Summer is here! Thus, in the blink of an eye, the summer arrived. I don’t know about you, but I have the feeling that time has passed very quickly. It seems as if we had said goodbye to 2022 the other day, and look, we are already living the seventh month of 2023.

Inevitably, memories overwhelmed me, those that frequently visit me; Well, I maintain that great sense of belonging to the Office of the Historian of Camagüey city (OHCC), an institution that welcomed me one day in 1999 and although, as many know, I am retired, I still keep collaborating and I will do so until I my body allows it.

At the Office we used to draw up a specific cultural program for the summer, and it was very varied because we took into account different groups and their ages. Each institution prepared a plan with these characteristics, also taking into account the mission of each one.

Then we consolidated all the proposals and the long-awaited Cultural Summer Program arose, in which the tours were a highly coveted offer by the population. In addition to taking advantage of free time, people learned and knew much more about places that perhaps they had not even noticed existed, even passing through them on a daily basis.

Workshops, contests and other actions that promote the educational aspect, the values, were a priority at that time; and they still are, because these memories that I evoke today are a reflection of the aspirations that the OHCC and its workers maintain for the summer season.

We cannot forget that this institution’s mission is to preserve not only the material, but also the spiritual memory of our town and its heritage —and nothing better than to encourage educational values in its residents that contribute to the preservation of national culture and within it, its customs and traditions.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García