By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
A special event celebrating Hispanic culture and traditions will be held in Decatur in September.
The Victor Canales family is organizing the event unveiled at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
Victor Canales and his son, Army Guard Specialist Carson Canales, made the presentation to council, which happily approved use of the Madison St. Plaza.
Victor’s wife and Carson’s mother, Stephanie, and another son, Pvt. Drexel Canales, with the Army Reserve, are also involved in the organizing. Drexel, in fact, is heading up the project but was out of town on assignment Tuesday.
The event – free and open to the public – will be held on the plaza from 3-9 p.m. on Saturday, September 21.
The party will feature Hispanic food, drink and music, plus pinatas, face painting and lots more.
A traditional dance with traditional costumes will also be part of the day/night, as will sculptures by popular local artists Greg and Alex Mendez.
A Fort Wayne folkloric group is planning to attend, the Canales duo said.
Another special part of the festival will be the appearance of 6-10 “lowriders” from Fort Wayne.
A lowrider, Wikipedia says, “is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican-American youth in the 1940s. Lowrider also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chicano culture…”
“Yes, they are part of our Latin heritage,” Victor Canales added.
“This has been a long time coming,” Mayor Dan Rickord said of the festival.