International Pavilion

The International Pavilion is always a highlight of the Brunswick County Intercultural Festival.

The idea behind the pavilion is to bring the community’s diverse cultures and different ethnic backgrounds into the public with displays of art, costumes, landscape, history, books, demonstrations and music.

Past years’  participants included:
Valerie Bannister : a collection of books about and by African Americans or other people of color. The books displayed included topics of African-American architecture, art, beauty, children’s stories, cooking, history, military, music and politics.
Valerie and her husband Jerome are three-year residents of Brunswick County. Although she lived in several northeastern states, her roots are in the Carolinas.

Rosa Gardner Davis and Lynda Brown, both natives of Brunswick County, presented black American history and culture. Gardner Davis is a retired schoolteacher, born and raised in Brunswick County. She received her degree in early childhood education from Queen’s University in Flushing, NY. She came back to Brunswick County and recently retired from the Brunswick County school system.

Hannelore Philipp, with the help of Maria Kaeslingk, both born and raised in Germany, exhibited authentic crafts, art, costumes, books, pictures and literature about Germany, along with Volksmusik. Various videos of Germany, including King Ludwig II’s castles, were shown. Kaeslingk is a member of the German-American Stammtisch in Southport and Phillip enjoys Kaffeeklatsch in a circle of German ladies in the Ocean Isle/Sunset Beach area.

Marilyn Graham has been with the Brunswick Community College and Brunswick Educational Transition Center since 2004. She teaches Spanish courses. She grew up in El Salvador and has lived there and in the U.S. She has had extensive travel through Latin America and several European countries.
Graham’s display represented pre-Columbian times in Latin-America culture including information on Mayan pyramids and the Inca bridges in South America, Central-American Pre-Columbian ceramics, indigenous clothing and culture, as well as eco-tourism information.
Joining Graham was Silvia Sevast and Atileno Cardenas representing Columbia, Claudia Bona Mcginnis representing Brazil, Yoliet Strocchia representing Venezuela and Jeannet Egan representing Puerto Rico.

Becky Long is a native of Brunswick who grew up on a small farm in the southwestern part of the county. Her family roots go back to the 1700s in Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties, and in adjoining counties of S.C. She has spent hundreds of hours collecting old stories and photos of the region, and photographing visible relics of days gone by.
Long shared her collection of Brunswick County “the way it was.”
Long is employed as the Community Outreach Coordinator in Brunswick County for Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter and works in the Supply office.

Wendy Pennell and Shanhong represented the Wilmington Chinese-American Culture Association (WCACA). This included an acupuncture demonstration and different alternative medicines.
Pennell lives with her husband and children in Leland. She is originally from Beijing. She is an instructor at the Brunswick Community College in conversational Chinese and Chinese cooking classes.

Alejandro Galvez Cruz Amerilhad a collection of traditional Mexican toys and games used to display and interact with children, youth and adults. There were more than 300 toys and games on display. There was also Aztec dance and storytelling.

Annette Frey a resident of Brunswick County. She is the daughter of a French-Algerian immigrant, and speaks French, English, Spanish and German. Her husband Chris is Swiss German. Frey has a degree in foreign languages from West Virginia University. Her display table represented France, Algeria and Switzerland.

Vivian St. Juste of the Caribbean Socialites shared Caribbean culture.

Claire K. Connelly’s paternal grandmother is a member of the Iroquois Nation in Canada. She inspired her ongoing interest in Native-American cultures. Over the years Connelly has collected artistry representing many Native-American tribes and groups. Connelly is particularly fond of several art pieces from the Eskimo (Inuit) groups in Alaska. Their emphasis on family ties is represented in their art. Connelly is a local author who lives in Sunset Beach.

Casey Townsend is a resident of Brunswick County and had a display table with information and articles from her travels to Kenya.

Anna Blizzard is a scientist, a resident of Sunset Beach and a board member of Community in Schools. She represented her native country Indonesia. She and her husband Dr. Dan Blizzard have been residents of Brunswick County for more than four years.

Representing Thailand and the Midway Thai Buddhist Temple, Nalinee Tantayopin is a resident of Sunset Beach. She moved to Brunswick County with her husband four years ago from Long Island, NY. She is a retired accountant.

The Asian Club of Supply Elementary had a booth set up displaying what students learned about Korea, Japan and China. The students completed more than 64 hours of lessons, workshops and activities that taught them about these countries’ cultures and histories.

Mari-Lou Wong-Chong, co-chair for the festival, is serving again as the coordinator and chairperson for the pavilion. She is also the president of the board of directors of the Brunswick County Literacy Council.
Wong-Chong and her husband George moved to the area from Pittsburgh, Penn. A native of the Philippine Islands, Wong-Chong is a microbiologist who has been educated in the U.S. and Canada.
She is involved in several community services trying to make a difference in others’ lives. Wong-Chong had a table of her own depicting some countries in Southeast Asia.

For more information about the International Pavilion, contact Wong-Chong at 842-6566 or by e-mail at interculturalfestival@hotmail.com.

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