Paralegal promotes Day of the Dead tradition at a revived Fiestas Patrias in downtown Fresno
The resurrected Fiestas Patrias, which resumed last year after being mothballed since 1999, had its usual highlights on Sunday.
From the young mariachi musicians with the Leavenworth Elementary School strutting down Fulton Street in the opening parade to 84-year-old norteño legend Lorenzo de Monteclaro closing the entertainment in Mariposa Mall.
But it was Lupe Delgado and two of her friends who stood out.
The 57-year-old paralegal from Madera drew attention not as an official part of the celebration that was resurrected last year after being mothballed since 1999.
Delgado was joined by María Andrade and Leonor Rubio dressed in Día de los Muertos attire – including face painting resembling skulls – and capped by headdresses that Delgado began making in 2017 with her mother.
“My mom had cancer and passed away in March of 2018, and I still wanted to carry on the tradition,” said Delgado, who invests up to a dozen hours for each crown. “So, every year since then I’ve made the crowns.”
The celebration at downtown Mariposa Mall is important to pass on the significance of Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, said Delgado, just like Day of the Dead.
“Our younger generation needs to still embrace our heritage,” said Delgado in between posing for photos with celebrants. “I made all these crowns to remember not only my culture and Día de los Muertos, but also my mom and my dad and my sister who passed away.”
Delgado said the growing popularity of Day of the Dead can be bad if it becomes overly commercialized and people forget “what it truly means.”
“Death is not something to be somber about. It’s something to celebrate,” said Delgado. “I don’t want it to become so commercialized that people forget what it actually is.”
It’s nice to see big stores sell sugar skulls and other Day of the Dead paraphernalia, she said, “but you’ve got to remember the true meaning of it.”
Music, dance, food, speeches part of celebration
The independence days of México and neighboring countries – along with Hispanic Heritage Month – was cause for a fiesta.
“I want to start off by saying how proud I am to be a mayor of a city with mover half the population of Hispanic heritage,” Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said in opening remarks following the parade. “No matter what country you’re from, no matter what your nationality, no matter what your skin color, the neighborhood you live in, everyone belongs to one Fresno.”
Dyer said undocumented residents are also part of the city’s fabric.
“It means that our city is celebrating diversity,” he said. “Diversity doesn’t divide us, it brings us together.”
Other speakers echoed the mayor’s remarks.
Assemblymember Joaquín Arámbula: “So many of us have pride in where we come from and who we are. We come here today to celebrate our mutual origins and to appreciate that so many of us are still fighting for the recognition and dignity and respect that we all deserve.”
Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria: “This country is such and diverse and strong country, where the people of México, of El Salvador, of Guatemala, of Nicaragua, of Costa Rica come here to give their best so that future generations have an opportunity.”
Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias: “We’re trying to continuously improve the Fiestas Patrias to focus on families and children, and the culture and the diversity we have in the Central Valley.”
Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza: “My Spanish is not the best (but) I have never hesitated to celebrate my Mexican heritage. I’m proudly an Afro-Latino who holds near and near the Mexican culture that my family has instilled in me.”
Madera Mayor Santos García: “I want to honor my wife, who is from Nicaragua, and she tells me to say ‘Viva Nicaragua Libre!’ Long live México. Long live all the Central American countries that today celebrate their independence.”
Livingston Mayor José Morán: “Remember that wherever there is a Latin American, we are all there. Wherever there is a Latin American, we are all united to support each other in one way or another.”
Jason Castro Olivares, head consul of El Salvador’s Consulate in Fresno: “Independence Day, or Fiestas Patrias, is a day that fills us with pride and reminds us of the resilience, the courage, the unbreakable spirit of the people who fought for the freedom that we appreciate today.”
Adriana González Carrillo, head consul of México’s Consulate in Fresno: “We here from Fresno tell the entire Mexican nation that we are working hard to make it much bigger than it is, to inherit more and better opportunities for our families.”
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval: “Education is the key to our future here, in this Central Valley that is ours, that belongs to all of us because we work for it. That is why it belongs to us. We are the future and we are the leaders of the future of this country.”
Longtime Fiestas Patrias supporter honored
The Fiestas Patrias celebration started in Fresno in 1941, and Rafael Flores was the biggest supporter of the event. Flores, who died last year, became president of the Comité Cívico Mexicano in the 1970s and nurtured it into a three-day celebration that included a pageant.
He retired from that work in 1999, and the event was dormant until Arias revived it last year.
“He wanted Fiestas Patrias to become a staple in our community by making each one better than the last,” said his daughter HannaLiza Calles. “Fiestas Patrias was something to look forward to every year in the mid-1980s.”
Calles said her father began working as a banquet helper and later banquet manager at the La Hacienda Motel and Convention Center before becoming a union representative.
“My father’s purpose of organizing the Fiestas Patrias and the Cinco de Mayo events was to share the Mexican culture with the mexicanos and Latinos so that they would have a weekend to celebrate their culture with their loved ones, friends and family members,” said Calles.
