Hispanic culture celebrated with hometown events in North Alabama

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — After seeing similar festivals while living in San Antonio, Texas, for five years, Northeastern Alabama Community College President Dr. David Campbell brought to Dekalb County one of the first celebrations of Latin American culture in Alabama in 2005.

This summer’s event, held on June 10, marked 18 years of the Latino Festival at NACC. Student organizations and local businesses set up tents in and around Tom Bevill Lyceum. The sunny Saturday afternoon was filled with scents of Mexican food and the bright colors of bouncy houses and traditional Mexican dresses.

Students, faculty and community members gathered on the NACC campus on June 10 to celebrate Hispanic culture with traditional dances, food, children’s activities, and more.

Red-and-white-striped tents stood in front of a makeshift stage at the doors of the Lyceum. Performers danced and sang while attendees enjoyed Mexican dishes. Children, faces painted, ran from bouncy houses to games, chips in hand.

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Daniela Garcia, a sophomore in pre-nursing at NACC, was there, representing HOLA, a campus group dedicated to community outreach and celebrating Hispanic culture. She led a group playing Latino bingo.

Garcia grew up in Fort Payne and attended Latino Festival and events like it her entire life. “It feels like a great appreciation, a great pride, for someone to want to come and celebrate my culture with me, to share our food and our customs,” she said. “I feel like Northeast is definitely a great place for anyone. We have programs like this to make sure that all communities are built together.”

In the spirit of building community, Latino Festival offers an opportunity for local businesses, restaurants, and churches to promote their services. Underneath one blue tent was a family cooking quesadillas and burritos representing their small business, New Generation Builders L.L.C.

Erick Lopez, who has spent most of his life in Fort Payne, was able to start his home repair and remodeling company just over a year ago with the help of his wife, Erika Lopez.

This was his family’s first time working or attending the Latino Festival. He said, “Being here is a really good feeling, actually. It really is. It lets you know that people do care about Hispanic culture, and it gives us an opportunity to share our heritage and our business.”

He turned back to the tent where his family moved quickly, trying to fulfill orders as his three young sons sat in lawn chairs offering Mexican chips called chicharrons.

Inside Tom Bevill Lyceum, to escape the heat and commotion of the festival outside, Campbell took a seat in the air conditioning and reflected on 18 years of the Latino Festival and its impact on the community.

“One of the intents (of Latino Festival) is to call attention to Hispanic culture and all the great attributes to help people know more about it,” explained Campbell. “It’s just people coming and having fun.”

The festival was successful even in its early days and has more attendees every year. Many young attendees of the festival have gone on to attend the community college and orchestrate the festival for younger generations of future college students to enjoy.

NACC hopes to continue hosting their Latino Festival to celebrate their students and community. “We’d always love for more and more people to come out,” said Campbell. “We didn’t start with the intent of something big in mind. It was just to feature Hispanic culture.”

Campbell and then event planner Susan Webb served as the first directors. Tresha McClain now serves as the director, working with a planning committee that includes Jarrod Blackwell, Stephen Brewer, Chasley Brown, Juani Macias-Christian, Amy LaCount, Lizeth Gonzalez, Dean Jeff Hawes, Donna Moore, Meg Nippers, Joan Reeves, Dawn Saint, Andrea Shepard, Kayleigh Smith, Seferina Valey and Steven Whited.

Payton Davis, a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, is living and learning this summer in Collinsville, Alabama, as a Jean O'Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer.

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This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Hispanic culture celebrated with hometown events in North Alabama