LIBRARY SALUTES MEXICO : CINCO DE MAYO COMES TO REAGAN LANDMARK.Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer A little bit of Mexican history came to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs and Museum on Sunday as the Simi Valley landmark celebrated Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo (Spanish; “Fifth of May”) Mexican holiday commemorating the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862. The French army, better-equipped and far larger than the Mexican army, had been sent by Napoleon III to conquer Mexico. . The mountaintop monument to the all-American president echoed with the lilting strains of mariachi singers as Mexican flags and pinatas hung from the lobby in honor of the Mexican holiday. ``I was expecting more people here,'' said mariachi musician Memo Ojeda. ``But I like it. As soon as I get a break, I'm going to look around.'' A large green-white-and-red Mexican flag hung above the admissions counter in the lobby and paper pinatas dangled from the ceiling. Another Mexican flag draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. from a pole beside the stars and stripes Stars and Stripes nickname for the U.S. flag. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 8567] See : America . In a glass display case sat silver works donated from Mexico, an earthenware earthenware, form of pottery fired at relatively low temperatures, so that the clay does not vitrify (become glassy), as do stoneware and porcelain clays. Occasionally, earthenware is used as a general term for all kinds of pottery. Mayan sculpture and a picture of Reagan in a broad-billed mariachi-style black hat. In another corner, a man handed out sweet, doughy churros from a wagon. Mark Hunt, the new director of the library and museum, called the low-key celebration an effort to highlight the history of California See History of California to 1899 or History of California 1900 to present. and appeal to a more diverse audience. ``I don't see it as odd or unusual,'' he said. ``The presidential libraries have begun to broaden the topics we're dealing with. We're interested in reaching a lot of different audiences.'' Clad in black mariachi suits, Ojeda and Agustin Godina of Oxnard strolled through the library exhibits singing in tight harmonies as they strummed and picked their guitars. Crooning a ballad called ``Nunca en Domingo,'' or ``Never on Sunday,'' they wandered through the room containing a new western art exhibit. On the walls hung paintings of the Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. and an Arapaho war dancer, while in display cases sat a clay peace pipe, spurs, an Ojibwa headdress headdress, head covering or decoration, protective or ceremonial, which has been an important part of costume since ancient times. Its style is governed in general by climate, available materials, religion or superstition, and the dictates of fashion. and a pair of pearl-handled revolvers with an ornate leather gun belt bearing Reagan's initials. But the affair was subdued compared to much larger celebrations in Los Angeles and Oxnard for Cinco de Mayo. Most patrons came to visit the exhibits, such as the new western art display and a reproduction of the White House cabinet room. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) Mariachi singers entertain Sig Schudde , left, his sister-in-law, Rosemary, and her husband, Horst. (2--Color) Memo Ojeda of Vista Mar Mariachi plays his guitar Sunday at the Reagan Presidential Library. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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