http://www.themonitor.com/articles/tradition-34280-citrus-upcoming.html
Residents hold onto tradition with upcoming Citrus Festival
January 10, 2010 3:52 PM
Martha L. Hernández
The Monitor
MISSION The orange peel costume contest participants are not only working to win, but to preserve a tradition.
The contest requires dresses hand made with products grown in the area.
Only a handful of Mission women and their daughters are willing to collect the different materials that nature and Valley farmers can provide: citrus peel, citrus leaves, petals, onion skin, seeds, cotton and avocado pits.
Not wheat, that is not grown here, youll be disqualified, said Berta Filut, director of the Texas Citrus Fiesta.
But most of it has to be citrus, said Filut.
The participants spend more than a month working on the actual costume, but the collection of the materials is year-round.
We become very good about spotting things that we can use and other people do not notice, said Betty Ramirez, chairman for the contest and workshop instructor. The orange seeds are very good buttons she said.
They use plumbago petals to get blue, or bugambilia plant for fuchsia, yellow onions peels with glitter form an exquisite gold.
Mission adopted the product costume tradition from Weslaco in 1939.
The contest requires that the costume be made out of a felt base with a coat of rubber cement. That surface should be completely covered with products grown in the Valley.
The judges will deduct points if they see they see even just a tiny part uncovered, Ramirez said.
The craft is meticulous.
By no means is this clean, you have to do it in a garage because it all gets messy, Ramirez said. But the process can be a wonderful experience for the women in the family.
Our men hate us because they do not see us, but we bond more, we like it a lot, said Ramirez.
The participants receive a $100 starter from the contest committee, which is plenty of money for those who have the basic equipment like blenders, dehydrators or an oven to grind and preserve products.
The contest committee took a hiatus last year to revamp the rules, but they feel the big growth of the city is not helping to preserve the tradition. The town is growing fast, but then you have so many people that do not know our traditions, said Filut. Growth is great but this (tradition) is something that you can loose, Filut said.
The committee has organized at least three workshops with very little attendance. We want to get the new generations, this is something that used to be part of school, said Filut.
This year, the Product Costume Contest will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Mission Community Center, 1420 E. Kika de la Garza, kicking off the 73rd Texas Citrus Fiesta
The royal reception will be Jan. 23 and the crowning of Queen Citriana will be on Jan. 28.
The Parade of Oranges is Jan. 30.
For the complete program of events, call Texas Citrus Fiesta (956) 585- 9724 or visit
www.texascitrusfiesta.net
If you go
WHAT: Product Costume Fiesta
WHEN: Jan 16, 2010
WHERE: Mission Community Center located on 1420 E. Kika de la Garza.
COST: $5 per person
INFO: (956) 585 9724
