Cinco de Mayo marks 105 years of fiestas in South Omaha and stirs old memories

Yahoo

11-05-2025

Linda Garcia, with husband Jose to the right, starts rolling along in the Cinco de Mayo parade Saturday in Omaha. They are among the 2025 parade grand marshals. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
OMAHA — Abelardo Hernandez cruised along South 24th Street Saturday in a blue Ford Mustang convertible reserved for the octogenarian grand marshals of this year's Cinco de Mayo parade.
Now 88, he said his thoughts floated back to when he arrived in the city as a young airman from Texas. There were maybe a couple of Mexican restaurants on South Omaha's main corridor, he recalled. No panaderías. No paleterías.
He'd soon marry a local girl, immerse himself in community activism and help establish the local Chicano Awareness Center.
As Hernandez waved Saturday to the thousands of parade-goers packing the business strip now dominated by Spanish-named merchants and retailers, he figured many would not know his story or his name.
'But at least they'll know we're still here,' he said. 'And the fact they're here tells me they also want to keep the culture alive. The whole thing made me happy, proud.'
This year's South Omaha Cinco de Mayo celebration marks 105 years of fiestas, organizers said, and honored grand marshals like Hernandez with deep roots over those decades. Activities kicked off with a Friday night concert and will continue through Sunday with live performances, music, food, games and other festivities.
Saturday's parade — described by organizers as Omaha's largest and most diverse — lasted three hours, featuring more than 100 parade entries ranging from low-rider cars to show horses, traditional folklorico dancers to high school bands.
Political teams were on display, this being the final weekend before Omaha city elections.
Mayoral candidate John Ewing's campaign was among the earliest at the parade grounds, staking out a good spot. Ewing, currently the Douglas County treasurer, greeted participants as they lined up.
Mayor Jean Stothert arrived just before the parade started and took a place toward the front, after Mexican Consul Jorge Ernesto Espejel Montes.
Not far behind was City Councilman Ron Hug, accompanied by a troupe of bouncing cars riding low. His opponent Andrew Adams also had a sizable sign-toting team.
Businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood groups, the public sector, bands and vaqueros on horseback participated in the nine-block parade.
Itzel Lopez, who volunteers to help the annual event organized by Casa de Cultura, said it continues to draw people and vendors from all races and cultures and from other Midwestern states, including Colorado, Oklahoma and Illinois. She said she spoke with a merchant whose roots are in Ecuador.
But what stood out to her this year, she said, was Latinos looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate together. In these 'uncertain times' for immigrants and amidst fear instilled by the Trump Administration, Lopez said that some thought the group should not hold the celebration.
She disagreed. 'Why should we be scared? This is the best time to show up and show our economic impact.'
As of Saturday evening, Lopez said: 'People are showing up.'
Historically, Cinco de Mayo marks when a small but mighty Mexican army triumphed over invading French troops in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Though France later would occupy Mexico, that victory galvanized Mexican forces, and May 5 grew to stir feelings of pride and resilience.
Today in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is often observed with parades, parties, margaritas. It has become an occasion for Latinos to celebrate and share their heritage.
South Omaha held its event a week after typical Cinco de Mayo celebrations largely to avoid conflict with the annual Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting, which requires many public resources also used during the fiesta.
Among them was Mary Berumen, who brought three daughters ranging in age 7 years to 11 months to the parade. While a member of South High's cheer squad, she used to walk in Cinco de Mayo parades and was excited for her girls to feel the 'energy, the vibes.'
She said she also wants Analiese, Audrey and Iris to stay connected and appreciate their heritage.
'I want them to be proud they're American but also not to lose their Mexican Hispanic culture,' she said.
Bryan Jaime, standing by wife Irais, carried their four-year-old son on his shoulders to watch the parade as it turned onto the last stretch near L Street.
'This is his first time coming,' Irais said of their little boy, Mattheo. 'We're celebrating Hispanic culture and enjoying seeing it through our son's experience.'
Meanwhile, some of the grand marshals, all longtime residents of the Omaha metro area Latino community, said they were a bit taken aback by how large the event had grown.
Linda Garcia, 79, was on the front line of watching the local Spanish-speaking population swell. She is a retired South Omaha librarian who brought bilingual books and story times into city programming. She is often approached by people who thank her for helping their families better connect to the area.
Still, Garcia said she was 'shocked' to see the crowd on Saturday. Today an artist and storyteller, Garcia wore traditional Mexican garb and rode on a colorful float decorated with papel picado, flowers, cactus and American and Mexican flags.
'It took my breath away,' said Garcia, whose husband Jose, co-founder of the South Omaha Immigrant History Museum, also was a grand marshal. 'All the little girls that were waving. Little ones with mothers and fathers, I didn't know them, but they were waving like crazy.'
In addition to Abelardo and his wife, Dolores and the Garcias, other grand marshals were Manuel and Annie Gonzalez, Theresa Barron-McKeagney and Jorge Nila.
Like Hernandez, Jose Garcia remembers arriving from Kansas City to Omaha and finding no tortillerías. 'That really puzzled me.' Like Hernandez and Gonzalez, who also originated from Texas, Garcia did find a lifelong mate in a growing Latino community. Today, more than 15% of Nebraska's largest city identifies as Hispanic.
The population has diversified, as evidenced by the change of the Chicano Awareness Center to Latino Center of the Midlands. Area restaurants and retailers feature Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Colombian goods.
While Cinco de Mayo is rooted in a Mexican event, Lopez said the annual celebration in South Omaha also is a time to appreciate diversity and new and old immigrants.
On the younger end of this year's grand marshals was Jorge Nila, a well-known area jazz musician who said his dad was one of the founding fathers of the G.I. Forum, a longtime veterans-rooted club and restaurant in South Omaha.
During the parade, he cruised in a red sporty convertible.
'I felt unity,' he said.
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