Members of Parker World Nation and their children participated in a 25th anniversary reunion performance during the 2018 CRIT Native American Days Fair & Expo.
“You sound like you haven’t missed a beat!”
That’s what Cynthia Haring, the founder of Parker World Nation, told the former members of the group following their 25thth anniversary reunion performance on Oct. 6 at the Colorado River Indian Tribes Native American Days Fair & Expo.
The group was first formed in 1993 and consisted of mostly young people, many of them tribal members, and others from the Parker area. They recorded an album in 1995 entitled “Songs of the Colorado River.” The Oct. 6 performance included two songs Haring wrote for that album, “Parker, Arizona” and “La Paz Means Peace” (first performed in 1994 at the dedication of the La Paz County Supervisors’ Building), as well as songs dedicated to each of the four tribes that make up CRIT: “Mohave Lullaby,” “I Walk in Beauty” (a Navajo song), “Hopi Squirrel Song,” and “Chemehuevi Laughing Song.” The group also performed pop standards, like “Singing in the Rain,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Daydream Believer,” Que Sera Sera,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “La Bamba,” a doo-wop song, “Life Could Be a Dream,” and a Japanese song, “Sukiyaki,” dedicated to the Japanese-Americans who were interred in Poston during World War II.
Haring performed several songs as duets with her music collaborator, Katia Valdeos, a native of Lima, Peru. Valdeos and Haring, who met 16 years ago when both were English as a Second Language teachers in Florida, are currently co-directors of Tampa Bay World Nation. During the CRIT show, Parker World Nation singer J.R. Robledo provided some awesome male vocals on "Hit the Road Jack."
Haring started World Nation in 1991 in Davenport, Iowa. The group recorded an album, “Welcome to Our World,” with songs in nine languages in 1992 in Chicago. Soon after this, Haring took a position as an English as a Second Language teacher in the Parker Unified School District. It was while she was in Parker that Betty Cornelius, who was then director of the CRIT Museum, asked her if she could form a group similar to the one she formed in Iowa. The group was organized in 1993 and recorded “Songs of the Colorado River” in 1995.
This year’s 25-year reunion came about largely due to the efforts of CRIT Vice Chairman Keith Moses. He contacted Dee Martinez, who had been one of the younger members of Parker World Nation, and she, in turn, contacted Haring and asked if she wanted to come back to Parker for a reunion.
Haring said she would be thrilled to come back, and asked Valdeos to come with her. “I knew we could put on a wonderful show,” she said.
Moses created a Facebook page, Parker World Nation Reunion, and put out a call for former members to come to Parker for the reunion. Haring said many of the former members were in pre-K when they recorded the “Song of the Colorado River” album, and she was thrilled at the thought of seeing them again.
“Many of the Parker World Nation kids now have children of their own, so it will be exciting to meet them as they sing the songs of their ancestors,” Haring said in a press release
Haring and Valdeos are active members of the Grammy community. They have completed three major albums in the past seven years. As cancer survivors, Haring and Valdeos also founded the Sue Sue Sisters music group, known for its charitable efforts to raise funds for cancer causes, groups, and survivors.
“I am so excited to be able to meet the members of the Parker World Nation group and their families,” Valdeos said in a press release. “Until now I have only known them from their music album and photos. I look forward to learning more about the tribes.”
Haring said returning to Parker was, for her, “more exciting than the Grammys.”
Backstage after the Oct. 6 performance, Haring told the group they still sounded great, and she thanked everyone who came for the reunion. She said she was looking forward to the possibility of recording more music with the Parker group.
As a final statement, Haring said, “What a blessing to be here and celebrate Parker World Nation and honor the families, the tribes, and the children of the community.”
Parker World Nation, seen here in 1995, recorded an album entitled “Songs of the Colorado River.” The group celebrated the 25-year anniversary of its founding with a reunion performance at CRIT Native American Days Fair & Expo on October 6, 2018.
