Monday May 5

E. Palo Alto celebrates Cinco de Mayo

Smoke-free event will highlight healthy living

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

A lone trumpeter stood waiting to play. Thick bass tones and loud engines filled the air. A boy dashed through the crowd, cotton candy in one hand and a red, white and green flag in the other.

Hundreds showed up to East Palo Alto's Cinco de Mayo festival Sunday at Cesar Chavez Academy, highlighting the prominence of the city's majority Hispanic population.
The EPA Stangs, a Chevrolet Mustang car club, led a parade through the city. Kiara and Monica Gaytan, 17 and 16, led the procession in their car with six Mexican flags in the air. They both said they have attended the celebration every year since they were children.

"It's a day to remember where you're from and show people who you are," Monica said.
Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, when an ill-equipped Mexican army led General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguífought off a French invasion.

Though the country was occupied by the French shortly after until 1867, Cinco de Mayo represents Mexican heritage and pride and is mostly
celebrated in the United States. Mexico's actual independence day is Sept. 16.
But even with Hispanics making up close to 65 percent of East Palo Alto's population, the city's diversity is one of its greatest strengths, organizer Lupe Martinez said. African Americans make up about 20 percent and Pacific Islanders about 10 percent.

"That's what I love about East Palo Alto," she said.

A handful of organizations took advantage of the day, as well. A janitor's union, local 1877 of SEIU, joined the parade and passed out some T-shirts. The Ravenswood Family Health Clinic sent a mobile lab to the event with volunteers who were conducting a survey on local health issues. And a group of teens, the Youth Promotores, worked with San Mateo County to make this year's Cinco de Mayor a little cleaner by declaring the day smoke free.

"We're just trying to educate people about how unhealthy cigarettes are," said 18-year-old Gabriela Hurtado.

Ruben Abrica, the city's only Latino council member, said that East Palo Alto's Cinco de Mayo celebration is often overshadowed by other big city celebrations in San Jose and San Francisco.
"But that's slowly changing," Abrica said.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.