Viva Mexico!

Moses Lake community gathers at church to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day

MOSES LAKE - There was perfect weather for those Columbia Basin residents who wanted to celebrate Mexico's independence.

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church's Sacred Heart Guild put on an event over the weekend to do exactly that.

The event kicked off Saturday evening with a dance at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.

Sunday marked a daylong fiesta at the Centennial Amphitheater in Moses Lake's McCosh Park. The celebration began with a Mass at 11 a.m., with music and food continuing throughout the day.

Guild member Noemi Alfaro says the event is put on every year to raise money for the church.

"It was a Catholic priest who started the Mexican Revolution against the Spaniards," she explained. "His name was Miguel Hidalgo, and he was the first one that yelled out for Mexican independence, rang a bell and he was the one that started the revolution."

Alfaro's father, Jorge Garcia, said Hidalgo lived in the state of Guanajanto, Mexico, in the town of Dolores Hidalgo.

"He was the one who started independence because he was at the church, he was a priest, and he was the one who rang the bells to gather all the people that he can, and that's when it started," Garcia echoed.

There is a traditional yell, Alfaro explained.

"They usually do what they call 'El Grito,' which is like 'The Yell,' and they usually will yell out 'Viva Mexico,'" she said. "And so every year in Mexico since Father Miguel Hidalgo, the president of Mexico on the 15th of September at midnight will ring the bell and he'll yell out, 'Viva Mexico!" and the whole crowd chants the same yell."

The actual day of celebration is Sept. 16, Alfaro noted.

"They kind of tied it into two days instead of just the one, so it's two days of festivities but today is the actual Mexican Independence Day," she said. "We're hoping everybody has fun. We have a lot of food booths out there and just different little events. So it should be a fun time for everybody and at the same time we're helping the church with the building fund."

"We celebrate this every year - the Sacred Heart of our church comes in and they make this fiesta, and we recruit funds for the church, for special projects, for the new building," church Deacon Agapito Gonzalez explained. "We start off with Mass because most of all we have to give thanks to God for allowing us to be here, and we just go on and have a good old time with everybody."

Guild President Becky Garcia said the event has been ongoing for 43 years.

"It's a tradition we do and we've outgrown our center at the church, and so we've brought it out to the park for the last four years," she said. "We get a big turnout. People come out, have fun and it's a nice family thing for people to do."

Sergio Ibarra was present with his family.

"It's a nice day and because it's a Mass day, too," he explained. "It's a beautiful day. It's the Sunday Mass and we always go to the Sunday's Mass. They decided to do it today here, so it's nice to see everybody here together."