Sisters enjoys south-of-the-border sojourn

Thursday night's sold-out festivities at the Hispanic Coalition of Sisters' annual Tres De Mayo Fiesta at FivePine Lodge & Conference Center shined with South of the Border charm, spicy home-made cuisine and a blinding rainbow of folk dancers to celebrate our diverse community.

The event coincided with Saturday's national Cinco De Mayo celebrations - marking Mexico's decisive victory over the French at the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

With the room decked out and decorated with Mexican banners, flags and paper flowers, the fantastic feast was a benefit for youth scholarships for students in the Sisters School District.

Greg Willitts, owner of FivePine Lodge, poured wine and beer for the thirsty crowd and commented on the importance of the evening's event.

"This is its second year here at FivePine," he said. "It looks like it's a tremendous success for the Hispanic Coalition and hopefully they raise a lot of money tonight. Big accolades go to Margarita Morales and her entire team of cooks for all the incredible food, and to Rossy Gomez who organized and coordinated everything. It's always a fun night."

Lining the walls, silent auction tables were stuffed like piñatas with toys, gift baskets, jewelry, bird houses, a Sisters Folk Festival pass, Black Butte Ranch golf rounds, a Zihuatanejo vacation home stay and even a sparkling gold-and-black sombrero.

Rossy Gomez of the Hispanic Coalition greeted friends and guests and thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the vital cause.

"This is such a great response from the community," she said. "This year we got over 56 items donated from local businesses and individuals. People know what to expect now from our party and look forward to it every year. With the money collected tonight, we will give out three $1,000 scholarships on May 22. Last year donations and funds collected went to help support 26 after-school programs and activities at SPRD. We're very proud of that."

After a meal of Mexican specialties, a monumental strawberry-kiwi Tres Leches cake and loud mariachi dance music, guests were treated to a colorful display of traditional folk dancing in authentic costumes. Cameras flashed and hands clapped in unison to cheer them on.

"These girls dancing tonight are the graduates of the very first Folklorico dance class offered here in Sisters, and that's exciting," said Gomez. "I see that this is helping the community embrace different traditions and cultures and it's nice to see more Hispanic participation to make this such a great occasion to help our kids."