Take a journey around the world without leaving home. Berks County features a diverse group of people from across the globe. We talked to these neighbors to learn about their traditions, history, styles and heritage. Discover the blend of cultures that makes our community a great place to live.
Samuel & Harriet Asante
Samuel Asante, 46, and Harriet Asante, 41, work at East Penn Manufacturing. The couple is from Ghana, West Africa. Now U.S. citizens, they currently reside in Reading.
Samuel has worked at East Penn for 15 years, while his wife has been with the company for 12 years. He is a Formation Attendant, and she works with Quality Control and Assurance.
“I migrated to [the] U.S. after being one of the winners of the Diversity Visa Program in 1998, and my wife joined me here in 2006,” says Samuel. Both graduated college before moving to the United States.
“In Ghana we grew up in a culture of respect for all, especially elders.” Cultural values such as discipline, high morals, hard work, and helping are important to the Asantes. As parents, they instill those values in their three children. They are also active participants at Bethel A.M.E. Church.
Day to day, the couple wears Western-style clothing. For special events, they wear African attire. “Our favorite is the colorful and hand-woven Kente cloth from Ghana.” This traditional cloth is used in designing bags, suits, dresses, shoes and ties. A mixture of silk and cotton, woven Kente cloth is made of vibrant colors such as gold, green, black and blue. The patterns are stunning. Men wear Kente cloth wrapped around their bodies, leaving one shoulder out, while women wrap the cloth from the top of the breasts down to their feet.
The couple enjoys sharing their culture, food and music with friends. The Asantes’ favorite dish is banku with fried fish, spicy tomatoes, and pepper sauce. Banku is a white paste made from fermented corn and cassava dough. For music, highlife and hiplife are popular styles in Ghana. Highlife features jazzy horns and guitars, while hiplife is a fusion of Ghanaian culture and hip-hop.
The Asantes also share their heritage by participating in African Day. “I was involved in conceiving the idea of the annual African Day event. I was the vice president of the Ghanaian Association when the idea was conceived between me and the President of the Nigerian Association,” says Samuel. This annual event includes a cultural parade featuring African clothing, music and dance.
“Our culture of respect, discipline and hard work has helped us tremendously in pursuing our American dreams,” he says. “Our cultural values have made it easier to be loved and accepted at our workplace, [at our] church and in our community.”
Aparna Mele
Aparna Mele, 45, is a gastroenterologist who currently resides in Mohnton. A South Asian, she is a first-generation American. Her parents are from North India.
When it comes to personal style, Mele loves “versatile dresses that transform from polished work wear to festive evening wear.” She enjoys patterned prints and florals. She says, “I define myself as contemporary but at the same time eclectic and bohemian chic!”
According to Mele, women’s Indian clothing can be divided into four categories: the sari, salwar kameez, lehanga choli, and kurta. Indian textiles feature a wide range of weaving techniques; some are 5,000 years old! “There is everything from tied and dyed cotton to heavily brocaded silk, fabrics with vegetable dye block printing by hand, folk embroidery and woolen weaves, all with an astounding array of bold and pastel colors.”
Accessories also play an important role in Indian fashion. Embellished gold and silver jewelry adorns all outfits. “Each piece of jewelry has spiritual value and symbolic significance.”
Mele’s beautiful Indian clothing is perfect for an evening out or a festive celebration. “I love the rich and vibrant color of Indian fabrics and often gravitate to clothes with ethnic chic fabrics such as khadi, paisley, silk and batik that incorporate multiple colors, patterned prints, and/or embroidered stitching.”
While growing up, her mother, an OBGYN, was a style inspiration for her daughter. “She could transform from work-wear dresses, to scrubs, to a sari in the same day without blinking,” recalls Mele. “She has a great fashion eye and has always been great at shopping for looks that blend Eastern and Western fashion, which helped me feel more integrated as a first-generation American with South Asian roots.”
Dr. Mele’s husband is Italian, and both cultures are reflected in their home’s décor and meals. For holidays, the family celebrates “everything from Hindu Diwali, the Festival of Lights in October, to preparing the Seven Fishes Italian Feast at Christmas.”
The couple loves to travel around the world with their two young children. In addition, Mele and her family grow a large vegetable garden and cook together. She loves cooking Indian food for her friends and sharing her family’s traditions. Through her nonprofit, My Gut Instinct, she also shares Indian cuisine and artistry at a large-scale health and wellness expo entitled “Guts & Glory.” Through her organization's blog, she has also written about the health benefits of Indian food (mygutinstinct.org).
Kermit Ohlinger
Kermit Ohlinger, 74, is the owner of K&W Music store. Semi-retired, he works weekly at his shop at the Leesport Farmer’s Market. His heritage is PA Dutch and German. A lifelong resident of Berks, Ohlinger currently resides in Temple.
On the dairy farm where he grew up, Ohlinger’s parents taught him to speak PA Dutch. They also influenced his love of music. “When I started taking accordion lessons, I was only five. I couldn’t even carry the accordion in the case,” he remembers. Before his mother learned to drive, she carried his accordion for him while they rode the bus to his lessons.
He originally wanted to play the trumpet, but his father thought the accordion was a better choice because “you can sing while you play.” His father made sure Ohlinger practiced. Since 1984, Ohlinger has been playing German music and performing. He also sings songs in PA Dutch.
Onstage, Ohlinger’s performance ensemble is elaborate and colorful. Lederhosen or “leather pants” are part of his summer wardrobe. During the colder months, he wears bundhosen. These leather knickers tie below the knee and are worn over warm woolen knee socks. Both lederhosen and bundhosen are made of cow, deer or elk leather. Heavy and tough, some pairs are artfully embellished with colorful embroidery.
Ohlinger’s German shirts are embroidered with accents like edelweiss. “You may have three different styles and sizes of buttons on the same shirt,” he says. His German shoes feature a shiny buckle. This pair has been his performance footwear for 30 years. His hat, a Loden green dress hat topped with feathers, is a more recent addition. He recalls, “I used to wear a Tyrolian hat. I had it loaded with pins from every place that I visited.”
Ohlinger performs at the Reading Liederkranz as a strolling musician and as part of the Rajah Shrine String Band. His stage name is Dr. Squeezebox. “I repair accordions, so I am the squeezebox doctor.” Ohlinger is self-taught in this skill. When he plays music, he loves seeing the enjoyment on people’s faces and watching them sing along with the songs.
His children and grandchildren share his love of music. Both of his grandsons teach music, majoring in trumpet and piano in college. Ohlinger enjoys performing German music with his trumpet-playing grandson.
Wanda Holdren-Vega
Wanda Holdren-Vega, 49, is a professional Latin dancer and nursing assistant. Born in Coamo, Puerto Rico, she currently resides in Reading. Holdren-Vega is the owner of the WH Dance Academy.
“Awareness of our own culture is important because it can keep us from projecting our values onto others,” says Holdren-Vega. Growing up in Puerto Rico, her grandmother and mother inspired her to dance. To relate to other people and cultures, they taught her the importance of learning her own culture’s values and beliefs.
According to Holdren-Vega’s cultural traditions, children are given their father’s last name, followed by their mother’s last name. Catholicism is important to her family, especially the celebrations of baptism and First Holy Communion.
Holdren-Vega began her dance studies at age 6. She learned bomba and plena, traditional Puerto Rican folk dances.
Fitted at the waist, bomba dresses feature full, sweeping skirts, perfect for dancing. “The style is related to the traditional clothing of African slaves on the island,” says Holdren-Vega. “White dresses for women are sometimes accented with bright colors, such as blue and red.”
Traditional Puerto Rican men’s dress is that of the jibaro, or farmer: a wide-brimmed hat, tailored cotton shirt and cotton slacks.
For modern clothing styles, “Guayabera shirts remain popular, as well as other garments well-suited to the climate like shorts, jeans, t-shirts or other casual attire.” Guayaberas are men’s shirts, shaped like a jacket, with large front pockets. Comfortable and versatile, they can be worn for festive and formal occasions.
Holdren-Vega enjoys celebrating holidays with her family, like Three Kings Day on January 6. On June 24, they participate in San Juan Bautista Day. At midnight on the beach, “we go into the water fully clothed to bring us good luck for the rest of the year.”
In 2004, Holdren-Vega founded Latin Flair, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cultural awareness through dance. She is also the organization’s director and choreographer. “Latin Flair promotes strong self-confidence, self-respect, discipline and appreciation through the fine art of dance.” This local dance team participates in national and international competitions and community events, such as the Hispanic Center Gala and Hispanic Heritage month at Kutztown University.
Like her mother and grandmother, Holdren-Vega inspires a love of dance in others. With Latin Flair, “Our goal is to give each individual dancer the tools they need to take as far as they dream to take it.”
