Saturday’s weather was perfect for a parade, but since the SARS-CoV-19 2 global pandemic made the annual ¡Viva Perry! Latino Festival a risk to public health and the face-to-face street festival was cancelled, a virtual festival is going on now on the Hispanics United for Perry (HUP) Facebook page and the Perry Public Library Facebook page.
Online attractions include a greeting from HUP President Rosa Gonzalez, interviews with participants and vendors, cooking demonstrations, games, immigrant stories, dancers, special recognitions and scholarship presentations, a history of HUP and retrospective of some previous festivals and many more virtual activities.
Among HUP’s important activities in the Perry community is the sponsorship of scholarships for graduates of Perry High School. More than $22,000 have been provided for Perry’s Hispanic scholars since 2006. A tribute to scholarship winners from 2006 to 2020 is part of the day’s festivities, and the scholarship roll call includes:
- PHS Class of 2006: Daniel Soto
- PHS Class of 2007: Lucina Garcia, Adolfo Carbajal, Daisy Diaz and Stephanie Gonzalez
- PHS Class of 2008: Sophia Carrillo, Kimberly Lohman, Jennifer Hernandez and Jeimy Tobar
- PHS Class of 2009: Melissa Quevedo, Nancy Recinos, Jose Rojas and Tony Ayala
- PHS Class of 2010: Mayra Alarcon, George Guardado, Argentina Montano and Jesus Soto
- PHS Class of 2011: Angels Lopez, Jessica Mena, Jocelyn D. Hernandez and Wilder Melendrez
- PHS Class of 2012: Maria Gonzalez, Damar Carrillo, Osvaldo Rodriguez and Juan Alvarenga
- PHS Class of 2013: Marlene Borjas, Fernanda Ayala, Xenia Amaya and Guadalupe Polo
- PHS Class of 2014: Katherine Mena, Christian Morales, Aurora Rodriguez, Jasmin Sarceno and Jessica Aguirre
- PHS Class of 2015: Oscar Chavez, Laura Espinoza, Teresa Ortiz and Jorge Soto
- PHS Class of 2016: Cindy Mejia, Francisco Javie Miranda, Daniella Tapia, Bladimir Roldan, Alonzo Lumbreras and Ryan Guerra
- PHS Class of 2017: Gabriela Castillo, Cinthia Naranjo, Juan Cisneros and Brian Amaya
- PHS Class of 2018: David Santa Cruz and Rebecca Naranjo
- PHS Class of 2019: Cesar Ramirez, Yordi Mena and Alondra Avila
- PHS Class of 2020: Deborah Mateso, Beyonce Gonzalez and Katelyn Saldaña
