Jamaica Festival brings fun for 49th year

By Leesa Teale

LPR Publisher                      

  

Above: Sofia Navarro was named Jamaica Festival Queen on Friday night.    

“God has been so good to us this year,” stated Irene Sanchez, St. Mary’s Catholic Church Jamaica Festival Chairman. The 49th annual festival took place last Friday and Saturday at the grounds adjacent to the church with crowds of over 3,000 people each night enjoying the many activities. 

    But if you happened to travel past the St. Mary’s Catholic Church, you noticed that the parking lot was filling up rather quickly around lunchtime on Friday. Why? The first of the many activities celebrating the Jamaica Festival was underway. The traditional tamale sale began at 11 am and continued until 4 pm.  

     Volunteers put in countless hours making 830 dozen, yes nearly 10,000 tamales to sell to tamale lovers over the weekend. Approximately 45-50 volunteers converged on the church prior to the festival to make the first of many delicious items you could find during the event.  According to Sanchez, there were only about 40 dozen left and those will be sold by the weekend. 

     That was just the start of what turned out to be a wonderful weekend to celebrate and fund raise for the church. Gates opened at 6pm with free entry to all. Tickets were sold at the front gate to be able to be used to buy food or play games at any booth. Ticket sales for the event topped out at about 8,000 tickets. 

     The weather cooperated and allowed for families to get out and enjoy games at any of the 10 game stations at the event.  The Bingo game drew players of all ages. Only charging one ticket or $1 per a game, winners were awarded prizes for every game that was played. Prizes were donated by area groups and individuals. Almost $3,000 was raised at the Bingo game alone. 

    Not a game player? That’s ok there was live music acts both nights.      Performing at the Jamaica was Nathan Colt Young, Micheal Salgado, Conjunto Cats, and Ricky Naranjo. Attendees came out in full force with their chairs and found a great seat and enjoyed the shows.  

     Sanchez, who has led the Jamaica Committee for the past three years, confirmed there were 17 food booths as well. From traditional funnel cakes to hamburgers to pickles wrapped in fruit roll-ups, you could find something divine at each booth. “Most booths are stocked and ran by parishioners. Some booths just bring manpower. But we are grateful for everyone who helps make the festival a success in whatever capacity,” stated Sanchez. 

    This event centers around the involvement of the youth in the parish.      From helping in booths to participating as queen candidates, the younger members of St. Mary’s play an important role in the festival’s success. The big money makers this year were the newly crowned Queen Sofia Navarro and Little Miss Caroline Davis. The pair held various fundraisers before the festival and raised over $25,000 and Davis raised over $5,000 to go towards the festival fundraising.

     “We are blessed by so many volunteers who donate their time and efforts to make this a wonderful event,” exclaimed Sanchez. “There are so many that work tirelessly behind the scenes. The Pegasus School were there all weekend helping us set up and tear down the event. They are a great organization with so many hard-working people,” Sanchez continued. 

     The church’s hall is in need of many upgrades and the money from this year’s event will hopefully be enough to get those and a few other projects underway.