THATCHER — Attendees at the National Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff event at Eastern Arizona College’s Lee Little Theater on Sept. 14 will have the chance to experience a piece of Mexican heritage.
One of the guest speakers at the free event will be Jorge Arturo Arguelles Victorero, Mexican Consul based in Douglas, and he will perform a traditional “el Grito.”
“The 16th is the (Mexican) Independence Day, and on the 16th, at midnight, the President of Mexico does a grito. And it goes back many, many years as a heritage yell,” said Bob Rivera with Eastern Arizona Hispanic Heritage Corporation.
The other guest speaker will be Gilbert Mesa, a former Clifton and Morenci teacher, and a member of the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame for his prowess on the baseball diamond when he attended high school at Tucson Pueblo. He was also a two-year starting pitcher for Eastern Arizona College, and he helped develop the baseball program at Pima Community College.
As a coach with the Clifton Trojans, Mesa’s teams won 12 conference championships and were state runner-up twice. That earned him induction into the Arizona Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Clifton baseball stadium was named after him until the closure of the school.
National Hispanic Heritage month is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The kickoff event will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is free to attend, but seat reservations are encouraged. Go to Hispanic Heritage Kickoff 2023 Tickets, Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite.
