by Mary-Ann Brandon
WALSENBURG- The history of Southern Colorado, prior to 1821 when this piece of land was part of Spain’s New Mexico Territory, is of tremendous importance to the rich cultural heritage of this area. I have to admit that I came out here from Tennessee with only a cursory understanding of this land and it’s history. My ignorance led me to read about the land grants and how Southern Colorado became a part of the United States. While writing this piece I began to contemplate what Huerfano County might look like today if we were still part of Mexico? We can only speculate, but for one weekend, some of the deeply rooted culture of this region will be celebrated through music, dance, and hopefully a lot of civic pride and spirit to boot.
Walsenburg is getting ready for a big party to take place on September 10th -12th at the Huerfano County Community Center where the community will come together for La Plaza de los Leones organization’s annual grand fiesta. “Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders, Today…” is the motto of this noble organization. They are indeed succeeding in their endeavor to create leaders. In fact, the La Plaza Youth Auxiliary has already managed to raise over $3,000 this year for the not for profit organization through various activities including car washes. The sole reason for this weekend festival is to raise scholarship funds to help deserving Huerfano County youth with the ever increasing cost of higher education.
The entertainment will be varied over the weekend and will include local and regional acts. Both music and dance will be featured. If you’ve ever dreamed of being on American Idol, dream no more, grab a mic and sing your heart out during the karaoke portion of the show.
The festivities will kick off on Friday night Sept 10 with a teen dance at the community center from 9-12 pm. The dance is open to the public and tickets can be purchased for $15 per couple or $10 for individuals.
The weekend performance schedule is as follows:
Friday night:
Teen Dance with D.J. John Pineda
Saturday:
10:00 am Parade
11:00 – 11:30 Korrine Aguirre (singer)
11:30 – 12:30 The Fiesta Queen and her court will perform (variety entertainment)
12:30 – 1:30 The El Fandango Dancers
1:30 – 2:30 Karaoke (open to the public, here’s your chance to unleash your hidden star within)
2:30 – 3:00 Las Hermanas (Country, Pop and Mexican music)
3:00 – 4:00 Rappers (from Grip ALot Records in Pueblo) T.B.A.
4:00 – 4:30 Alexandria Tenorio (Pop singer)
4:30 – 5:30 Atzlan Indian Dancers
Sunday:
2:00 – 3:00 Atzlan Indian Dancers
3:00 – 3:30 Korrine Aguirre
3:30 – 4:00 Alexandria Tenorio
4:00 – 4:30 Las Hermanas
4:30 – 5:00 T.B.A..
Come out and support this very worthy cause and enjoy the celebration of our cultural history. Every dollar raised will go towards providing scholarships for deserving youth with need for financial assistance. For more information go to http://plazadelosleones.org
