Rain fails to wash out community event

Community events can be a life-saver for micro-business owners who rely on them to make ends meet. Juan Molina, organizer of a local event, said when it rains, it pours for them.

“They live off of this. Some of them, this is their job. That’s very important. They live off of this,” Molina said.

However, bad weather didn’t stop over 40 vendors from doing some business at the Second Annual Tamale Festival at Tito Huerta Park in Heber this Saturday.

“Oh, no, on the contrary. We’re still here. It’s tamale festival in the rain. You still see people out here. We still have more performers coming out,” Molina said.

Some vendors said these public events are key to their business survival.

“They’ve very important because we get to know the people from the valley. They get to know our business. They get to support us,” Rafael Marquez said.

“We’re promoting our business, since we are a small little local business, we’re trying to advertise so we can have more children to come. We do field trips,” Irene Ordonez said.

“We’re selling our shirts. It’s a fundraiser. Trying to make a little bit more money for equipment, to send the kids to local and out-of-state fights and events,” Mario A. Valenzuela said.

The Heber Hawks Drumline was there drumming up support. They’re from a local Middle School.

Drummer Sebastian Lopez said, “it helps us fundraise. It helps us to spend more time with each other as a drumline, as a family.”

Drummer Leilani Gutierrez said, “People truly care about us and they go out of their way to be here and support us.”

They were excited about promoting their group. And they should be. The event raised over a thousand dollars for them even, on a rainy day.