Visitors from Guanajuato—Ashland’s sister city—participate in July 4th activities

As occurs most every year, our sister city of Guanajuato sends a delegation to Ashland over the July 4 holiday to help us celebrate our Independence Day. Their visit follows a visit to Guanajuato by an Ashland delegation in June, helping them to celebrate their major holiday. [Photos below are by Karen Grove, unless otherwise stated.]

This year we were honored to have eight visitors in the Guanajuato delegation:

—Juan Andrés Balderas, Representative of Alejandro Navarro (current Guanajuato Mayor); Water Commissioner
Ana Josefina Gutiérrez Reyes (Andrés’ wife)
Eduardo Smith Soria, Brother of Mayor-Elect Samantha Smith and her official representative
—Karla Evelyn Muñoz Ramírez, Executive Assistant to the Mayor
Ximena Chao, Youth Ambassador
Rubén Rodriguez, current Amigo Club president, Lions Club member, studied in Ashland
7. Ameli Rodríguez, daughter of Rubén
8. Jorge Hernandez, godson of Rubén

4th of July Parade

The parade is the main city event and our Guanajuato visitors played a key role—they rode near the front of the parade and made short speeches at the band shell following the parade.

The Youth Embassadors from Ashland (Mackensie) and from Guanajuato (Ximena) wave to the crowd as they pass the plaza.

Andrés, Evelyn, and Eduardo, representatives of the current mayor and the mayor-elect, ride in Joe Davis’ classic vehicle. Andrés is not visible on the other side of the car.

Rubén, with his daughter and godson, wave to Amigo Club members sitting on the sidelines.

The Guanajuato visitors join Amigo Club members on the sidewalk after their time in the parade is over.

El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant acknowledges our sister-city relationship with Guanajuato. The owners have been huge supporters over the years. Parade viewers were excited to once again see El Tapatio’s horses dancing prettily in the parade.

The Guanajuato delegation at the band shell after the parade. Eduardo is expressing Guanajuato’s deep appreciation for our sister-city relationship and the opportunity to be in Ashland for our Independence Day celebration. Photo courtesy of Jay Ach.

Ximena Chao giving a moving speech about their visit, as Señora Chela, Eduardo, Andrés, and Evelyn look on.

Other activities

The Amigo Club organized a large number of activities during the Guanajuatenses’ visit from 27 June to 5 July. Here are photos from some of the activities.

The City of Ashland welcomed our Guanajuato visitors with a breakfast at El Tapatio Mexico Restaurant. Representing Ashland were the mayor, two City Council members, Fire Chief, Police Chief, among other department heads. Also attending were Amigo Club board members, and Rubén and his family. Other members of the Guanajuato delegation would arrive several days later.

On Friday, 28 June, Sean and Catherine Van Ausdall hosted a dinner with Amigo Club and Lions Club members. This year, Lions Club member Nancy Lynch Patzer (in yellow vest) worked with Guanajuato Lions Club member Rubén Rodriguez (purple vest) to initiate an eye screening project and provide glasses for low-income children in Guanajuato state. Rubén’s daughter and godson (in pink shirts) are Leos—junior members of the Lions Club. Photo courtesy of Jay Ach.

On Saturday, 29 June, Marina (Amigo Club board member in blue dress) organized a poetry recital, hosted by Amigo Club members Mina and Kernan Turner in their lovely garden. Shown in the photo are some of the Latinas who live in the valley and who every year come to read poems in Spanish.

Jeff Dahle, Ashland City Councilor, graciously took Andrés and Eduardo on a short flight to view our local area from the air. Jeff was part of the Ashland delegation who visited Guanajuato in June. Andrés is Guanajuato’s Water Commissioner, and Eduardo also works for the water department, so they also enjoyed tours of Ashland’s Reeder Reservoir and water treatment plant. Photo courtesy of Jay Ach.

On 3 July, SOU hosted a luncheon to honor our Guanajuato visitors, all shown here presenting a gift of lovely Guanajuato pottery to President Rick Bailey. Also attending were dignitaries such as Oregon Representative Pam Marsh, Oregon Senator Jeff Golden, and SOU past and present administrators.

Also on July 3, Karen Grove and Jay Ach hosted a wine-tasting event for visitors on their patio. Terry Sullivan (holding bottle), owner of Upper Five winery in Talent, explained how his wines are produced and described specifics of the four varietals we tasted. Photo courtesy of Jay Ach.

Other events included:

—Amigo Club annual picnic (see previous post: https://ashlandamigoclub.org/ashland-amigo-clubs-annual-picnic-on-30-june-2024/).

—Sailing adventure on Emigrant Lake with Sean and Catherine Van Ausdall.

—Attending the OSF play “Much Ado About Nothing” and getting a backstage tour earlier in the day.

—Exciting Hellgate Jet Boat tour on the Rogue River.

—City tours including visit to Reeder Reservoir, lunches on the plaza and views of significant sites.