The sight of Assemblyman Jerry Green in a dazzling white shirt with sparkly writing distracted me from realizing that the man speaking volubly in Spanish to the fiesta crowd Saturday was none other than Newark Mayor Cory Booker.
Booker gave a rousing pre-election speech and appeared to be well-received by the crowd. Green also urged voters to come out for the Nov. 6 general election and to support national, state and local Democratic candidates.
Green's shirt had his name and "Speaker Pro Tempore" in glittery script on the back. His re-election bid comes next year, but he is leading the local effort to re-elect President Barack Obama and the Democratic slate.
I got a very late start Saturday and missed nearly all the events, including Booker's appearance at Democratic headquarters, but ventured out in late afternoon to check out the two downtown fiestas. It was by sheer chance that I got to see Booker in action. He was impressive, not in the least for his ability to engage Latinos in their own language. Plainfield now has about a 40 percent Latino population.
Both downtown events turned out to be celebrations for Central American independence and heritage. The one organized by Edison Garcia is in its fourth year, but as Plaintalker reported, Rodney Maree won city approval to hold his first-ever event on the same weekend.
Both events featured beer sales, numerous food vendors and carnival rides on city parking lots flanking Watchung Avenue. The crowd, almost entirely Latino, moved back and forth between the two venues.
Food offerings were largely traditional Latino specialties, with some usual carnival fare thrown in.
I ran into blogger Jackie Schnoop, who was on the prowl for photos suitable for the Plainfield Public Library's 2012 photo contest, whose theme is "Eating Out/Eating In."
The events continue today, for those who wants to delight the kiddies with a carnival experience or for anyone looking for food, music and conviviality.
One of the gimmicks used by emcees at the events was to call out names of countries and get reactions from the crowd. El Salvador and Ecuador were two that got a big response. I was hoping for a shout-out for Plainfield, but as the many flags and trinkets indicated, the hearts of most attendees were with their homelands.
Maybe that's the real challenge for local politicians.
--Bernice
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