OCEANSIDE – When North County Samoans gather for their annual heritage festival, it's always filled with foods and music from the South Pacific.
But more than anything else, organizers of the weeklong cultural celebration that ended yesterday hope the events help Samoan-American youths grow up with respect for the past and a vision for the future.
“We have to teach our kids to live right,” said Sam Papaliimarino of Oceanside, who attended the festival for first time with his son Jack, 3. “I want my son to know he's Samoan and Hawaiian. . . . The culture of the islands is that the dad and mom are the example.”
Yesterday's concerts and inspirational talks at the beach amphitheater connected with Samoans and non-Samoans alike, said Margery Pierce, director of neighborhood services for Oceanside.
“It really attracts a diverse crowd,” Pierce said.
She said Oceanside has one of the largest concentrations of Samoans in the continental United States. That tightknit community still is reeling from the fatal shooting of Oceanside police Officer Dan Bessant in December 2006. Authorities have charged Samoan gang members in the slaying. A trial has been set for September.
“The bad report that Samoans have been getting in Oceanside in recent years has touched my heart,” said David Toloumu of Long Beach, who grew up in Oceanside and went on to a professional football career in the United States and Canada. He attended the Oceanside festival to support citywide efforts to reduce gang violence, teen pregnancies and school dropouts among Samoan youth.
He said the effort seems to be working. Unlike in past years, Toloumu said he didn't see teens at the fringes of the celebration smoking dope or showing gang colors.
The cultural celebration lasted all week, with faith-based services, musical performances, athletic competitions and various contests. Organizers estimated that 500 people participated.
“The point is just to let our youth know that there are things that will help them in the future,” said Casey Malauulu, one of the event planners. “I have seen kids go down the wrong road, and it's not easy to recover.”
Later in the afternoon, Malauulu's son C.J., 17, entertained the sun-baked crowd with his ukulele, an instrument he described as a small Polynesian guitar.
Afterward, C.J. said the event helps his generation find positive ways to relate to each other through sports and to their cultural heritage through music. He plans to maintain those connections into adulthood.
“I am going to keep playing the ukulele and singing Samoan songs and dancing,” he said.
It was just what Samoan community activist Wayne Godinet wants to see.
“We have got to build up that pride,” Godinet said.
Mike Lee: (619) 542-4570; mike.lee@uniontrib.com
