By Beth David
Editor
The rain held off for most of the day during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Fairhaven on Sunday, but the cold spring kept the cherry blossoms themselves from coming out. The cold weather has put the schedule for the blossoms back a couple of weeks, but that did not stop the festival from informing and entertaining.
Sponsored by the Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship Society, the festival celebrates the special relationship Fairhaven has with Japan, due to the rescue of Manjiro Nakahama from a deserted island when he was 14 in 1841, by Fairhaven whaling captain William Whitfield. The festival also celebrates the gift of some cherry trees from Japan to Fairhaven. Some of the trees have been planted at Cooke Park on the corner of Pilgrim Avenue and Cherry Street, which is with a block of Manjiro’s Fairhaven home which is now a museum.
To learn more about the Manjiro story and the museum, visit http://www.whitfield-manjiro.org or the Millicent Library’s website, www.millicentlibrary.org/manjiro-2/ or the Fairhaven Office of Tourism, http://fairhaventours.com/manjiro-nakahama/
For full story and pictures: Download this week’s full issue in the archives section.
