NBG to hold ‘Back to Sumay Day’
SANTA RITA, Guam—Naval Base Guam commanding officer Capt. Mike Ward is inviting former residents of Sumay village and their descendants to the fifth annual Back to Sumay Day event on NBG on April 5.
The annual event, coordinated with the Santa Rita Mayor’s Office, began in 2010 by then-base commanding officer Capt. Scott Galbreaith with the goal of inviting former residents of the pre-World War II village and their descendents back to the site.
A Mass will be held near the cross of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at the site of the former Sumay church. Following the Mass, attendees will walk to Clipper Landing Park for food, music, cultural dancing entertainment, and a historical display of photos dating back to pre-World War II Sumay.
Sumay village was once known as the “Pearl of the Island” before the war. Evolving from a small fishing village to the agricultural and commercial hub for ships in the mid-1800s, it became an economically rich village by the 1930s. (PR)
