Group stages Cinco de Mayo

Mexican Mutual Society parade, fiesta welcomes all nationalities

The Mexican Mutual Society is ready for a resurgence with this year’s Cinco de Mayo parade and celebration.

The organization will celebrate its 90th anniversary in October this year. Planning for that is in the early stages because another party comes earlier on the calendar.

The Mexican Mutual Society parade will wind through South Lorain from 4 to 5 p.m. May 5, getting back to the society building, 1820 E. 28th St., for the fiesta starting at 5 p.m. The coronation of the Little Queen will be at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s like the perfect cultural experience if you

want to do Cinco de Mayo the right way,” said Anita Cruz, 31, who coordinated this year’s Little Queen competition.

“I’m super excited for everything that’s happening,” she said.

On May 1, Cruz and other members were at the club to decorate for the May 2 dinner buffet. Once that is done, they will return this week to prepare for the May 5 party.

On the march

This year’s parade is a return event because the weather in 2017 turned cold and rainy. It was supposed to be the 20th annual parade, so canceling it was a painful decision, said parade organizer David Flores.

“That last year hurt me really bad, to the heart,” he said.

A member since 1973, Flores recalled the old South Lorain parade and talking about it with the late Joe Perez and other members.

“We started talking about the old days and the parades … well, why can’t we have another one?” he said. “It was just a whim.”

In the first parade, police car escorts for traffic control outnumbered the 16 entries marching through South Lorain, Flores said. But it got bigger each year, peaking at 90 units, he said.

This year’s parade will have at least 68 units, including the five girls in the Little Queen contest riding in convertibles.

“I want to have this parade because it’s a good community feeling for everybody,” said Flores, who described himself as a lifelong

parade lover.

Party for a purpose

The Cinco de Mayo celebration uses the food profits to fund scholarships for children of active members pursuing post-secondary education, said Mia Arredondo, the daughter of club president Joel Arredondo.

Last year, there were four awards. This year there already are eight applications for scholarships, and the club tries to help out every applicant who qualifies, she said.

The club member acknowledged many of Lorain’s ethnic social and cultural clubs have come and are long gone.

A few years ago, the Mexican Mutual Society was in trouble, but the members redoubled their efforts to recruit new people and keep it going.

“The 90th (anniversary) is coming up and you realize

how important it is to keep culture alive in Lorain and to continue growing the organization,” Mia Arredondo said. “I think that being the International City it’s important to have cultural clubs and I know that hasn’t been the case recently. A lot have been closing. We just have decided we had to work together to try to bring more people here.”

Personal city history

In conversation, the members talked about a triple desire that exists within the Mexican Mutual Society.

There are extensive family ties to the organization and South Lorain. For example, Cruz’ mother, Vanessa Villa, and late grandmother, Chello Villa, started the Alma de Mexico dance group that will perform for Cinco de Mayo.

The families of Flores

and member Harold Avalos knew each of other from when they were boys.

Over the years, the members became woven into the history of South Lorain. Member Jimmy Palmer said his mother came with the first wave of Mexicans seeking jobs in Lorain in the 1920s, while Flores’ family migration happened in the 1940s.

South Lorain “was the starting point for a lot of people,” Flores said. Successive groups of immigrants of many nationalities came to work, made their lives better, then moved to other parts of the city and county.

While the Mexican Mutual Society started with Lorain’s residents of Mexican descent, social membership starts at $10 a year and is open to anyone. The Cinco de Mayo parade and celebration at the club are for open for the enjoyment of all nationalities, the member said.

“It’s a win-win for South Lorain. Everybody sees it,” Flores said about the parade. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

“It is beautiful,” Avalos said.