Castle Square Celebrates Chinese New Year and Black History Month

Outside was a landscape obscured by mountains of snow, turning gray with city dirt. Inside, a vivid display of color, sound and grace awaited at the Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO) Chinese New Year/Black History Month celebration at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology on Friday night. Volunteers served dinner followed by sumptuous desserts to about 170 guests of all ages as the entertainment began. The event paid tribute to Chinese and African American traditions with the New Year's lion dance in honor of the lunar new year, an African percussion and dance troupe, a musical salute to African American pop singers and performances by various youth dance groups. Mayor Martin J. Walsh arrived at approximately 6:15 and stayed for most of the festivities, offering remarks, mingling and posing for pictures and chatting with retired Josiah Quincy Elementary School principal and former city council candidate Suzanne Lee. "We are putting Black History Month and Chinese New Year together here, and that is what our city is also about. You are an irreplaceable piece of the fabric of this neighborhood," Mayor Walsh told the audience.

While guests enjoyed a meal of fruit salad from Whole Foods; fried chicken with mashed potatoes, string beans, and corn from Popeye's and pastries from Blackbird Doughnuts and Konditer Meister Bakery, the Lion Dance wended its way around the room, greeting each table. Boston Chinese Dancers-Ivy Zhong, a children's group, danced to Chinese movement, followed by the Jo-Mee Dance Company, composed of small children through young adults performing dramatic, classically-inspired and modern dance pieces. SELMAO African Drumming offered African-inspired rhythms and dances, and in a change of pace, the Beantown Jumpers, a competitive double-dutch team, danced and jumped double-dutch to recorded dance music. The show ended with Shannell Grant singing an upbeat selection of pop favorites by Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, the Pointer Sisters and R. Kelly.

In his comments, Mayor Walsh praised Castle Square's environmentally friendly renovations and improvements in recent years. He continued, "We are hoping to make housing that is not only more energy efficient, but that meets the needs of the residents," and stressed the need for more affordable housing throughout the city. He closed his address by saying "Happy New Year" in Chinese.

Castle Square leadership and sponsors were very pleased with the attendance and outcome of the bi-cultural party. CSTO executive director Deborah Backus is very pleased with the celebration's outcome. "The event was a huge success everyone enjoyed the diverse entertainment and we were blessed to have the mayor join us," she said. This was the first major event for Casey Bell, who became Castle Square Community Center's new director of community programming in January. Bell commented, "It is an honor to be a part of such a wonderfully rich community. There are some really great organizations and extremely hardworking people in this area that make it a very special place." Peter Scott, senior vice president for community affairs and government relations at Longwood Security, a sponsor of the celebration, said, "This is a great event. We sponsor it every year. We do security at Castle Square, and it's a great community."

Castle Square Celebration

Castle Square Celebration

Castle Square Celebration