It was all joy and fun when almost 1000 Ewes joined the Council of Ewe Association of North America (CEANA) fun in the park. The event climaxed a three-day conference which started on Friday and had a fundraising event which raised more than $50, 000 to fund development projects in the Volta region.

Ewes from all over North America converged at the Mississauga Park in Toronto to have fun, eat food mainly made from their region and dance to popular traditional Ewe music borborbor and Agbadza.

For some of the participants, it was a day to fraternize with people they have not seen in years as the this year’s event marked the 25th anniversary of the association. People use the occasion to catch up with friends they have not seen in years to reminiscence the good old days.

For others, it was the perfect opportunity to network and talk about business opportunities.

“After spending much time indoors, strategizing to get development projects back home, this is a perfect opportunity for us to have fun and meet each other,” said Dr. Peter Nat Abotchie, president of CEANA.

He also commended members for turning up in their numbers to make the event a success.

There were local Ghanaian foods like kelewele, agbeli kaklo, roasted corn, akple and fetri detsi.

“These foods remind me of my days in Ghana,” said Naomi Sunu a Ghanaian based in Waterloo, Canada. “I’m impressed about the number of parents who brought their children here, this will let the children know of their heritage and true identity even though most of them were born here,” she added.

For the organizers, this was another successful event. Even as they get ready to for North Carolina for next year’s event, they will still look back at this weekend’s party in the park that lived to it’s billing as one of the most successful.

“Toronto has raised the bar and it is up to North Carolina to beat Toronto,” Dr. Abotchie said.

Even before he ends the interview, Dr. Abotchie is moved by the agbadza music in the background and joins other CEANA members. Such was the magic of the music.

Most people at the party agreed that they could get all of the music on Youtube but won’t get this crowd of people to dance with. They had fun and danced into the night hoping to the get a much bigger crowd in North Carolina next year.