VIVA TEJAS: Texas independence to be celebrated Saturday

A scene from last year’s Texas Independence Day Celebration in San Benito shows the Battle of San Jacinto reenacted. (Photo by Rodrigo Davila)

By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

San Benito will remember the Alamo on Saturday, March 9, during the fifth annual Texas Independence Day Celebration, to be held at the municipal fairgrounds off FM 510.

“Hopefully this year it will be bigger and better,” said Jack Ayoub of the Texas Heritage and Independence Celebration Association (THICA). “This year we have more room since its going to be held out at the stock show grounds. We have those big buildings in case it rains.”

Ayoub said the 2013 event will be a celebration to education while also featuring three battle reenactments, including the Battle of Bexar (San Antonio), the Battle of the Alamo, and the Battle of San Jacinto.

“We’re going to be reenacting in an arena that has seats,” Ayoub said. “We also hope to have someone narrate during battle to explain what is going on so the public can understand what the soldiers were trying to accomplish with the weapons that they had. We want everybody to get chance to talk to the re-enactors, because they look, talk and act the part of a solder.”

“When you see the firing of the muskets and cannons, it’s almost like stepping back in time and seeing what it was like to be back in time,” continued Ayoub. “The poor visibility of the gunpowder, the thunderous pounding of cannons, seeing what the poor soldiers at the Alamo were actually going through. We also want the public to be able to talk to the natives of the Bear Clan Tribe to share their heritage with us.”

Ayoub said that the plan is to show the Valley and the state of Texas that Texas Independence Day is being celebrated, while honoring the courage and bravery of the Texas, Tejanos and Mexican soldiers who died fighting.

The actual ceremony starts at 11 a.m. with a riderless horse and an explanation about its significance. The first reenactment, the Battle of Bexar (San Antonio) begins at 12 p.m. The next reenactment, the Battle of the Alamo, begins at 2 p.m., followed by the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence in which the public will be allowed to sign as well. At 4 p.m. the last reenactment, the Battle of San Jacinto, will take place.

Read this story in the March 6 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.