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Latino Fest comes alive in Lorain
September 20, 2009
Jackie Prosak and Alma de Mexico dance Sunday at Latino Fest at Lakeview Park in Lorain. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot.)
Lorain and Lorain County’s Hispanic community marked the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month with Latino Fest Sunday at Lakeview Park in Lorain.
Festival-goers enjoyed performances by Lorain dance troupes Alma de Mexico and Raices Latinas, several groups from the greater Cleveland area and feature performer soul singer Justo Saborit.
Food included pastelillos, rice and beans and pork sandwiches from the Lorain Puerto Rican Home and tacos and burritos from the Mexican Mutual Club.
2009 marked the second year for Lorain’s Latino Fest. Festival organizers last year planned for hundreds to attend and wound up with thousands. This year’s attendance looked on par to reach or surpass that mark.
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Latino Fest Sunday in Lorain
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Everyone knows when African American History Month is, according to Richard Romero. (In case you don’t, it’s February.)
Fewer people, though, are aware that the Hispanic community has a month all its own.
“I noticed that Lorain County doesn’t have a lot going on with regards to National Hispanic Heritage Month” Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, Romero said.
Romero and some other members of the Latino community went about trying to change that last year when they held the first Latino Fest at Lorain’s Lakeview Park.
Justo Saborit performs Sunday at Latino Fest in Lorain. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot.)
“We wanted to take the time to recognize our culture and the contributions we make,” said Romero, who is Puerto Rican.
The festival’s first year was extremely successful, Romero said.
“We were a little bit surprised with the tremendous turnout,” he said. “We thought maybe a few hundred people would come. We had thousands show up.”
He expects the same for this year’s festival, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday at Lakeview.
He says the festival is a celebration of Hispanic culture, music, food and art.
Latin soul singer Justo Saborit is the feature act, with performances at 3 and 6 p.m. Also performing are two of Lorain’s own dance troupes, Alma de Mexico and Raices Latinas, as well as La Isla del Encanto, Mariachi Mexico and Voices de la Calle from the Cleveland area.
Also on display will be photography by Joseph Carrion and examples of Mexican and Puerto Rican artwork.
Food — Puerto Rican pastelillos, rice and beans and roast pork sandwiches and Mexican tacos and burritos — will be available for purchase from the Puerto Rican Home and Mexican Mutual Club.
The festival is as much for non-Latinos as for Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and other Hispanic groups, Romero said. Besides food and entertainment, festival attendees can pick up a little information about the contributions Hispanics have made here in the United States.
“We put together a program booklet,” Romero said. “It’s a ‘Did you know?’ of highlights of Hispanic history.”
Among those highlights? Hispanics have won more congressional medals of honor than any other ethnic group, Romero said.
“There’s some famous movie stars people would have never guessed are Hispanic,” such as Rita Hayworth and Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, Romero said. “You tell people, and they say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that.’ ”
Cesar Chavez, one of the greatest labor leaders in the country, was Mexican American, Romero said. “He worked hard to make sure people were being treated fairly.”
Another big hero to a lot of Puerto Ricans is baseball player Roberto Clemente. He’s remembered, less for his playing than for what he did in the offseason, Romero said.
“He started baseball camps and sent food to people in poorer countries,” Romero said. Clemente died in an airplane accident as he was taking food to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua.
National Hispanic History Month itself has an interesting story, according to Romero.
The observance was first authorized as a week by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 and was changed to month-long celebration in 1988. It starts in the middle of the month because Sept. 15 marks the independence day for five Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico celebrates its independence Sept. 16, and Chile, Sept. 18.
“We want to take the time to recognize our culture and the contributions we make,” said Romero, who wears a number of hats, most of them relating to his Puerto Rican culture. He’s vice president of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic-Latino Affairs, CEO of the Lorain County Multicul-tural Business Center and president of the Latino Media Network. He’s been to Puerto Rico more than a dozen times, most recently for his brother Robert’s wedding in July.
Joel Arrendondo, who’s Lorain City Council president as well as president of Mexican Mutual, called the festival “a long time coming.”
“We’ve had the Hispanic Heritage Month for a number of years, and thanks to Richard Romero and (festival coordinator) Mary Santiago, we were able to get this off the ground last year,” he said. “It was very well received. The performances and the venue were great, and the community at large came out, not just the Hispanic community.”
Romero agreed.
Attendance is “a big mix of people, and that’s how I want it,” he said. “It’s an event where Latinos and non-Latinos can enjoy each other’s company and share their pride.
Natalie Rodriquez, who was crowned queen of the 2008 International Festival, went to last year’s Latino Fest and is looking forward to Sunday.
“Having the opportunity to celebrate my Mexican culture is very important to me and my family,” she said. “The International Festival gives Lorain a chance to celebrate the multitude of cultures here, and the Latino Fest gives the Hispanic community of Lorain a chance to celebrate. It’s full of great entertainment and of course all the great food that comes from the Hispanic culture.”
“What I hope they walk away is a sense of what a beautiful culture the Hispanic community has to offer,” Romero said. “The music, the colors, the costumes — it’s good food, good music, good people, and it’s alive and well in Lorain County.”
Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.
Raices Latinas Puerto Rican dancers perform Sunday at Latino Fest in Lorain.
Alma de Mexico Mexican dancers perform Sunday at Latino Fest in Lorain.
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