St. John’s Mexican Food Extravaganza To Be Held Saturday

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

All authentic tamale lovers get ready to rejoice! It is time for the annual St. John’s Catholic Church Fall Fiesta.
This year the fiesta and fundraiser will be held on Saturday, October 8 in the parking lot of the St. John’s Catholic church located at 955 St. Joseph Street. The festival will begin at 11 am with the opening of the many food booths and continue until about 7 pm. Food sales and music will be ongoing throughout the day with live entertainment by Ballet Folklorico scheduled from 2-4 pm.

The food booths will feature authentic Mexican recipes and there will be something for everyone. This year they will be selling taquitos, pozole, chili verde and chili colorado burritos, carne asada tacos, empanadas, quesadillas, and grilled chicken burritos, which are a new addition this year.

Food will be sold a la carte and in combination plates that will vary slightly by price but will be around $7 each. They will also have the traditional bake sale and sweet-treat booth which will be bigger than ever since this year they were able to get a donation of traditional Mexican breads from Bon Breads that will be on sale also. There will also be a gift shop with a variety of gifts.

Of course, one of the most beloved parts of the festival is the tamale booth. Once again, tamale expert Luz Sosa headed up the cooking committee which has been working on tamales for the last several weeks.
The cooking process for tamales is a long and arduous one, beginning at 5 am on cooking days and lasting all day. Although the tamales are assembled ahead of time, they are cooked and steamed fresh on the morning of the fiesta for buyers to enjoy. This year Sosa and her team assembled a total of over 300 dozen tamales to sell. They are expected to sell out.

There will be no presale of tamales this year, but there will be an order form available at the fiesta for people who want to order tamales for the Christmas season so there is no need to buy ahead and store them for a couple months. Tamales will be sold at $15/dozen.
“This year I was involved in helping make the tamales and I can’t believe how much work they are,” said church secretary Suzie Causey. “I respect all the women who have helped for the time and effort they have put in. It is really a labor of love and our church needs the funds we earn from them to cover improvements to the building.”

Causey went on to say that although the fiesta is not as big as it was in the beginning, fiesta coordinator Vonselle Telles has been working very hard to restore it to its former glory bit by bit.
“Expect this year’s event to be bigger than last year’s,” she said. “We are trying to make it revamped and refreshed. It’s not as big as it was, but we’re getting there. It’s a work in progress.”

She encouraged everyone to take a break from cooking for the day and to come down and get some great food while supporting a good cause.