Santiago and Hector Perez on the cuatro. They sang the national anthems of Puerto Rico and the United States and other traditional music.
This year’s flag ceremony was unique because for the first time, the flag flown is an official flag of Puerto Rico, made in the same factory and cut out of the same cloth as the flags flown at the Puerto Rico Capitol Building in San Juan, and at the 78 cities and towns throughout the island.
The ceremony was dedicated to Gabino and Isabel Castro, a couple who is exemplary. Gabo and Isabel met working at a tobacco farm in Westfield. Gabo had recently arrived from Guayama, Puerto Rico. Isabel, of Puerto Rican parents, was born and raised with her nine brothers and sisters in Westfield. They fell in love, got married and have 4 children: Marisa, Adiana, Lucas, and Laura, and 4 grandchildren. Gabo worked for many years at Digital Corp. until they closed their doors. This provided Gabo the opportunity to follow his dreams of becoming a barber. He studied, got his credentials and license, and began working at Amherst Barber Shop. He was the business manager and barber there until covid closed the shop. Now retired, Gabo lives an exemplary life. He attends daily mass at St. Mary’s Church, is eucharistic minister and his friends know they can count on him. Isabel has worked in Human Services for 40 years. She’s currently the Director at the new Springfield office of MCS, the Multicultural Community Services, where she helps persons with disabilities and their families access services and necessary supports that are culturally appropriate. Community work is central to Isabel’s profession.