Cinco de Mayo Events Help to Build Bridges

For organizers of Ventura’s first Cinco de Mayo festival at the West Park Community Center on Sunday, it was more than just a chance to celebrate Mexico’s independence, but also a way to build bridges between the community’s different cultures.

“The community aspect of the event is really the most important part of today,” said Sheridan Way Elementary School Principal Trudy Arriagga, who helped organize the festivities. “Bringing the west-side community together like this, I think, will really get people to understand that Ventura isn’t made up of a lot of neighborhoods, but is a neighborhood.”

Throughout Ventura County, scores of people attended community events to mark the 135 years since Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza’s army defeated a much larger French force at the Battle of Puebla in a landmark event in Mexican history.

More than 500 people gathered under blue skies on the three-acre field outside the Ventura community center to mark the holiday and spend time with family.

In addition to the tables of food and grills sizzling with marinated carne asada, the event featured a heated soccer tournament between a number of clubs, tuxedoed mariachis wearing embroidered sombreros and information booths from several area civic organizations.

“Besides just coming out to have a great time, it’s a wonderful way to get people motivated to make Ventura a better place to live, have fun in and raise a family,” said Lauri Flack, a member of the Westside Community Council who was at the event to raise awareness of the group’s effort to improve the city.

Despite the cultural and historical significance of the event, many of the participants said they came just to have a good time.

“Today’s a day to have good times with family and your friends,” said Henry Garza, 36, of Ventura, who attended the event with his brother’s family. “It wouldn’t be Cinco de Mayo if you weren’t having fun.”

In Oxnard, having a good time was the first order of business for the more than 5,000 people who attended that city’s fourth annual Cinco de Mayo celebration.

There, celebrants, walking amid air sweetened with the smell of steaming corn tortillas, listened to the serenades of strolling mariachis, laughed with friends and munched on cords of doughy churros.

Organized by La Colonia Coalition Against Drugs and Alcohol, the event stressed the absence of any alcohol or tobacco products at Sunday’s festivities.

Additionally, money raised at the event will be used to fund grants for area children to attend college.

“Of course, it’s wonderful to have our community together like this today, but one of the most important things is to do it without alcohol or drugs,” Oxnard City councilman John Zaragoza said. “I think that just showing people that they can have a good time without it goes a long way toward improving our community.”