Bagpipers play in a parade that winds through Lions Park in Ontario, opening the America’s Global Village festivities on Saturday, June 4. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Ontario’s Lions Park hosted an array of villages, each with a distinct culture, on Saturday, June 4. The event was America’s Global Village, organized by the Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce and its community partners.
The festivities kicked off with a welcome to local residents who recently achieved U.S. citizenship and a parade of cultures. The park was decked out with seven “villages” where visitors could learn more about the cultures they represented.
The program included music, dancing, vendors and information booths. Local organizations cooked and sold foods from many lands.
John Breidenbach, chamber CEO, was pleased to have the festival return after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
“This is a 20-year-old event,” he said. “It really is a celebration of all the cultures that make up the western Treasure Valley.”
The event also featured Highland Games that drew competitors from throughout the region. Members of the BMKD Family and the Sisterhood of Highland Throwers swung heavy weights, stones and dense hay bales high into the air and across the field, vying for honors.
Ron Verini talks with members of the Ontario FFA as they prepare to carry the colors in the parade at America’s Global Village on June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Ontario FFA members march through Lions Park as part of America’s Global Village festivities June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Frank Yraguen carries the flag for the Basque entry in the festival at Lions Park on June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Abe Lincoln makes an appearance with the Pioneer Village, courtesy of Skip Critell, an Idaho member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Spectators applaud the parade participants who carried banners representing India, Japan, Africa, Mexico, Scotland and more in the June 4, 2022, parade. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
James Dionne and daughter Legend, 6, present the Native American banner in the parade on June 4, 2022, in Lions Park. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
A drummer keeps the beat as the Pipes and Drums of the Boise Highlanders march through Lions Park on June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Legend Dionne stands on the stage as the crowd welcomes all the cultural villages to Lions Park on June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
A competitor prepares to launch a heavy stone as part of the Highland Games, held June 4, 2022, in conjunction with America’s Global Village at Lions Park. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Members of the BMKD Family and other clansmen test their strength pitching heavy bales in one game on Saturday, June 4, 2022. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Participants toss heavy weights – and duck – as they clear the bar and return to Earth in one of the Highland Games June 4, 2022, in Lions Park. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
Members of the Sisterhood of Highland Throwers participated in the games, in an event that entailed heaving large stones far into the field. (The Enterprise/SCOTTA CALLISTER)
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