AHA NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2005

News from the Alabama Hispanic Association (AHA)

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AHA News:
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February Latin Dance Fundraiser.
The Alabama Hispanic Association is ready to warm up the dance floor once again with their first Latin dance event of 2005, the quarterly Latin Dance fundraiser.

This dance will take place on Saturday, February 5 starting at 8:00 PM at the Senior Center Auditorium on 2200 Drake Avenue in Huntsville. Dance instructor Nick Mopara will give a Merengue, Salsa and Cha-Cha group dance lesson at no additional charge from 8:00 to 9:00 PM. Music will be provided by "DJ Azucar" (Signey Hernandez). The theme of the dance is "More Chillin' with Salsa".

Admission is $8 per person in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets are available at "La Michoacana Grocery Store" from Saturday, Jan. 22 until Friday, Feb. 4. La Michoacana (256-532-0266) is located at 2007 University Drive in Huntsville and is open daily from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Tickets are also available through members of AHA. A semi-formal dress code (no jeans, tennis shoes, T-shirts, baggy pants, ball caps, etc.) will be enforced. The net proceeds from this event will be used in the Association's charitable activities for disadvantaged Hispanics in this area.

Volunteers are still needed to help AHA during the Dance. Please inform Signey (signeyh@yahoo.com, 783-4007) if you are able to volunteer for a 1 1/2 hour slot at the dance.

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Tutoring and Mentoring Program at Butler High School.
AHA's tutoring program, coordinated by Keith Lorick, has started-up again, this time at Butler High School in Huntsville. (The previous program, lasting over two years, was conducted in Decatur.) The AHA tutoring committee met with the Butler High School principal to discuss needs and trends in the Hispanic student population. Current trends are very pessimistic - this year, Butler's Hispanic student body has this profile:
Freshman 36 students 8.04% of the overall student population.
Sophmore 15 students 5.93%
Juniors 7 students 4.14%
Seniors 4 students 1.89%
The drop-out rate for Hispanics is clear and appalling from these figures. AHA plans to intervene with the youngest groups to provide English tutoring and mentoring to help these Hispanics perform well academically and stay in school until graduation.
Additional meetings have been scheduled with the Butler High School administrators and counselors, and with the Hispanic students and their parents to work-out the logistics of the tutoring and mentoring sessions.

To make this program successfully, AHA needs more members and other volunteers to participate. Approximately 1 1/2 hours per week of helping Hispanic students learn English and writing skills, understand and complete homework assignments, and other activities, such as field trips, will make a big difference in the lives of these students.

To get more information about how you can help, please contact Keith Lorick at klorick@mtwsa.org, 256-325-3865 (home) or 256-679-6812 (cell).

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AHA Outreach Committee Report.
AHA continues to assist the Hispanic Community through its Outreach Program. Throughout the year the Outreach Program assists individuals with translators who need help during court appearances, doctor visits, human resource visits, and in many other situations. AHA representatives have been actively involved with Hope Place, assisting in the placement of battered Hispanic women.

The AHA Outreach Committee is always in need of eager members and volunteers to help in this crusade. AHA also sends a deep thank you to volunteers like Elsie Cubero and Lourdes Collazo who have given selflessly and helped so much throughout the year. To volunteer for the AHA Outreach, please contact Juana Garlington at aha@alabamahispanicassociation.org.

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Christmas Charity Report.
AHA held its "Christmas Charity Dance" on November 13th, raising $1000 for AHA's Christmas Toy and Food drive for disadvantaged Hispanic families in this area. In December, boxes of food, toys and gift certificates were distributed to 30 Hispanic families that had been identified by AHA members as in need of help.

Special thanks is due to the Margarita Society for providing the toys that were distributed, and to La Michoacana store who provide the distribution location.

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AHA Membership Renewal.
A reminder to all AHA members, 2005 is here and all AHA memberships are due for renewal. Membership is $15 per person per year; the membership form is available at http://www.alabamahispanicassociation.org/membereng.htm The membership pricing on the website form may still be wrong - the correct amount is $15 per person, without discounts for couples. Contact Vasni Torrijos (raspi@knology.net) with questions. The mailing address for forms and checks is:
Alabama Hispanic Association
1595 Slaughter Road, Suite A
Madison, AL 35758

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Panoply 2005 "A La Cart" Fundraising Activity.
AHA will operate the "A La Cart" concession at the 2005 Panoply festival, April 22-24, as a fundraiser. The concession consists of 4 mobile carts which sell hot pretzels and churros. Over the 3 day festival period, we will need 52 volunteers to man the carts in periods of 2 hours each, plus additional volunteers to coordinate the carts' activities and transport the carts. AHA hopes to raise approximately $1500 - $2000 from this activity. All volunteers gain free admission to Panoply, saving the $8 admission fee.

If you can help out by donating 2 hours during this festival, please contact Vasni Torrijos at vasni.torrijos@boeing.com, 256-464-6435 (home) or 256-503-1420 (cell).

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AHA General Meeting.
The AHA General Meeting was held on January 21, 2005. The primary discussion was about AHA's goals for 2005, and it was generally observed that the lack of active members, volunteers, and funding would reduce AHA's activities for this year. Among the activities approved were:
* Continue the support for the Honors Day Convocation in Huntsville high schools by recognizing outstanding Spanish language students.
* To initiate a series of educational seminars concerning legal immigration issues.
* Expand the Tutoring and Mentoring program in Huntsville, including collaborations with churches and other organizations.
* Continue to seek funding through grants from industry and government.
* Increase AHA's membership through recruitment activities.
* Structure the planning of the 2005 Hispanic Festival to make it financially self-sufficient.
* Regarding fund-raising activities:
* Ben Cervantes, a new member, agreed to chair the fund-raising committee.
His first action will be to develop a stategic plan for presentation to
the general membership.
* The quarterly fund-raising dances will henceforth be held bimonthly for
the first 6 months of 2005, to evaluate if they are effective at raising
funds.
* AHA will pilot the "A La Cart" program at the Panoply festival this year
to determine if it is an effective means to raise money.
* AHA will participate in the Christmas parade again in 2005.
* The March general meeting will be combined with a "potluck" social to evaluate if member participation can be increased in this manner.

The next AHA general meeting will be held Feb. 17.

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Other News About Hispanic Issues:
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Informative Gathering on Immigration Issues.
Bill Castro, from Immigration Services (INS), will be speaking to interested persons in the Huntsville and surrounding area about immigration issues. The focus of this gathering will be give information about immigration laws, changes, and resources available. This information should be useful to people pursuing legal citizenship status, people who are assisting others to achieve legal status, or any person interested in learning about immigration who can apply the knowledge in their work.

This gathering will be held on Thursday, February 10, 2005, at 6 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, 1400 Evangel Drive, Huntsville.

Directions: University Drive (going West) pass Jordan Lane, pass Putnam Drive, right on Evangel Drive (before Sparkman Drive).

This is a tremendous opportunity to learn all we can about immigration issues, since we have had such a big growth in our Hispanic community in the last few years.

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The Mexican Consulate will have applications for the "Matricula Consular" identification document. These applications will be available at the:

Consulado Movil
The Good Shepard Church
1700 North Jackson Ave.
Rusellville, Al. 35653

FECHA: Sábado 5 de Febrero
HORARIO: 9am a 5pm. La entrega de solicitudes será
de 9 a 12 dependiendo del número de asistentes.


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Other Relevant Announcements:
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Tsunami Relief Event.
The International Cultural Organization (ICO) and the Indian Student Organization at UAH are sponsoring a Tsunami Relief Event on Sunday, January 30, 2005 at 4:00pm in the Chan Auditorium on the UAH campus. The events activities are International Music and Dance. The minimum suggested donation for the Relief Fund is $5.00 for students and $10.00 for the general public. 100% of the donation will go to the Save The Children Organization ( http://www.savethechildren.org ). For additional information, contact Mital Modi at mital.modi@gmail.com or 256-652-4226 or 256-726-2313.

AHA and the UAH ICO cooperate on a variety of activities each year and this particular event is worth supporting, even though it is not Hispanic specific.


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Other "Latin" Events Around Huntsville
AHA provides information on these events as an information service. AHA does not endorse nor approve any of these events, performers, or businesses:
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The Mambo Gris Gris band will be playing on Saturday, January 29 at the Jazz Factory, downtown starting at 9PM. Mambo Gris Gris features a mixture of Latin and New Orleans' style music. There is no cover charge.

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The AHA quarterly Latin Dance fundraiser will take place on Saturday, February 5 starting at 8:00 PM at the Senior Center Auditorium on 2200 Drake Avenue in Huntsville. See the announcement at the beginning of this newsletter for complete details.

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The Mambo Gris Gris band will be playing again on Tuesday, February 8 in a Mardi Gras special in conjunction with the Valley Planet. The venue is Humphreys in downtown Huntsville; no cover charge. The dance area at Humphreys is small but the dancers are enthusiastic! Come prepared for some great cumbias and merengues mixed with salsa, cajun and zydeco!

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The Latin Rhythms Band (latinrhythmsband.com) will be performing on Friday, February 18, at the Broiler (former Alabama Roadhouse) at 2322 Memorial Parkway (536-2121). The music begins at 9PM and continues on through the evening. There will be a $5.00 cover charge; however, if you dine-in, the $5.00 fee will be waived.

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The Broiler is sponsoring a Latin Dance Night on Saturday, February 26, 9:30PM - 1:30AM. Music will be provided by "DJ Azucar" (Signey Hernandez). Cover will be $5 and attendees must be 21 or over; a dress code will be enforced (no jeans, ball caps, sportswear, etc).

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The Mambo Gris Gris band will be playing on Saturday, February 26 at the Jazz Factory, downtown starting at 9PM. Mambo Gris Gris features a mixture of Latin and New Orleans' style music. There is no cover charge.

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Fridays, Feb. 4, 11, 18 & 25, Don Worrell and Sandra Watts are teaching a Rumba class at Saint Stephens Episcopal church on south Whitesburg Dr. from 6:00 - 7:00 PM. Cost is $4 per person. Classes are held each Friday.


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AHA Special Acknowledgements:
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Special Thanks are due to the AHA sponsors for providing the financial support needed for AHA activities:

COLSA - http://www.colsa.com
Woody Anderson Ford - 2500 Jordan lane, Huntsville, 1-800-457-1384, http:// www.woodyandersonford.com
Winter Park Apartments - 4116 Newson Road, Huntsville, 256-882-7669
Century 21 Steele & Associates - 256-721-0064, http://www.century21steele.com
Automation Temporary Services - www.atstemps.com
Infinity Insurance - www.infinity-insurance.com
News Channel 19 - WHNT.com
Tyson - www.tyson.com
SAIC - www.SAIC.com
La Michoacana store and restaurant at 2007 University Drive.


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