Conco de Mayo Festival, Celina Record

Annual Cinco de Mayo festival benefits Celina students Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com May 5, 2016 As a young boy growing up in Mexico, Dago Rodriguez dreamed of attending college but knew the odds were stacked against him. The youngest of six children, his father left the family when Rodriguez was very young. To make extra money, he sold popsicles, gum and newspapers on the International Bridge in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He turned to his teachers who served as mentors, he said. In the end, Rodriguez did attend college and went on to teach sixth-grade students in Mexico. He moved in the mid-1990s to Celina and worked a handful of jobs before purchasing Jimbo’s Pizza, at 304 W. Walnut St., 10 years ago. Rodriguez also founded and serves as the president of El Puente de Celina, a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the education of local youth and assisting others in need. The organization coordinates and hosts the city’s annual Cinco de Mayo festival, which is scheduled Saturday on the downtown square. About 2,000 people are expected to attend the event, the proceeds from which will help fund scholarships El Puente de Celina awards each year to graduating Celina High School seniors. “If it was not for a scholarship, I would not have been able to go to college,” Rodriguez said. This year, $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to a half-dozen students. Those who applied were required to obtain a pair of recommendation letters, pen an essay about diversity and be interviewed by a committee of Celina ISD staffers. In the past, the scholarships were given only to students of Hispanic heritage but are now available to students of all cultural backgrounds. The financial need of students was also considered, according to Jill Roza, parent and communications liaison for Celina ISD who facilitated the selection process. “There are some kids who may not think a thousand dollars is a big deal, but when they get to college and realize that a thousand dollars could just [pay for] one semester of books, it becomes a big deal,” she said. This year’s Cinco de Mayo festival will feature a parade with more than a dozen entries, performances by folkloric and Mayan dance groups, a mariachi band comprised of child musicians, a kids’ play area, music and numerous food, craft and product vendors. For the first time in its seven-year history, alcohol, including beer and margaritas, will be sold during the festival. Last year’s Cinco de Mayo festivities on Celina’s square were postponed due to weather. The event was to be rescheduled to coincide with the city’s Splash and Blast event in July, but that event was cancelled as a result of wet field conditions. “It was very disappointing because we worked so hard for a long time” to prepare for it, Rodriguez said, especially when it came to practicing the folkloric dances in which he also participates. While the festival is the biggest event El Puente de Celina hosts annually, Rodriguez said the organization stays busy year-round assisting at area nursing homes, building wheelchair ramps at the homes of stroke patients and donating funds to people and organizations in need, among other initiatives. “The dancers and the scholarships and telling people what Cinco de Mayo is about and helping people, that’s me and that’s my focus,” he said.