Dear Kith and Kin: I have never been more delighted, in my nearly thirty-year association with the Nationalities Council of Indiana, or prouder to have had the privilege to have served as its 17th President, than I was at the 61st Annual IPL 500 Festival Parade on Saturday, May 27, 2017. According to Event Manager Marife Callender, there were more than three hundred (300) individual participants who marched with the NCI. Forty (40) giant flags, provided by the International Center of Indianapolis, and transported to and from the parade site by 2nd Vice President Leslie Clumb, were carried by parade participants, not to mention the smaller flags that were waved by our members, at the suggestion of Treasurer Alma Smith. The NCI Parade Unit was arranged by continent, and separated by four (4) performing groups that included Indy Hula and Pacific Islanders, the Chinese Lion Dance and Lady Lantern Troupe, the Sikh Bhangra Dancers and Dhol Players and Basket Head Balance Troupe, with assistance provided by Parade Marshal KP Singh of the Sikh Educational and Cultural Society and the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis.
Representation by continent was as follows:
