{"id":206226,"date":"2015-07-27T15:28:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T05:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=206226"},"modified":"2015-07-27T15:28:49","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T05:28:49","slug":"rota-holds-inaugural-4th-of-july-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/rota-holds-inaugural-4th-of-july-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Rota holds inaugural 4th of July celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rota held its first Independence Day celebration last week, after postponing the three-day event due to typhoons Chanhom and Nangka. Mayor Efraim M. Atalig, members of the 15th Rota Municipal Council, and the Rota Legislative Delegation hosted the 4th of July revelry, themed \u201cPeace in Diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to special assistant for programs and grants Aubry Hocog, the festivities kicked off last Tuesday with a karaoke contest, which garnered 20 participants. On Wednesday, residents took part in a tong-its (a type of card game) and Texas Hold\u2019em tournament along with a family movie night.\u00a0
\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Hu Bo, members of the Skywalker Communications Group, Saipan Liberation Royal Court, and Rota officials pose for a photo at the Joaquin M. Ogo Baseball Field in Sinapalo 1 during the island\u2019s first Independence Day celebration. (Thomas A. Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
\"Rota's<\/a>
Rota’s Department of Lands and Natural Resources’ float. (Thomas A. Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rota<\/a>
Rota police officers escort floats throughout Sinapalo village while residents and tourists look on. (Thomas A. Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The event culminated with a mini-float parade at the Joaquin M. Ogo Baseball field in Sinapalo 1. Out of 10 participating agencies, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. won first place for best float, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources came in second, and the Inetnon Man Amako\u2019 Luta Association took third.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first time this event occurred and it turned out to be a success as majority of the members of our community came out to support, cheer, and participate in our events,\u201d Hocog told Saipan Tribune in an email. \u201cLocal vendors were present to sell their food and other items.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Hu Bo and members of the Skywalker Communications Group as well as the Saipan Liberation Royal Court were in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his brief address, Atalig expressed his appreciation for the men and women serving in the armed forces so that citizens can pursue the American dream.<\/p>\n

According to Hocog, \u201cIt has always been the mayor\u2019s desire and intent to provide programs and events for the people of Rota.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office plans to host monthly community events for residents and tourists to enjoy in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rota held its first Independence Day celebration last week, after postponing the three-day event due…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":206228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3704,5350,3705,6175],"class_list":["post-206226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-hu-bo","tag-independence-day","tag-skywalker-communications-group","tag-texas-hold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}