¡Viva México!

On a warm late summer evening, a crowd of people gathered on the lawn at Heritage University. They stood side by side, row by row; their attention focused on a man on the stage holding the flag of México. He is from the Mexican Consulate and traveled halfway across the state of Washington to deliver El Grito de Delores, the Cry of Delores.

“¡Mexicanos! ¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria! ¡Viva Hidalgo!,” he called out.

“¡Viva Hidalgo!” the crowd responded.

“¡Viva Morelos!,” he cried. The crowd called back, “¡Viva Morelos!”

Back and forth they went, the official crying out and the crowd responding:

¡Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez!

¡Viva Allende!

¡Vivan Aldama y Matamoros!

¡Viva la Independencia Nacional!

Until the call reached its crescendo.

“¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!”

The official rang a bell and waved the flag while the crowd cheered. Then, all raised their voices and sang the Mexican national anthem.

“Mexicanos, al grito de guerra el acero aprestad y el bridón. Y retiemble en sus centros la Tierra, al sonoro rugir de el cañón,” the song begins.

The crowd was a sea of emotion. Elderly men and ladies stood with their backs pencil straight, tears streaming down their faces, hands held across their chest in the saludo a la bandera. Parents’ attention was momentarily drawn from their playing children as they were swept away by the moment. It was one of those rare moments when pride, respect and unity were so palatable that they seemed to hang in the air.

This was El Grito de Dolores at Heritage University.

PRIDE AND PATRIOTISM

El Grito de Dolores is for Mexico and its citizens what the 4th of July is for the United States. It commemorates the events that sparked the Mexican War of Independence.

In the middle of the night on September 16, 1810, in the city of Dolores, Mexico, Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bell, calling his congregation to assemble. He addressed the crowd, urging them to revolt against Spanish rule. His speech sparked an 11-year war in which Mexico gained independence from Spain. Every year, on September 15, at 11:00 p.m., Mexico’s president reenacts the cry from the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City. The call is simultaneously reenacted in cities and towns, large and small, throughout the country, with each community’s highest-ranking official serving in the place of the president.

“Of all the cultural activities that take place in Mexico, El Grito is one of the most significant,” said Jennifer Renteria-Lopez, director of Heritage University’s High School Equivalency Program and one of the lead organizers of the university’s El Grito celebration.

“For Mexicans, it means we are our own people. We are a single, independent country in control of our own government and direction.”

El Grito brings together communities for celebrations that last for days. There are parades, carnivals, Banda music, street dances and food, lots and lots of food. It’s a whirlwind of color and sounds that culminates with the late- night reenactments.

CONNECTING PEOPLE TO CULTURE

For people of Mexican descent, like Renteria-Lopez, living in the Yakima Valley, distance and time often lead to a disconnect from their cultural roots. Renteria-Lopez was born in the United States but was taken to Mexico by her mother when she was just three months old. She lived there submerged in her culture until she and her now husband moved to the US when she was 19 years old.

“We were searching for a better life,” she said.

Like so many Mexican nationals who immigrated to the Yakima Valley, Renteria- Lopez came to the country with a strong work ethic but limited English skills. She learned about Heritage’s HEP program, where she could take English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and earn a G.E.D. She enrolled and became so connected to the program that she continued to take ESL classes and volunteered to help other students long after she graduated. Before long, her volunteer work turned into a paid position. Her academic journey also progressed.

She enrolled in a local college, earned an associate degree, transferred to a nearby university, and earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology. Eventually, she worked her way to director of the HEP program, and this year, she graduated with a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership.

Renteria-Lopez and her husband built a good life for themselves and their little family which includes two young daughters. However, the longer they lived here in the United States, the more disconnected they became from their cultural heritage. They found themselves spending more time celebrating the customs and holidays of this country than those of the country where they were raised and where much of their family still lives.

“We left behind everything when we came to the United States, even our culture,” she said. “When you immigrate to a new country, you are an outsider. You want to fit in with your new home and the people who live here, so you set aside part of yourself and adopt the culture of those in your new home. You walk between two cultures. You are not American or Mexican; you’re a little of both.”

Her story, she said, is not unique. As life gets busy and families integrate into their communities, it is easy to lose sight of traditions, especially for things like El Grito that involved whole communities celebrating in unison, and where there are no such celebrations in your adopted country.

Five years ago, when Heritage’s president, Andrew Sund, announced the university would be hosting an El Grito celebration on campus, Renteria-Lopez signed up to be part of the planning committee.

“There was nothing else like this in the Yakima Valley,” she said. “You’d see Cinco de Mayo events, but those are not as culturally significant as people think they are. They are an Americanized version of a Mexican holiday that is really only celebrated in one region of Mexico.”

El Grito, however, is immensely significant. It’s a point of national pride that involves every citizen in every state, city and town. It is part of the cultural fabric of the nation. And, bringing it to Heritage was huge, she said.

“I’ve lived in the United States for 17 years. This was the first time since I left Mexico that I was able to celebrate El Grito and the first time my children have been able to connect to this part of their cultural heritage,” she said.

Renteria-Lopez has been part of the planning committee every year since El Grito was first celebrated at Heritage in 2019. This year’s event brought more than 800 people to the Heritage campus. Children made crafts and got their faces painted. Families played games together, including loteria, a traditional game much like bingo, danced to Banda music, and ate authentic Mexican food before the culminating Cry of Delores.

“It was such an emotional experience, being here on the campus, with others who, like me, have lost touch with this part of themselves, and being part of the team that brought El Grito to the Yakima Valley,” said Renteria-Lopez. “I am very proud of being part of this experience and proud that Heritage is giving Mexican Americans the opportunity to celebrate their heritage and share it with the rest of the community.”

 

COLLABORATION AS SMART AS THE STUDENTS IT SUPPORTS

Some of the best ideas take shape over a pint of beer. Take, for example, Heritage Collaboration, a partnership between one of Yakima’s largest hop growers and three craft breweries, all to raise funds for Heritage University scholarships. It began with a spark of an idea.

Heritage University board member Ellen Wallach is known for her hands-on approach to her service to the organizations she supports. A member of Heritage’s fund development committee, she is always trying to find creative ways to help the university build funding streams that can lead to long-term support for the institution and its students. A conversation with a dear friend sparked one such idea. Her friend’s neighbor Manny Chao is the founder and co-owner of Georgetown Brewing, a popular Seattle brewery. She asked her friend if she could introduce her to Chao.

STEP ONE-BREWERY ONE

“I had this idea that Georgetown and Heritage could work together to build an income stream for Heritage that would also serve their (Georgetown’s) interests,” she said.

Her friend reached out to Chao and told him a bit about Heritage and the work the university does in the Yakima Valley. Most of the hops that Chao uses to brew his beers come from the areas  surrounding the university. The farmworkers who care for and harvest the hops he depends upon are the families, friends and neighbors of the students who attend Heritage. Chao was intrigued.

“I was attracted by the whole idea of outreach to indigenous and immigrant families,” he said. “I, myself, am an immigrant. My family moved to the United States when I was a child so I could have a better education and more opportunities. There was a natural tie between Georgetown and the Yakima Valley, and providing educational opportunities for the families of the migrant workers who work so hard added to the appeal.”

However, Chao said the impact could be greater than just his brewery producing a single beer. “There are so many breweries in Washington state. I told Ellen we should bring in a hop grower to provide hops to several breweries and bring them on board, which would help spread the word about Heritage further.”

Wallach was on it! She knew just who to call— fellow Heritage board member Bob Gerst.

STEP TWO – BRING IN THE HOPS

“Ellen called and told me about her discussion with Manny. She asked if I knew who she could work with to capitalize on the idea,” said Gerst.

He knows a thing or two about the players in the hops and beer game; he is Vice President of Human Resources at John I. Haas, one of the largest hops producers in the state of Washington and, for that matter, the world. Haas has long been a supporter of Heritage University and its students. Over the years, they’ve sponsored the university’s largest fundraising event, Scholarship Dinner, provided student internship opportunities, and hired its graduates.

He explained that while supporting Heritage and its students feels good, it is really a strategic move.

“Supporting Heritage makes good business sense,” he said. “The more educated we can make the workforce in the Yakima Valley, the better we all are, whether it is in the number of people we (Haas) hire or the environment that is created by an educated population. We are all better off by Heritage being successful.

“My role in this project was connecting the dots.”

STEP THREE-THE BEER MAKERS

Gerst knew about a new experimental hop variety that Haas’s sales force was starting to push out to brewers—HBC1134.

Michael Ferguson is the hop breeder extraordinaire who developed HBC1134. He’s spent several years breeding, growing, testing, and growing and testing again and again new varieties of hops in search of one that would produce a European-style hop but with much better yields that need less land and resources to produce than the hops currently being used. The key was it not only had to meet these production standards, but it also had to have the scent and flavor that matched the old variety, and those results had to be consistent year after year with every generation of cloned and propagated plants. Not an easy task!

“You’re doing well as a breeder if you get one good variety out of every 100,000 plants,” said Ferguson.

HBC1134 looked to be a winner. He sent a small sample to Haas brewmaster Virgil McDonald for the next step in the experiment, developing the recipe.

 

 

“We take an innocuous beer, add the hop, and taste the beer to identify the flavors the hop throws,” said McDonald. “Then we catalog it and try it with different yeast strains and malts. You know pretty quickly in the first brew or two if you have something to move forward.”

McDonald liked what he was tasting with HBC1134. It lends itself to a nice pilsner or lager- style beer, he said.

At the time he heard the news about the yet- to-be-named Heritage Collaboration, he just happened to be in conversations with Chao about his desire to build a new recipe for a lager. The timing was perfect! Georgetown needed hops and wanted to collaborate. Haas had the hops, wanted to collaborate, and needed brewers to

introduce beers made from the hop to consumers. Plus, both wanted to do something to support Heritage students. All that remained was to bring a few more brewers on board.

Chao reached out to his good friend Kevin Smith. Smith is the owner of Bale Breaker Brewing Company in Yakima. When he heard about the opportunity to create a beer using the new hop and do good for his community, he joined the collaboration.

“We enjoy making these charitable beers to give back to the community,” Smith said. “We were excited about making good beer with friends and supporting Heritage University, an educational institution in our own backyard.”

At the same time, Haas’s sales team reached out to another Yakima brewer, Zack Turner, at Single Hill Brewing. They were the first brewery to release their version of Heritage Collaboration at a launch event in early October.

 

STEP FOUR – DRINK UP!

With the wheels in motion and all the initial players on board, all that was left was to brew up some batches and launch it out into the world. Haas was the first to go live. They hosted a tasting party in late September showcasing the basic brew recipe that the craft brewers would build upon.

Single Hill followed suit a few weeks later. In mid-October, Heritage hosted an alumni gathering coinciding with the launch day for Heritage Collaboration at Bale Breaker, and a second alumni gathering took place in November at Georgetown for their brew launch. At each brewery, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their version of Heritage Collaboration are directed to Heritage University for scholarships.

Just how far Heritage Collaboration could go and how big an impact it could have on students remains to be seen. It all depends upon consumer tastes and demand for the hop that has yet to be officially named. However, said David Wise, vice president for advancement at Heritage, the impact has the potential to be great.

“Every successful venture started as an idea that grows into action and has a host of people behind it that believed in its power. When you think about it, this is the story of Heritage and our students, how we started, how we grew, and how we’ve been successful,” he said. “We’re all raising our pints, cheering on this grand collaboration, excited about what the future may bring.”

Gifts to Heritage’s annual Bounty of the Valley Scholarship Dinner breaks records and tops last year’s total raised by more than $100,000!

Heritage University Alumnus of the Year Ryan Washburn has spent his entire work life helping people rebuild their lives.