Hometown Harvest
Dancers from the Sol y Luna dance troupe performed traditional routines at the “Celebration of Cultures” at the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum Saturday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Bethany Cosio works to lift that heavy pail of water, with encouragement from volunteer Cassi Nelson in period costume.
Camila Martinez dips a candle wick, while volunteer Joey Hodges keeps an eye on the wax, during the “Celebration of Cultures,” part of the Hometown Harvest Fest in Quincy Saturday.
Volunteers carry flags from the many nations of immigrants, past and present, that contributed to the Quincy Valley.
Jose Machado, founder and leader of Mariachi Imperio, leads the group during a performance Saturday at the “Celebration of Cultures” at the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum.
Rafael Farias, foreground, provides the horsepower, and Steve Weber feeds the corn, for the machine that separates the kernels from the cob.
Conversation, art, music, wine and beer filled the Quincy Public Market Saturday during the “Art, Wine and Brews” event.
State Representative Alex Ybarra was the speaker at the “Celebration of Cultures” at the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum. Ybarra is currently running for reelection and is unopposed.
Mimi Alcala, back, turns the crank on the apple press, while Sawyer Golay, right, feeds the apples through.
Dancers from the Sol y Luna troupe spin in a swirl of bright color during their performance at the “Celebration of Cultures” Saturday.
Members of Quincy High School’s Spectrum Choir performed the national anthem during the “Celebration of Cultures” Saturday.
Both new and experienced dancers from the Sol y Luna troupe performed Saturday at the “Celebration of Cultures” in Quincy.
QUINCY — Jose Machado and Juliana Sandoval both said tradition matters, and tradition and history were on display Saturday at the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum.
Machado is the leader of Mariachi Imperio, based in Wenatchee, and he said the band members play mariachi as a way to remember their family roots.
“It’s mostly the tradition for me,” Machado said. “It’s more of a feeling.”
“For us, it’s about the music,” Sandoval said.
She is one of three sisters who lead Ballet Sol y Luna, a Quincy-based troupe that features traditional Mexican dances.
Machado said traditional mariachi is not as popular as it once was, and it’s up to groups like Mariachi Imperio to keep the traditions alive.
The “Celebration of Cultures” was part of the first Hometown Harvest Fest in Quincy, which also included an art sale and wine tasting, a straw maze and pumpkin patch and a downtown block party.
Museum director Harriet Weber said the museum’s goal was to celebrate Quincy Valley history and the many different cultures that are part of that history and the cultures that continue to influence Quincy today.
“The whole idea is out of many, one,” Weber said, referencing the motto on the Great Seal of the United States.
Museum volunteers carried flags from 28 different countries in procession, which ended at the flagpole where the U.S. flag was flying. The Quincy High School Spectrum Choir sang the national anthem.
The “Art, Wine and Brews” event was held at the Quincy Public Market Saturday night and featured Quincy Valley wineries, breweries and coffee roasters. Local artists had works on display and for sale, including paintings, stained glass and furniture.
The event happened to coincide with the third game of the Seattle Mariners-Houston Astros playoff series, a 1-0 thriller that lasted 18 innings. Attendees enjoyed the wine and art, but kept an eye on the baseball game.
On Saturday afternoon the museum’s lawn was filled with volunteers in pioneer dress, demonstrating the old-fashioned - really old-fashioned - way of doing things. Bethany Cosio really liked pumping water with the hand pump, but when it came time to lift the water bucket, it turned out to be pretty heavy.
Filling the bucket was actually the first chore at the laundry station, as Cassi Nelson explained to the curious children who came up to find out the purpose of the wash tubs and wringers. The children were surprised to learn that they were the washer, scrubbing bandanas in one tub, wringing them out and rinsing them in a second tub.
“Do you know where the dryer is?” Nelson asked Rafael Farias.
When Farias shook his head, Nelson handed him a couple of clothespins and showed him the clothesline.
Children got lessons in churning butter, dipping candle wicks, sewing on a treadle machine and making apple cider. Museum volunteers made fry bread on the wood-burning stove in the summer kitchen. It was a sunny, warm but not hot day, but - dang, that stove was pumping out the heat. Volunteer Aileen Cruz tended the fry bread fryer.
“The second you step out (from the stove), it feels nice,” Cruz said.
She noted that way back in the day women tended wood stoves in long skirts, long sleeves and on much hotter days.
“Poor ladies,” she said.
State representative Alex Ybarra was the speaker at the flag ceremony, and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to him as he stepped to the microphone. Ybarra said he was raised in Quincy, the son of immigrants from Mexico, and his family values both Quincy and their ancestral home.
“Wherever you’re from, you’re all welcome in Quincy,” Ybarra said.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
