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Cinco de Mayo, means freedom

Cinco de Mayo,  Grito de Dolores honors Mexican independence. Cinco de Mayo proves she deserves it. Yet Mexico’s future was uncertain concurrent the American Civil War. In 1861, France peered across the Atlantic and saw a distraction. Hitherto, Mexico owed several backers large interest sums. France would make her pay by force! But there was an ulterior motive. A Tale of Two Presidents President Lincoln understood that a Mexican alliance was pivotal to Union victory. Mexico’s President Benito Juarez was happy to oblige – European puppet governments were legitimate concerns. United States policy discouraged European nations from intervening. Conversely, France’s Emperor Napoleon III would profit from Confederate victory. Union occupation halted French trade. Without Union policy holding them back, France was free to engage Mexico. A True Underdog Story And it did, despite standing policy. Lincoln’s Union was pre-occupied and could not intervene. French military covered Mexico like a plague. There were two French soldiers for every one Mexican! Mexico City was destined to fall, but not before one of the biggest upsets in military history. On May 5th, under General Zaragoza’s command, Mexico’s army repelled France at ‘Puebla’. Word travelled internationally. The improbable victory emboldened Mexican’s home and abroad. The Fight for Freedom Continued resistance made France’s endeavour fruitless. America, eventually reunited, pressured France into relinquishing control. Napoleon III’s puppet emperor was executed and President Juarez returned to power. Cinco de Mayo (“Five of May”) remembers Mexico’s struggle and acknowledges her spirit. Celebrating at the Turn of the Century Cinco de Mayo enjoyed renewed American interest following the 1960’s. Today, Cinco de Mayo ceremonies are held in every state. In fact, General Zaragoza’s birthplace, Goliad, Texas, is the official celebration location. Puebla, however, still boasts being Cinco de Mayo’s largest celebratory location. Participants re-enact the conflict between Mexican and French soldiers. (We hate to ruin a surprise, but Mexico always wins.) Food, song, and dance proceed. Color floats and piñatas adorn Puebla’s streets. Adult and child alike scarf down plate after plate of Mole Poblano. Ingredients like chili pepper and chocolate make a unique juxtaposition for your palate. Tequila is, naturally, imbibed liberally. In recent years, focus has been placed on international music plus traditional Mexican artists. United we Stand Benito Juarez remarked that Mexico would be wise to imitate her neighbour’s democratic principles. Lincoln and Juarez had mutual affection, despite never meeting. Cinco de Mayo reminds all nations that freedom is worth striving for.

By |2019-03-15T02:28:57+00:00April 29th, 2016|Festivals, Cinco de Mayo, Holidays|0 Comments
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Fireworks and Safety for the 4th of July

Fireworks are part of the July 4th celebrations. They are synonymous to the nation’s birthday as backyard barbecues, parades down the main street, and apple pie. They are relatively safe if only people use their common sense. There are also some easy to follow rules that make handling fireworks in County fairgrounds safer. But even with the rules, it seems like people ignore the rules. Each year people are brought to the emergency room due to fireworks-related injuries around the July 4th celebrations. People should remember that fireworks are dangerous and can cause serious burns. If you are tasked to set up fireworks at the county fairgrounds, there are some things that you must do first. One of the first things you need to do is to make sure you have already appointed a firing team. It should be composed of no more than three people with one person serving as the leader of the group. Members of the firing team must have experience of lighting fireworks and have knowledge of safety regulations.   Organizing the Fireworks Display You must ensure that the firing site can accommodate all the fireworks you intend to fire. There must be ample spacing in order to avoid accidental firing of fireworks. Don’t forget to read the instructions on all the fireworks. Each item behaves differently and might be required to be set up and installed in several ways. Make sure that the right side is facing the audience, especially the fan style cakes. There are some types that are required to be buried in soft earth or attached to wooden stakes buried in the ground. These are candles, fountains, and cakes. If they are attached to wooden stakes, they should be attached with strong cloth tape to ensure that the firework stays behind the stake and doesn’t fall over or face the crowd. The fireworks must be angled away from the crowd. If the weather is not too nice, you can use plastic bags to keep fireworks dry. Some fountains have a cone shape and make them hard to be attached to anything. You can place the fountain on a flat surface and avoid placing it on the grass that could make the firework unstable and tip over. Rockets should be launched from tubes. You can make a DIY project using plumbing pipe. Just make sure that the stick of the rocket can freely liftoff form the pipe. It must not get stuck in the pipe. If the rocket has a [...]

By |2019-03-24T20:59:45+00:00June 12th, 2014|4th July, County Fairgrounds, Countyfairgrounds, Fireworks, Holidays|0 Comments
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Of Irish Beers and Green Beers

Ireland is known as the “Emerald Isle” but that is not because it is there that the green beer we traditionally have on Saint Patrick’s Day comes from. In fact, the customary practice of having green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day did not even originate from Ireland. More likely, this is a homegrown American tradition. In Ireland, the most widely-sold beer is Guinness, the popular brand name of an Irish dry stout brew. In every pub in Ireland, there are always multiple taps of Guinness. Worldwide, Guinness is also one of the most in demand brand. This brand of beer is very dark, almost black, and is known for its strong roast flavor which leaves a distinctive aftertaste. Aside from Guinness, there are other best selling brands of Irish beers like Smithwick’s, Ohara’s Celtic Stout, Porterhouse’s Oyster Stout, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale, Murphy’s Irish Red, Murphy’s Irish Stout, Beamish Irish Stout, and Black Rock Irish Stout. They are all excellent beers but none of them come in green. But how did this tradition of having green-colored beer on Saint Patrick’s Day really started? One account has it that the practice was first popularized by Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub in Tipperary Hill, Syracuse, New York, which has been holding an annual “Green Beer Day” to kick-off the Saint Patrick’s Day festivities in the area since the early 1960s. Another account has it that the practice originated much earlier. An article at the Ellensberg Daily Record, a circa 1914 newspaper based in Washington, said that “the Palace Cafe Saloon will feature green beer on St. Patrick’s Day.” According to the story, a certain Dr. Curtin, a coroner's physician, created the concoction by putting a drop of "wash blue" dye in an unspecified quantity of beer. Whatever the actual date of origin, the idea of having green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day caught on and became a nationwide fad. Eventually, the fad, instead of fading like most fads do, apparently took roots and evolved to become another American tradition. So how do you make green beer? It’s really easy. For a standard-sized beer mug, just put 4 to 6 drops of green liquid food coloring, then pour the beer. You could also try blue but you could end up with a bluish green beer rather than the perfect emerald green beer. For a big pitcher, use 20 to 25 drops. Enjoy as soon as done. Don’t stir as this could make the beer taste flat. If you are partial to [...]

By |2017-07-02T21:43:38+00:00March 8th, 2014|Irish Beer|0 Comments
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Saint Patrick’s Day History

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated every March 17th to commemorate the death anniversary of Saint Patrick, and more recently, to celebrate all things Irish. On that day, parades and festivals are held, people pack the pubs, and green is everywhere. As with the shamrock - the tree-leaf clover symbol of Ireland which, it is said, Saint Patrick used in his teachings about the Holy Trinity. But who is Saint Patrick? He is the patron saint of Ireland. However, he is not Irish. He was born in Rome-occupied Britain around A.D. 390 to a wealthy, landed family of prominent Christians. His father was a deacon. When he was sixteen, Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders. He was brought to Ireland where he was made to work as a slave. For more than six years, he was tasked with the duty of tending sheep in the mountainous parts of the countryside where there were no other people. While there, it is said that he heard a disembodied voice directing him to escape and telling him how. Following instructions from the voice, he walked about 200 miles to the coast where he somehow managed to get passage on a pirate ship back to Britain. Though already back in the safety of his native land, Saint Patrick did not return to the comfortable lifestyle that was his during his early years. Instead, he opted to become a priest. He trained for more than 15 years to become a missionary. Compelled by an angel that appeared to him in a vision, he decided to return to Ireland to spread Christianity. As Saint Patrick was already familiar with the language, culture and ancient customs of the Irish, he was able to use the existing beliefs and terminology of the ethnic population to illustrate and better explain the teachings of the Christian church. For instance, to make the veneration of the cross easier for them, he incorporated a sun, a powerful Druid symbol, into the traditional Christian cross to create what is now known as the Celtic cross. Saint Patrick’s second time around in Ireland was almost just as harsh as when he was first brought there as a slave by the raiders. He was incessantly harassed by the Irish royalty as well as robbed and beaten by the local thugs. Nonetheless, he persevered. For thirty years, he continued to evangelize. He baptized thousands and built churches, monasteries and schools. He died on March 17, 461 A.D., and was immediately canonized as a [...]

By |2019-03-24T22:03:49+00:00March 4th, 2014|St. Patrick's Day, Holidays|0 Comments
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Valentine’s Day History and Traditions

On February 14, the USA like most other countries in the world will celebrate Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, it is a day marked by the celebration of romantic love and is typically symbolized by representations of hearts, red roses, doves and Cupid. Americans commemorate the occasion in a variety of ways, including offering each other small tokens of affection like flowers and sweets and sending greeting cards specially themed for the day. Although now observed as a secular holiday, Valentine’s Day was originally a church-sanctioned holy day of obligation dedicated to Saint Valentine. Unfortunately, whose Saint Valentine’s Day it was is not clear as there were more than one Saint Valentines who were martyred during ancient Roman times. According to historical accounts, one Saint Valentine was imprisoned and executed for performing weddings for soldiers who were prohibited from marrying while in military service. Another Saint Valentine was put to death for helping Christians escape from prison, and who while awaiting his execution, healed the blind daughter of his jailer. Supposedly, this Saint Valentine, before his death, sent her a love note signed “from your Valentine,” an expression that we still like to use until today. In any event, around 498 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day. There are others though who maintain that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in order to "Christianize" the pagan feast of Lupercalia which was celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, and was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to Romulus and Remus, the supposed founders of Rome. On the other hand, there are also others who believe that February 14 was chosen by the church for the special day because it was when the mating season for birds generally begin, and this further added to the notion that Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.  Whatever the reason of the church for marking February 14 as Saint Valentine’s feast day, it was during the Medieval period when the holiday started becoming popular as a celebration of romantic love. From that point, people started sending and exchanging handwritten love notes and greeting cards. According to History.com, Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. in the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America, made with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card [...]

By |2017-07-03T02:31:31+00:00January 31st, 2014|Valentine Day|0 Comments
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New Year traditions to bring good luck to your home

For most of us, the New Year means hope for a new beginning, another chance to make a positive difference not only in our own lives but also to those around us. It signifies another opportunity for us to become a better, healthier, more beautiful, and more successful version of who we currently are. Typically, we’d make a list, literally or figuratively, of our New Year’s resolutions. Typically too, we’d invoke or evoke good luck to come our way to help us bring to completion what we resolve to do and/or be in the coming 12 months. Superstitious or not, we cling to certain traditional practices for inviting good luck into our homes and into our lives on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. If they work, that’s well and good. If not, there’s no harm done in having tried. Of course, the actual practices for invoking or evoking or summoning good fortune varies depending on which cultural milieu you came from. If your roots are Latin American, chances are you’d be wearing bright red or yellow underpants on your way to welcoming the New Year. If you’re from Italy or Portugal, you’d probably be eating 12 grapes from a bunch at the stroke of midnight. If you’re from the Philippines, you’d likely be in polka dots and munching on as many assorted round fruits as possible as you clink away at the coins which fill up your pockets. Among people belonging to a common nationality or culture, there are certain beliefs they usually share that doing certain things on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day will somehow affect how the coming days and months ahead will turn out eventually. Most like the Chinese employ public ceremonial dancing and fireworks displays to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. The Dutch set their Christmas trees on fire and build bonfires on the street as they light fireworks and parade about and around the town. Panamanians on the other hand prefer to burn effigies of their politicians and other well-known personalities. The Scots hold parades of men who swing fireballs attached to poles around and over their heads. The Danes throw plates and glasses against the doors of their friends and relatives while Colombians walk around their neighborhoods carrying empty suitcases. And South Africans throw old appliances and other heavy things out their windows, just as the Japanese visit their temples to hear the bells chime 108 times. For many Americans, well, their New Year’s Day [...]

By |2019-03-25T22:46:57+00:00December 27th, 2013|New Year|0 Comments
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Food Vending, Pima County Arizona Part two

Well, as some of you may know I had a peanut brittle booth at the 4th Avenue Street Fair this year. I want to report to the food vendors about food vending at this event in Tucson, Arizona. As you know the 4th Avenue Street Fair is huge. It occurs twice a year one in December and then in the spring, usually in March. Competition to get into this event is very very high and there is a intense jury process that starts at Zapp For years I have hesitated in trying to get into this event as I believed the process to be too difficult - after all peanut brittle is a food product. My product is however pre-packaged and currently I have a wholesale food license from the state of Colorado. This license gives me a right to sell anywhere in the USA, including the 4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson. Now, the 4th Avenue Merchants Association takes good care of its potential food vendors - and acts as a buffer between the Pima Health Department and the 4th Avenue event. My experience with the Pima Health Department in this regard was nothing short of dismal. Don't call them if you want into this street fair. Please just fill out the Zapp Application and once accepted into the show follow the instructions of the Merchants Association. Calling the Pima Health Department is a waste of time. They sincerely appear to not know what they are doing. I tried a few times. It appears that some of the people answering the phone there do not even know about this street fair. This is dismal. This fair is huge and very near the downtown area. Then there is a question of what regulations to follow at the street fair regarding screening in your booth. The Pima County Health Department told me one thing and the street fair another. Since the street fair is successful and its their venue - do what they tell you. So if you are a new food vendor hesitating because of the regulations concerning food vending in Arizona, and you want to do this event, just contact the Merchants Association and leave the Pima Health Department out of the loop. This is a great event for a new food vendor to do especially if you have a great new product that has not been at the street fair before.

By |2019-05-16T20:47:11+00:00January 4th, 2013|Fair, Arizona, Christmas, Colorado Wholesale License, Concessions, Food, Green Valley, Peanut Brittle, Tucson, Vendors|0 Comments
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