Food, dancing to kick off Heritage Days

PORTALES — The area-wide celebration of pioneer history and culture continues this week with the 35th annual Heritage Days celebration in Portales.

The programming kicks off Friday evening with some classic dancing in the street from 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the city’s Memorial Building at 200 East 7th Street. Some food vendors will set up an hour early “to allow dancers to get a bite to eat before the boot-scooting starts,” with musical styling from The Blackwater Band offering “a variety of country favorites along with a little bit of old time rock & roll,” according to a city news release.

Consider that a warmup, prelude to a big day of programming Saturday starting with the 19th annual Heritage Days Fun Run, a 5K run/walk and 10K run from 7:30 a.m. outside the Historic Yam Theater at 219 Main Street. Registration starts half an hour earlier and funds go toward Portales MainStreet’s downtown projects.

If you’re more interested in ambulating on four wheels rather than two feet, look for the car show from 9 a.m. at East 9th Street’s City Park. Registration starts an hour in advance and costs $20, with door prizes awarded throughout the day and awards for Best of Show and People’s Choice at 3 p.m. Organizers expect about 75 vehicle entries, offering ample opportunity for visitors to take “a step back in time” with the “meticulously restored vehicles” and owners on hand, “eager to answer questions about their pride and joy.”

If the car shows “anchors” the programming, as organizers say, then the centerpiece parade puts it into drive. With no registration fee or set theme and “all organizations, individuals and businesses (being) welcome to participate,” expect a diverse lineup in the 10 a.m. procession starting on the Eastern New Mexico University campus.

“Numerous reunion floats as well as non-profit and business entries are expected,” said a release. “Lots of candy for kids of all ages is a certainty.”

The parade advances east down Second Street from its intersection with Avenue O and ends at City Park, where a variety of acts occupy the afternoon. Meanwhile booths will offer food and merchandise throughout the park and at the nearby Memorial Building.

Saturday’s musical lineup starts at 11 a.m. with the Jake Howard Memorial Band, in tribute to the Kenna resident who passed in 2015 and “was known for playing dances around the area along with his wife Maureen.”

From 12:30 p.m. attendees can enjoy the lyrical stylings of Quay County cowboy poet Jimmy Joe Jester, followed at 1 p.m. by “a more contemporary take on country music” from Michael Thompson. The Fusion World Dancers “will entertain with a mixture of dance styles and influences” at 2:30 p.m., and a hybrid performance of folk, rock and blues comes courtesy of Colton Stevens and Travis Irwin at 2:45 p.m. to close the day.

It’s hard to get inside the mind of the late-19th century cattlemen and early 20th-century farmers, to whose “pioneering spirit” the programming pays tribute, but it’s easy to imagine the early settlers enjoying themselves in comparable fashion. There is something timeless, after all, about a community celebration centered on food, music and the outdoors.