Centro salutes Hispanic roots with walk and cultural festivities
San Marcos celebrated our Hispanic and Latino communities with the Heritage Exhibition Walk on Saturday morning, with local residents, businesses and organizations carrying banners of countries of Central and South America as well as of parade organizers and sponsors. Proceeds from the event provide scholarships for San Marcos High School students.
The walk began at the Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, 211 Lee St., and continued along S. LBJ Drive to the Hays County courthouse, where San Marcos mayor Jane Hughson read a proclamation kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
“Whereas the city encourages and promotes strong and inclusive communities that recognize and celebrate efforts to bring people together for the greater good,” said Hughson. “(I) call upon all persons of the city of San Marcos to recognize the positive impacts of the city’s Hispanic people for the whole of the city’s population.”
Heritage Exhibition Walk activities around the courthouse included cultural displays, local history exhibits, art and music. Scheduled performers included Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos Folklorico, Mariachi Cascabel, Randy Cordero, Gatos 512 and Andean Fusion.
The goal of the Exhibition Heritage Walk, which began in 2022, is to reach out to members of the Hispanic and Latino communities in San Marcos from Central and South America, said Gloria Salazar, co-founder of the Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos and currently the office coordinator.
“They do very important work in our community, and we wanted to acknowledge them and let them know that we as a community want to make them feel at home here,” Salazar said. Everyone is interested in what is happening to the other person, and really wanting a good life for everyone here.”
Lucy Gonzalez, local missions pastor at the PromiseLand San Marcos Church, called attention to the challenges faced by previous generations of Hispanic residents in San Marcos, as well as their perseverance and success in becoming influential figures.
“Our abuelos, our abuelas, many had to work two jobs to make it through,” Gonzales said, addressing the crowd gathered at the steps of the Hays County courthouse. “Many of them couldn’t communicate in their language with the people that they worked for, but they still found the opportunity to gather all their children and pray together. … They worked extremely hard. And now there are Hispanic people holding leadership positions in the community.”
City Council member Amanda Rodriguez stressed the importance of attending community events like the Heritage Walk to recognize the shared culture of San Marcos residents.
“It’s just a celebration of people, celebration of where they came from and what, despite everything, what they’ve still maintained today,” Rodriquez said.
