The Unity Project of Fort Atkinson will be hosting its fourth Fort Fall Fiesta.
The bilingual festival brings together English and Spanish speakers within the community for an afternoon of food, music, dancing and kids’ activities, a recent press release stated.
This year’s event will be held in Jones Park on Saturday, Sept. 18, from noon to 4 p.m.
Clive Y Afinque, a Milwaukee-based salsa band, will take the stage from noon to 3 p.m. There also will be a puppet show, bouncy obstacle course, balloon artists and other children’s activities.
Once again, the husband-and-wife team of former Milwaukee Brewers’ pitcher Jose Mieses and Whitney Townsend will emcee the event, and the Spanish language congregation of First United Methodist Church will provide authentic Hispanic specialty foods.
There also will be a hotdog stand managed by the culinary team of Jim Marousis and Karen Reinhardt. Beauty & the Bean will be on site with its mobile unit to provide caffeine and other treats.
Starting at 3 p.m., there will be a baseball game between Utica and Vaquero, a Milwaukee-based team.
Nearly 30 local businesses will be represented at this event. The school district’s EL teachers, the Dwight Foster Public Library, and BASE (Badgerland After School Enrichment) have been important contributors from the beginning, creating fun activities and a welcoming atmosphere.
But many of the exhibitors provide something kid-friendly, whether it be an activity or a fun freebie item to take home. Exhibitors this year are required to have at least one piece of literature in Spanish to introduce their organization to Spanish-speaking community members.
The Fort Atkinson Area Senior Center, Trudy’s Room and Fort Atkinson Club, as well as a few others, are joining the fiesta for the first time, introducing community assets to those who might not yet know about them.
All precautions are being made to make this event a safe place to attend during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Food-service workers will be required to wear masks over their noses and mouths and use gloves. Some events have been altered (bouncy house) to be safer or canceled (facepainting) all together.
Fort HealthCare is supplying masks, and hand sanitizer will be available throughout the park.
Special thanks go out to the Fort Atkinson Generals (especially Sam Hartwick), Fort Atkinson Parks & Recreation Department and City of Fort Atkinson for their support.
Four-year fiesta sponsors include Fort Community Credit Union, Fort HealthCare. Three-year sponsors are Madison Area Technical College and MK Cellular , while Griffin Ford is a two-year sponsor.
This event originally was created at the direction of Scott Lastusky, now retired Parks & Recreation Department director, who observed a lack of Hispanic children in city parks programs and wanted to do an outreach to ensure Spanish-language families knew about the offerings of his department. He reached out to the Unity Project, a new organization at that time, to be his partner.
“The Unity Project was honored to be Parks & Recreation’s partner and is equally honored to continue to host the bilingual festival,” said the group’s president, Laura Alwin.
The Unity Project’s mission is to promote a sense of acceptance and belonging among all members of the community.
The husband-and-wife team of former Milwaukee Brewers’ pitcher Jose Mieses and Whitney Townsend will emcee this year’s Fort Fall Fiesta.
Benjamin Gomez helps Fort Fall Fiesta organizers place banners announcing the event.
A flier announcing this year’s Fort Fall Fiesta planned for Sept. 18 in Jones Park.
Photos and graphic supplied.
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