If Jeremiah Alvarez seemed a little out of place with the charros marching their horses proudly up Chavez Drive in East Chicago Sunday afternoon, he kind of felt out of place, too.
“I’m just here accidentally,” Alvarez, of East Chicago said, clarifying that he saddled up to take his son Jeremiah Alvarez Jr.’s spot in the charros’ Fiesta Patrias Parade lineup and wasn’t just riding his horse through the streets of the city on a hot, sunny day. Jeremiah Jr., who’s 3, “got tired” waiting to ride with one of the parade’s most popular attractions.
Celebrating its 100th year this year, the parade has gone through subtle yet palpable changes throughout the century. There were charros, of course, and the Ballet Folklorico girls in their colorful dresses, though they rode on a platform instead of dancing, likely because of the heat. Maria Pena, who lives near the corner of Parrish and Chavez, doesn’t attend the parade like she used to, but she noticed things were different.
“We used to bring my grandparents to the parade every year – we’d get them dressed up,” Pena said. “Both my parents worked at the mill – they were ‘millrats’ — but now that all of them are gone, it’s just not the same for me anymore. I did want to see the horses, though.”
Pena noticed there were a ton of cars gussied up with Mexican flags and paint jobs, as did the Celestin family, who’ve staked out their corner at Parrish and Chavez for as long as they can remember. They too would rather not see so many cars.
“Everyone knows this is our corner,” said matriarch Linda Celestin. “I’m a retired teacher, and I did love seeing the schools represented (in the parade) — not my school, though, for some reason.”
“We start putting up our stuff around 10:30, 10:45,” daughter Dina Celestin said. “I liked seeing that they had at least one marching band back – Bishop Noll, I think. But I could do without so many cars.”
State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, is another parade for life person, making sure that if he’s not marching in the parade, he’s on the sidelines taking in the sights and smells of paradegoers grilling up some grub. It brings him back home.
“I have been going to the Mexican Independence Day parade since I was born in East Chicago,” Pol said. “It was always one of my favorite parades as a kid because you saw the culture of a vibrant and proud community celebrated in the streets by everyone with music and dancing and even beautiful classic cars. It’s a celebration of Mexican culture that brings everyone out.”
Down on the Main Street end, the Sanchezes – Natalie, of Chesterton, and Olivia and Sergio, from Hobart – make the trek to come to see the parade with their mom and catch up with all the relatives, they said.
“It’s part of our heritage,” Sergio Sanchez said. “And there are way more people here to celebrate than there used to be.”
“What I like seeing is that you see so many more cultures – Guatemalan, Honduran – putting up their flags and celebrating with us,” Natalie added. “It makes me proud to see.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
