By Hayden Seder
A church and a special events organization is teaming up this year to deepen and expand the community’s understanding of Cinco de Mayo—the holiday many Americans associate with a good excuse for margaritas and the mistaken idea they are celebrating Mexican independence.
On Saturday, May 4, St. Charles Catholic Church in Hailey will put on its annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, this year collaborating with Herbert Romero’s Project Tools and Partners to bring a cultural, community experience to the public. The free event will take place all day and feature traditional Mexican and Hispanic foods like tacos, gorditas, and enchiladas, as well as music, games, and a raffle with proceeds going to a student scholarship fund.
Romero, the operations director of Project Tools and Partners, a community-based program and special events operation, first became aware of the Cinco de Mayo event while researching cultural events that his organization could get behind. St. Charles Church has been putting on its Cinco de Mayo event for 15 years.
“I have a background in doing cultural events,” Romero said. “We did our first one last year, the Hailey Hispanic Heritage Fest.”
With Cinco de Mayo coming up, Romero reached out to the St. Charles event committee about collaborating to make the event as publicized in the community as possible. Despite being put on by a church annually, the Cinco de Mayo celebration is a community event for everyone to participate in, not a religious event.
“I wanted to be a champion of getting that message across to the community because it’s not a religious event, it’s a historical/community/cultural event … that celebrates Mexican and Hispanic culture,” Romero said.
Specifically, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the day the Mexican army defeated France in 1862 at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-American War. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is often incorrectly thought to be a celebration of Mexican independence and is often celebrated through parties and drinking. In Mexico, the day is a relatively minor holiday primarily observed in the state of Puebla where traditions include military parades, recreations of the Battle of Puebla and other festivities.
The priority of Romero’s organization is diversity and providing fun opportunities for kids to get out of the house and be active in their community, which is why he has been working to publicize the event as much as possible. He even talked to Senator Michelle Stennett about possibly attending.
The May celebration is not the first high-profile event Project Tools and Partners has been involved with; the group has collaborated with Flourish Foundation, Balmoral Apartments, The Hunger Coalition and St. Luke’s to put on various events in the community.
While the event on May 4 is free, there are opportunities to donate money and participate in raffles with prizes. The proceeds of the event go to a scholarship fund to support educational endeavors for children who are involved in the church.