Looking at the future of the DROC - Diversity Regional Outreach Center - we realize that without some local donations we will not be able to keep our doors open. If a whole bunch of people each sent a little bit of money we could keep going. Our expenses are few and we rely heavily on volunteers. Still, the rent is due and Simon Legree wants to tie us onto the railroad tracks. I might be getting my melodramas mixed up but you get the picture. Our address is AADC P.O. Box 1268, Aberdeen, SD 57402

Now that the summer is over, there are several diversity-related events going on. On Sept. 9, from  8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  in the Missouri River Room at Northern State University is an exciting workshop. Immigration: The rural/global divide. Nine presenters will discuss the geography of immigration, the legal and governmental language of immigration, the economic costs and benefits, the culture of immigration and the history of immigration for this geographical area. Cost is $40 which includes lunch. Contact Dr. Stallings at stallingt@northern.edu.

It seems that in Dakota, one either gets floods or droughts - rarely in-between. Right now this area is drying up, expecting seven to 10 days of no rain. Mere miles from here people are sandbagging their homes. Crazy, hun?

 Soon we’ll be hearing heat warnings - “Stay indoors, water your animals!”

 It’s all the cycle of life, something so big it’s difficult to understand.

 Gardeners see it on a microscopic level. If the tomatos are bad this year, the berries are great. If the ‘taters won’t grow, the spinach will. Next year will be just the opposite.

June 19, 1865 is considered to be the official end of slavery in the United States - called National Freedom Day or Juneteenth. Slaves in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas were not told about their freedom until this day even though other Southern states had known since April, 1863. The holiday is observed in African-American communities throughout the country with rallies, concerts and fairs.

June 24 in Puerto Rico commemorates the island’s patron saint, St. John the Baptist. People gather at the beaches in the afternoon. Then at midnight, they jump into the ocean backwards three times to symbolize baptism, immersion and new life. The celebration continues with families gathering to enjoy music, food and dancing.

The Chinese government has spent 800 million to create the Jin Dun (Golden Sheild) project, a broadband network that automatically polices internet gateways, blocks foreign websites (facebook, twitter, etc.) filters content and key words and invades computers, sending viruses. This ‘Great Firewall of China,’ is run by a 50,000 person Internet Control Department.

 China is the only country in the world whose laws include a “Web Political Criminal.” Publishing articles on the internet can be deemed a community offense, according to “Reporters Without Borders.”

 China is the biggest jailer in the world for cyberdissidents.

 Plus, the Chinese police have direct access to a citizen’s internet history and e-mails.

From May through October in Shanghai is the 2010 World Exposition. More than 200 countries have built huge pavilions representing their dream of “Better City, Better Life.” If you can’t afford to go, here is the web site - http://en.expo2010.cn/index.htm

The pavilions are amazing. For example, the UK Pavilion will look like a huge “light box” with thousands of needle-like protrusions extending from the structure, quivering with each breeze. The Japan pavilion will be a ‘breathing organism.’

The problem with food-related traditions is the left-overs. Recipes abound for turkey soup, ham dishes and, of course, egg salad sandwiches.

But at least we don’t need a recipe book called: “101 things to do with leftover seal.”

The Inuit’s call the seal “The Giver of Life.” It kept the early Inuits alive on their long migrations. They use every part of the seal - the skins are used for clothing and harpoon lines and the blubber for oil for the lamps. And, of course, they eat the meat.

Wish I could head to Sweden this month. On April 30 is Walpurgis Night, the annual feast of the witches. Huge bonfires are lit all over the country to scare them away as they fly overhead, headed for their annual sabbath in Brocken in the Harz Mountains in Germany. Young and old come together all over Sweden to celebrate around a communal bonfire.

I’ll bet they have food.

We had Kevin Opp from Employment USA speak at our Aberdeen Area Diversity Committee meeting on Tuesday. Quite interesting. They deal with visa workers from all over the world and place them all over the United States. These visa workers take hard-to-fill jobs for several months before returning to their country. Employment USA is one of the largest in the nation but is not a franchise. It was created right here in Aberdeen. Pretty amazing, huh?