Morovis honors resident ahead of her 100th birthday

Morovis Mayor Carmen Maldonado González arrived with a group of musicians from the Moroveño Cultural Center on Sunday to bring a moment of joy to Doña Fina, a well-known public servant from Morovis who will turn 100 years old this year. (Israel Morales)

By The Star Staff

Morovis Mayor Carmen Maldonado González arrived with a group of musicians from the Moroveño Cultural Center on Sunday to bring a moment of joy to Doña Fina, a well-known public servant from Morovis who will turn 100 years old this year.

“Generations of Moroveños know her as a worker in the Morovis hospital, and this Sunday, which is Mother’s Day, we bring her a parrandita in gratitude for her work for the benefit of so many Moroveños,” the mayor said.

In Puerto Rico, like in other parts of the world, Mother’s Day is celebrated with great fervor. The first celebrations of motherhood date back to ancient Greece, and later the Romans called the celebration Hilaria when they acquired it from the Greeks. With the arrival of Christianity, the celebrations were transformed to honor the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Morovis treasures among its communities renowned neighbors who live to be 100. In fact, in 2021, the outstanding cuatrista Don Iluminado Dávila died at the age of 103, and he was playing his cuatro until his last days. He was born in 1918, in a humble cradle in the El Cocal sector of the Montellano neighborhood of Morovis, began playing the cuatro at the age of seven and was a disciple of the great master Ladislao “Ladí” Martínez and Felipe Rosario, Don “Felo.” which made him a Puerto Rican cultural symbol.

“As a mountain people, we cultivate family values and take care of our elders until the end,” Maldonado González said. “That change between generations is crucial for young people to know where they come from, the sacrifices made to move forward and that their elders serve as an example in life.”