SAN ANGELO, Texas — Conexion San Angelo hosted the 19th annual Christmas Posada at the McNease Convention Center Friday night. This year, posada was in memory of Gregorio Gutierrez, founder of Conexion San Angelo, and someone who carried the tradition for many years.
“It’s the 19th annual posada in honor of Gregorio so what we do pretty much at this event is give out food of course… free for everybody no charge and then we give out toys to the kids at the end of the night just kind of an appreciation for the community and the support throughout the years,” posada organizer, Gaby Gaspar, said
Posadas navideñas are a very special tradition in Latin America, Mexico and in the United States. Families come together during this time to eat traditional foods, dance and celebrate.
“Today we are remembering our traditions, posadas are a Mexican tradition and it’s a time where the whole family gets together and everyone remembers Jesus’s birth,” Gregorio Gutierrez's son, Saul Gutierrez, said.
Araceli Gutierrez, Gregorio Gutierrez's widow, said she decided to continue the annual posada in his honor.
“We started in 2002 with only 50 people, each year it’s been increasing 100 more and more…up to this point we have 500 to 600 people that come spend some time with us and continue our traditions,” Araceli Gutierrez said.
Araceli said she hopes to continue the tradition for many more generations. The 19th annual Christmas posada consisted of many traditional foods such as tamales, pan dulce, champurrado and buñuelos.