The San Isidro Chapel
San Isidro, patron Saint of farmers
The 'royal court' of the festival
The 'king', Michael Atalig
The 'king' and 'queen' pose for pictures!
The cockfight site.
Someone is hungry...
San Isidro is the patron Saint of farmers. The festival is to celebrate San Isidro, and the local farmers, and, of course, to raise money for the Catholic Church. The money raised is used for a number of good causes--scholarships, charity, renewing the San Isidro chapel and grounds (the area is used for picnics and gatherings), and other things.
As with other local fund raising programs, several children are chosen as part of a 'royal court'. Then relatives and friends purchase raffle tickets or give donations in the child's name. The girl or boy that has gathered the most money are crowned 'queen' and 'king' of the festival. Terri and I had purchased several raffle tickets in behalf of Michael Atalig, whose mother works in the medical clinic. To our surprise, Michael was crowned king of the festival!
After opening remarks and the crowning of the king and queen, everyone gathered to eat together. There were lots of people who had come to celebrate. Part of the celebration included:
cockfights
Texas hold-em poker
Bingo
A Mass and Novena
And in the end, the raffle (Terri and I won a gift certificate to JC Cafe, and someone in the medical clinic won the grand prize of $1,000)
The evening ended with a minor accident-- Terri had her first scooter crash. When we left the festival it was dark and hard to see. Terri hit a large rock in the dirt road leading from the site, and went head-over-scooter and landed on the ground! Fortunately she had her helmet on, and had remembered her tuck-and-roll gymnastics from elementary school... She had a few scrapes but nothing serious.
So off we went again, just to be caught in a downpour--arriving home soaked and tired from a long day.
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