Mexican Independence royalty named

After 34 years of celebrating Fiestas Patrias — the celebration of Mexican Independence Day, a day filled with royalty representation, food, music and Hispanic culture — the annual festivities will cease following this year’s celebration scheduled for Sept. 12.

“This is probably the last year we will be doing this,” said Alexandra Roman, an event spokesperson. “With the fairgrounds moving, and because it has gotten more and more difficult to run it, we’re not planning on continuing with the event. Hopefully the community will come out and support us one last time.”

The royalty’s grand entrance, and the crowning of the queens, honors bestowed upon the persons selling the most tickets during a ticket-sales campaign, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Selected for the royalty honors are four girls who have been named as the 2010 Mexican Independence Celebration royalty by the Sociedad Progresista Mexicana No. 48. The youth will represent Sociedad Progresista at the celebration to be held from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 12 at the old Porterville Fairgrounds at the corner of Olive Avenue and Plano Street.

Mariachi Colonial will entertain the crowd throughout the day, with dancing scheduled from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. to the music of several groups — Entuciasmo, Dragon Musical and Guerrerense de la Sierra.

City councilmember Felipe Martinez will be the Master of Ceremonies and Linda C. Martinez will crown the royalty.

The Royal court will be led by Senior Queen Rosarline Lupercio Duenas, 16, a junior at Monache High School. Rosarline is the daughter of Rosa and Jose de Jesus Lupercio. Senior Princess Lorena Andrade, 16, is a sophomore at Monache. She is the daughter of Guadalupe and Fermin Andrade. Stephanie Hernandez of Lindsay High School was named Honor Attendant. Stephanie, 16, is the daughter of Emertina and Margarito Hernandez of Lindsay.
Desly Guadalupe Valle, 7, is the junior queen. She attends John J. Doyle Elementary and is the daughter of Raquel Herrera Valle and Jesus Valle of Porterville. And Americus Brianne Campos-Gonzalez is the junior princess. Americus is a second-grade student at Santa Fe Elementary and is the daughter of Isabel and Hector Gonzalez of Porterville.

The Mexican War of Independence, which started on Sept. 16 1810 and went through 1821, was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities. On that day, the battle cry of the Mexican War of Independence also known as El Grito de la Independencia was uttered on by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest from the small town of Dolores, near Guanajuato, Mexico. In the early hours of that day, the priest rang the bell of his little church, asking everyone who gathered to fight for liberty. That was the beginning of a 10-year Independence War.

To this day, people will gather, starting at 11 p.m. on Sept. 15, at the square outside the National Palace in Mexico City. The President of Mexico reads the names of their Independence heroes and follows by leading everyone present in shouting El Grito — “Viva Mexico.”  The shout, and the ringing of the same bell Hidalgo used — which has been moved to the Palace — is usually done around midnight and is followed by fireworks.

El Grito is a tradition practiced by many people of Mexican descent throughout the world.
This year also marks the bicentennial — 200th year anniversary — of Mexico’s Independence.