The Spanish American Club, Inc.

Spanish American Club marks 22nd Anniversary

By Herman Santa

The 22nd annual anniversary party hosted by The Spanish American Club, Inc. was celebrated on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) hall in Port St. Lucie.  The DAV staff, Donna Carlsen, Dan Depagnier (member) and Art Edmonds have done a wonderful job of remodeling the hall and making us feel very welcome at their premises. If you need a place for a family event, this is it.

The evening featured food, music and raffles. The dinner consisted of roast pork, stewed chicken, rice and pigeon peas, black beans, yucca with mojito and rolls. Coffee and birthday cake were also provided. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding.  Members present celebrating their birthday were: Carly Werhly, José Ramirez, Sara Wesco, Joe Abbate, Karen Meza, Bob Calderin, Ed Parra, Icilda Smith. Door prize winners were: Vivian Megaro, Carly Werhly, Ana Rodríguez, Cookie Santiago, José Santiago and Mirta Zapata.

Among our guests this evening were Councilwoman Michelle Berger and her husband Scott Berger, newly re-elected Judge Phil Yacucci and his wife Maria Yacucci, candidate for St. Lucie County Group 4 Judgeship Albert Moore and his lovely lady Jennie Browning and candidate for Port St.Lucie Mayor Gregory Oravec and his wife Tonya Oravec. Gregory Oravec graced us with a prayer before the meal.  After the birthday celebration and raffle drawings, everyone enjoyed the entertainment of D.J. José Ramírez with his repertoire of songs he sang and played. We danced to a variety of music from salsa, to merengue, cumbia, bachata, polka, slow love songs, line dancing and the twist.

Big thanks to the board who worked very hard to make the annual event a big success and to our members for their continued support and camaraderie. Finally, many thanks to the members who helped with the decorations and cooked the food.  The mission of the club is to promote friendship and solidarity among its members, neighbors and other institutions of the Treasure Coast through social, cultural and civic activities to promote knowledge of the Spanish speaking countries, their geography, history, art, culture and folklore.

The club has grown from 18 members in 1992 to 145 members and more applications have been received; $20,000 in scholarships have been awarded to Hispanic students in Martin and St. Lucie counties; 34 Hispanic students from many different countries have been awarded scholarships — Mexico (17), Guatemala (5), Puerto Rico (4), Colombia (4), Venezuela (2), Cuba (1) and Perú (1).

Next events of the club are a Halloween party on Saturday, Oct. 25; Thanksgiving party on Nov. 29; and the holiday dance on Saturday, Dec. 27.  If anyone is interested in becoming a member of the club, please contact the president of the club, Carlos Bonet, at c.bonet@aol.com. For more information please visit http://www.spanishamericanclubinc.org.

Photo #1 Catering Helpers

Photo #2 Carly Werhly, José Ramirez, Sara Wesco, Joe Abbate, Karen Meza, Bob Calderin, Ed Parra, Icilda Smith

Photo # 3 Back Row: Tony Colón, Vivian Megaro, Carly Werhly, Ana Rodríguez, Cookie Santiago, José Santiago, Mirta Zapata and Al Feliciano.  Front Row: Carlos Bonet