Cleveland Cultural Gardens

General cleanup and weeding was done by volunteers during the weekends of April 17 and 24.

Mother’s Day  (May 9) was celebrated at the India Garden for the 3rd straight year with activities for the whole family.  The event featured a portrayal of Septima Clark, the civil rights pioneer and educator by Sherrie Tolliver of Women in History.  Attendees learned to make origami cranes, a symbol of peace, and had their family portraits taken in front of the Gandhi statue.  They were also treated to fine music and food.  The Federation of India Community Associations, Cleveland Peace Action and Women SpeakOut jointly sponsored the event.

Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday (October 2) was celebrated again this year, but the event was moved indoors to the India Community Center due to inclement weather.  The event kicked off the campaign to designate Cleveland as the City of Peace and Non-Violence.  Rev. Marvin McMickle of Antioch Baptist Church was the chief guest, and endorsed the campaign.  He and other attendees added their signatures to the non-violence pledge at clevelandpeople.com (the cyber wall of non-violence).  Several organizations, such as Council on American-Islamic Relations, Black on Black Crime, Peace in the Hood, and Asian Services In Action participated in the event.

India Garden delegates and members participated in the One World Day 2010 celebration, starting with the dedication of the Armenian garden and the parade of nations.

Ambassador Arun Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC visited the India Garden on December 3, 2010.  He had previously served as India’s ambassador to Israel, and had come to Cleveland at the invitation of the American Jewish Committee and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs.  He spoke at the Chanukah celebration at Temple Tifereth Israel in Beachwood.  Also speaking was his wife, Dr. Maina Singh, author of “Being Indian, Being Israeli: Migration, Ethnicity and Gender in the Jewish Homeland”, a study of Jews of Indian origin who immigrated to Israel in the 1950’s.  (The attached photograph shows Raj Pillai, Amb. Arun Singh (middle) and Ratanjit Sondhe, former CEO of PolyCarb, Solon)

We did not have any problems with vandalism in 2010.  No fundraising activities were held last year.

India Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy, Washington, DC (middle) with Raj Pillai (left) & Ratanjit Sondhe