Hondo Fiesta brings heritage alive

Every year since 1948, the 64th annual Fiesta de Hondo brings together the community of Hondo in a day of festivity and dancing. Hondo Valley residents and guests from far and wide will come together at the school for an enchilada dinner from 4 to 6 p.m. The colorful dances celebrate the town's Hispanic culture as the community's children participate in the performance beginning at 6 p.m. Eighty-six-year-old Cecilia Sanchez-Booky lights up as she recalls the fiesta's beginnings. Fiesta founder Fermin Montes and his wife, Cerenia, brought traditional dances to Hondo from Mexico in 1948. Their dream was to acquaint the students with the songs and dances of area's the early settlers and bring the past alive through teaching the dances to the school children. They did just that and decades later, the community comes together annually to celebrate its heritage...more