The best part of her job, Mayor Danene Sorace said Saturday, is meeting "the heroes that are in our community," the people working day in and day out to make their neighbors' lives better.
Midway through Lancaster's third annual Hispanic Heritage Festival, the mayor took the stage to honor two of them: Messala Tapa and Fran Rodriguez.
Held under bright blue skies, the festival brought hundreds of people to the first block of North Queen Street to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The Binns Park stage hosted music and dance performances, culminating with Puerto Rican singer Nino Segarra; food trucks along the street offered arepas, tacos and other Hispanic delicacies.
Tapia, who retired from the School District of Lancaster, where he was a special education assistant teacher, is a founder of the Dominican Association of Lancaster and the producer of Al Tanto, a Dominican-oriented music and current affairs program on local Spanish-language radio station WLCH.
He is also the co-founder with his friend and colleague, Ruddy Hernandez, of a tutorial center that offers English as a Second Language and citizenship classes. Since its founding in the mid-2000s, it has helped 1,279 people become U.S. citizens, Sorace said.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, is senior program officer at the Lancaster County Community Foundation and former president of the Lancaster County League of Women Voters. In 2008 she founded the Latino Empowerment Project, which promotes cultural awareness and trains emerging community leaders.
"This is a great honor for me," Tapia said. He closed his comments with a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, which he delivered in English and Spanish: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Rodriguez who did not speak from the stage, told One United Lancaster afterward that her goal is to elevate the next generation -- not just Latinos, but everyone.
"This is my life's work," and working behind the scenes to benefit the community "brings me a deep sense of joy."
"I'm not done yet," she added.
Lancaster County has had a significant Hispanic population since the 1940s and 1950s, when Puerto Ricans moved into the area to work on local farms. Today, about 11% of county residents and just under 40% of Lancaster city residents are considered Hispanic or Latino.
Hispanic Americans are contributing daily to the vibrancy of their local communities, in business, education, culture and more, said Jose Nunez Ruiz, a member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs who read out Gov. Josh Shapiro's 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.
Saturday's event is "a celebration of the diversity of Lancaster, of a city that welcomes everyone," he said.
Photos
(Photos: Tim Stuhldreher | One United Lancaster)
