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10th Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade 2005

The National Puerto Rican Day Parade has become one of the largest national parades. This past year, the parade committee surpassed numerous milestones. The parade has gained, and is still gaining more and more interest each year as participants from far and wide come to New York to partake in its festivities.

On the night of the gala, Ralph Morales invited everyone to attend the parade, which took place on the Sunday after the gala. “The Board of Directors works during the year to carry out the activities that make it possible to show the world the meaning of being Puerto Rican with all its privileges and responsibilities.” said Ralph Morales, the CEO of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. This is one of the reasons why the parade has gained so much popularity over the years.

The Grand Marshall of New York was Herb Scannell, Vice Chairman of MTV Networks. Mr. Scannell oversees the development of several new channels and multimedia offerings for MTV Networks in the U.S. He is also responsible for key MTV Networks’ corporate functions, including Business Development, Human Resources, Law and Business Affairs, IS&T and Creative Services. He was honored with numerous awards, including NAMIC Vision, Imagen, Parent’s Choice and the Peabody Award. Scannel and Nickelodeon received acclaim by critics and advocates for its continued leadership and ground-breaking commitment to diversity with shows such as Dora The Explorer, The Brothers Garcia, Little Bil and Romeo!

The Grand Marshall of Puerto Rico was Luis Rodriguez Mayoral. Mr. Mayoral was born in Puerto Rico, but grew up in Puerto Rico, Panama and Seattle. He has been involved with baseball since 1970. He was close friends with Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda. Among his other accomplishments was having served as a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox, and serving as General Manager for the Arecibo and San Juan Baseball Clubs in Puerto Rico.

The guest of honor at the gala, Chancellor Joel Klein spoke about how his comprehensive reform program has helped public school education to improve over the years, and that the Hispanic student population had made the largest improvement jump among the entire graduating population over the past year.

Miguel “Mike” Garcia was on hand, and recognized by Ralph Morales, who commented that Mr. Garcia had never once missed the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Throughout his lifetime, from an early age, Mike had

Developed a concern to improve his family through involvement in community activities and participation in the Catholic Church. He dreamed of coming to New York to start a new life, and always aspired to advance and help other to improve their life. Upon his arrival to New York, he involved himself with the Catholic Church issues and had the opportunity to join a committee that petitioned Cardinal Spellman to hold the first San Juan Bautista Mass in St. Patricks Cathedral.

Other guests in attendance include Victor Alicia, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the well-known pianist Adlan Cruz. Another guest of honor at the gala was Rudy M. Beserra, Vice President of Latin Affairs for the Cola-Cola Company, and one of the keynote speakers at the gala. Also present at the gala were the famed Grammy award winning Latino performer Eddie Palmieri, one of the foremost Latino pianists of the last half-century. Latino guitarist Obie Bermudez, who is credited with such notable song hits as “Confesions,” “Antes” and “Me Canse De Ti,” was also present at the event.

Other dignitaries on hand were Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer, Congressman Jose Serrano, Sr., Bronx Borough President Adolpho Carrion, Jr., the legendary Congressman Charles Rangel, and many more. There were also over six different beauty queens from a variety of different pageants. There were many more guests who attended the gala from Puerto Rico, the U.S.,

The breakfast was held right before the parade on June 12, after which everyone marched in the parade down Madison Avenue, with 2.5 million people in attendance (and millions more watching on television—making the National Puerto Rican Day Parade the largest of its kind in New York, and, possibly, in the USA), cheering on with their native flags, and dancing to the salsa beats.

We would like to thank Mr. Carlos Velasquez, President of Galos Corporation, the official marketing and business agency for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, for his kind invitation. For more information about the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, please visit the official website, http://www.nationalpuertoricandayparade.org/

Abbey H. Muneer is the Executive Director of H.A.D. Organization of New York City, Inc., a world-famous athlete, author and, above all, a humanitarian. Abbey will write articles about charity events, benefits, fundraisers and galas which are raising money for humantiarian causes. If you are interested in having Abbey and one his staff members cover one of your charity events, benefits, fundraisers or galas, feel free to notify us one week in advance, at LNEvents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. and ask to speak to Abbey or Maria. If you would like more information, or would like to have Liberty News Online Magazine consult your next charitable event, please feel free to visit our website, at http://www.hadofnyc.org/store/success.html, email us at humanitarians@hadofnyc.org, or telephone our hotline, at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. (U.S.A.)