Fall 2016 Event Recap
By Nick Perry, Vice President & Marina Marinovich, Publicity Chair
The history and culture of the local Mexican-American community came to life at the first-ever Día de los Muertos celebration hosted by the Mountain View Historical Association. The event took place on Sunday, November 6, and sold out weeks before. We estimate a crowd of over 150 people filled the Adobe Building’ s hall and, thanks to rain-free weather, spilled out into its garden.
The historic Mission-style architecture of the landmark Adobe served as a perfect setting for the event. Traditional“ papel picado” added splashes of color to the adobe walls, and two large and elaborate Día de los Muertos altars flanked either side of the building’ s fireplace. One altar featured large sugar skulls created by students from Crittenden and Graham middle schools. The other altar was created by the Historical Association and included photos of influential Mountain View pioneers, along with touching images of recently departed loved ones submitted by the community prior to the event.
The event’ s first hour included two presentations on Mountain View’ s Mexican history. Mr. Crisanto Castro, of the original Mountain View Castro family for whom the city’ s main street is named, traced his family’ s history dating back to the Spanish colonial era and his personal memories of life at the Castro rancho where Rengstorff Park is today. The crowd audibly gasped when Mr. Castro presented a cross given to the family by Junípero Serra, the Spanish priest who founded California’ s Mission system and was recently canonized as a Catholic saint.
The second presentation highlighted the history of Mountain View’ s Club Estrella, cohosts of the day’ s festivities. Club Estrella’ s Katie Montalvo shared the story of the club’ s founding in 1948, when local Mexican-American women living in Mountain View joined forces to help the poor and promote the culture and welfare of their community. In the spirit of Día de los Muertos, MVHA Vice President Nick Perry highlighted the life of Joe Perez, a Club Estrella member who became Mountain View’ s first Mexican-American council member and mayor in the 1970s. Perez’ s life was tragically cut short by cancer while serving on the City Council;“ Plaza de Perez” at the Two Worlds development on El Camino Real is named in his honor.
Following Club Estrella’ s presentation, the event shifted gears and became a joyful celebration of Mexican music and dance. Guests were treated to a lively series of traditional dances performed by the Raices de Mexico folkloric dance group. The colorfully costumed young dancers delighted the audience which cheered and clapped along. The event then spilled out to the Adobe Building’ s garden for an hour-long concert by Mariachi Tapatio, one of the premier mariachi bands in the area. By the end of the concert, guests had leaped out of their seats to dance to the music on the garden lawn.
The MVHA has decided to make the event an annual Mountain View tradition. If anyone would like to help plan the 2017 Día de los Muertos, please contact any member of the MVHA Board!
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