As Fiesta Days approaches, organizers put finishing touches on 4 days of fun and remembrance
As the holiday weekend draws closer, organizers and volunteers of La Cañada’s Annual Memorial Weekend Fiesta Days celebration are busier than ever making sure the four days of family fun and remembrance they’ve got scheduled go off without a hitch.
This year’s 44th annual event officially begins Friday at 6:30 p.m., as the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge hosts its Casino Night fundraiser with a Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament, and offers a full menu of activities that run through the city’s first offering in its summer 2017 “Music in the Park” concert series Monday at 4 p.m., featuring Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries.
Sponsored by the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Assn., Fiesta Days has transformed in the past four decades from a recognition of the city’s Spanish heritage to a celebration of the people, organizations and businesses that make La Cañada what it is today.
“It’s a time where family, friends and neighbors can come together and renew their acquaintances or make new friends,” said Pat Anderson, president and chief executive of the chamber. “It’s also a time to reflect and really think about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we could have the freedoms we do.”
Those who wish to honor the spirit of Memorial Day weekend by paying tribute to the servicemen and women who gave their lives in service to the country are invited to attend an annual memorial service event, which takes place Monday at 9 a.m. sharp at La Cañada’s Memorial Park, 1301 Foothill Blvd.
Organizer and Valley Sun columnist Joe Puglia, who’s put on the show for more than a decade, says he believes it’s important the community’s youth have a hand in putting on the event and paying tribute to the troops.
“It’s completely done by kids — every component, every dedication, the band, the flag detail — everything,” Puglia said of the service, which includes Scout members reading letters written by serviceman and their families and a recitation of the names of La Cañadans who died during their service.
“If you remember someone, they still live, they live for you,” Puglia continued. “When those children read the letters and recite the names, these guys will live through them.”
Shortly after the conclusion of Monday’s Memorial Day service, the city’s Fiesta Days Parade begins at 10:30 a.m. Given this year’s theme of “The Sky Is Not the Limit,” Anderson said it seemed fitting to forego an individual grand marshal and give the honor to La Cañada’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Consequently, JPL Dep. Director Larry James will lead the procession as 104 units representing 86 entries make their way east on Foothill Boulevard. A special entrant, 100-year-old veteran Col. Gerald Rimpau of La Crescenta, plans to ride the parade in a motorcycle sidecar.
By Monday evening, after four days of flipping French toast, dealing cards, checking in parade entries, registering runners, setting up fireworks, purveying snacks to moviegoers and organizing band members, Fiesta Days volunteers are sure to be sapped. But, Anderson assures, the effort is always worth it in the end.
“It’s happy work,” Anderson said. “At the end, we’re all exhausted, but we’re all happy.”
Twitter: @SaraCardine
