Woman
in the Wings / May 2006
Woman in the Wings is a monthly feature about a woman who lives her life not in the spotlight, but behind the scenes, where the applause never seems to reach. Women in the Wings shine as brightly as any star; they just don’t take center stage. Meet a woman who enhances and advances multicultural harmony by embracing diversity and welcoming the world to her neighborhood.
 Bea Corra
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By Pat Lawrence
Bea Corra was born and raised in the Mid Ohio Valley, but there’s an international flavor to her life. One of the founders of the Mid Ohio Multi-Cultural Festival, Bea is a dedicated enthusiast for diversity in a region where tastes run to the traditional and familiar. This year marks the 11th anniversary of the three day event. Bea has been integrally involved from its inception and has served as the very active President of the Board for the past four years.
According to Bea, the mission of the Multi-Cultural Festival is to “encourage the appreciation and recognition of community diversity through entertainment, cuisine, education, and artistic expression of all cultures.”
Over the years, that artistic expression has ranged from African drummers to African American gospel, German folk music to Scottish bag-pipers, dancers from Italy and Indonesia, reggae music, Irish rock and Dixie Land jazz.
Bea says the spark for the idea originated with Gene Domaway, who couldn’t help notice that his was the only face of color at most of the area’s cultural events. “It was also about the time Public Debt began moving many of their people from Washington DC. Multi Fest had been started in Charleston by a groups of interested community members, so we talked with them. We had help from Artsbridge, a dedicated group of volunteers, and a basic packet on how to get a festival started.” They researched the Dayton and Columbus International Festivals, but Bea says, “Those were indoor events. We always wanted this at City Park, open with no admission to as many people as possible to enjoy.”
It took almost two years to bring the project to life, but now, “The festival is a place where people of all backgrounds, ethnic cultures and nationalities can be comfortable and no one stands out.”
Bea wrote many of the early grants herself. The sponsors and supporters of the festival reflect a broad base of private, public and cultural support from West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Bea says, “West Virginia has a small minority population so we bring in artists and entertainers from metropolitan areas like Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.”
Vendors and concessionaires are as cross cultural as the performers, with native dishes and traditional fare from across the globe. Many items for sale are imported, some are handcrafted but all reflect the goal of celebrating diverse art and culture.
Planning the Multi-Cultural Festival is a year round activity. Finding, recruiting and handling the correspondence to performers and vendors is a time consuming task. Plus, there are demonstration to arrange, like Tai Chi and karate, and the Children’s Activity Center to schedule. Bea says each year about 300 children participate in multi-cultural projects like “making Guatemalan worry dolls or Edelweiss hats.” Youth groups like the Chinese School and Girl Scouts, often sponsor activities. Bea says, “We’ve also become a venue for some alternative health and wellness practitioners and some who touch on spirituality.”
This year, the festival will feature Irish dancers, reggae, riverboat songs, belly dancers, guitarist Josh Buskirk, African drum and dance, polka music, the Mudfork Blues Band, the Latin band, Grupo Fuego, gospel, Celtic/Appalachian music, Japanese drumming, a jazz trio and a jazz quartet.
Organizing, directing and coordinating the Multi Cultural Festival could be a full time job, but Bea already has a full time job, so she does the festival work in her ‘spare’ time. For twenty years, Bea has worked with the Bureau of Public Debt. Her expertise is savings bonds. Some of her work is with erroneous and fraudulent payments, which “often involves correspondence with the Secret Service and can be very interesting!” There is a lot of writing in her job, including Congressional correspondence and answering email from all across the nation. “You have to know everything there is to know about savings bonds to answer all the questions that come in!”
Bea also volunteers to support the fundraising activities of the Belpre Woman’s Club and the Belpre Alumni Association. “My sister is president of both organizations, so I’d be drafted even if I wasn’t already involved!”
When she started at Otterbein College, Bea intended to become an elementary school teacher. Instead, she became the mother of three and an educator of a different sort, offering new avenues of exploration, opening lines of communication, and building multicultural awareness and understanding in the Mid Ohio Valley for over a decade.
For more information, call 304-424-3457 extension 39 or 304-428-5554, email bcorra@hotmail.com or visit www.movmcf.org .
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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