Heber Hall Fiesta fun keeps community returning for more
HEBER — This intimate community pulled out all the stops, Saturday with a parade, car show and a “creepy clown chase” 5K run inspired by horror meister Stephen King.
There were 16 booths, 20 vendors and 70 cars noted Laura Fischer, general manager of the Heber Public Utility District, event organizer.
“It’s family friendly and all the carnival booths are free,” said Fischer. “This is the third year for the 5K and pays tribute to the movie, ‘It.’ We don’t know what we’ll do next year, but we always want to make it relevant- trendy. Heber’s a fun community and we’re open for business, so come on down.”
This was the fifth year for the car show, Proyecto Heber, remarked Mike Diaz, board member.
There were 51 entries including cars, motorcycles and pedal cars.
The variety of vehicles this year, some from Yuma, was impressive. A favorite for Diaz was a 2010 Harley Davidson Road King.
Yet, taking top prize for its class, Sixties Vehicles, was a classic 1964 Chevy Impala. Proud owner Mauricio “Wicho” Ahumada was supremely pleased with his trophy.
Keeping the customer satisfied at the carnival bean bag toss was Sunshine Aracarillo, who boasted it was her hype that kept the children queueing for her game of chance. “It’s just a matter of motivating the kids to keep them coming back,” she said. “We give them a challenge.”
Jesus Sandoval with a sharp eye and steady hand proved himself a champion at the bean bag toss and along with his brothers enjoyed the games, whose skill earned a sack full of Halloween treats including glows sticks.
It was equally fun for their grandmother, Gloria Gastelum Guerrero.
“We came to see my other grandson play in the Heber Elementary School drumline,” she said. “We really enjoyed the parade.”
Matching the boys with her own precision pitch at the bean bag toss was Karly Espinosa. “I liked the basketball hoops the best and I won prizes of candy and [Cra-ZArt] slime,” she said.
Her mother, Yaddira Espinoza, was busy all day selling fish tacos in order to raise funds to help finance her son’s spring visit to New York City’s Carnegie Hall, where he will play bass drum as part of the Southwest High School band.
“Our taco sales are amazing, it gets better and better each year,” said Espinoza. “It’s a great environment for kids, Diana (Garcia-Ruiz, board president of Heber Public Utilities) always provides wonderful activities for kids.”
Taking photos with the cast of “creepy clowns” were sisters Janneth and Elizabeth Gallardo. “My kids and I did the Zombie Run last year,” recalled Janneth. “The clowns this year are awesome. I just saw ‘It’ and it was good and scary.”
Back again serving as starter for the 5K run was Gerardo Lara, Holtville High School coach of track and cross country. “This year was the greatest turnout,” said Lara. “When there’s this many kids (40) so excited about running, that’s music to a coach’s ears.”
Taking the gold medal for first place finish was Diego Valenzuela, seventh-grader at Heber Elementary School while schoolmate Samuel Chavez scooped the second place prize.