San Luis Founders’ Day

By Kiersten Medina |

San Luis held its very first annual Founders’ Day on Saturday, April 6th, 2019, which celebrated the historical and cultural heritage of the town of San Luis. San Luis, Colorado is the oldest town in Colorado and was founded in April 9th, 1851. The event was also sponsored by Adelante San Luis and the Town of San Luis.

The birth of the San Luis Founders’ Day started as an idea two years ago because the county officials had their own salsa contest on Cinco de Mayo, and Adelante wanted to get involved despite the county only allowing their own peers or workers to enter the contest. Adelante proposed creating an event that would celebrate and honor the culture and history of San Luis. Within the two years after Adelante’s proposition, Founders’ Day became a plan. The first year after this plan was being put into action, it was too late into the year to set it into motion. The year after that, there was still much preparation and planning to be done before the event could follow through. Finally, in the third year of planning, it all paid off with the help of the town hall and Mayor Tiffany Gallegos. With even more help from the adult residents and students within San Luis, the events began.

The events started on Saturday morning with the Centennial High School Student Council hosting a pancake breakfast, which was held at the local Parish Hall in town. Soon after, a Color 5K took place, which was hosted by Town Hall. There were 75 runners and 15 walkers that participated in the event. There were many volunteers, both the youth and the adults of San Luis, who helped in each area of the trail by the Vega River by throwing color at the runners and walkers. The runners began the 5K at 9:30 am, and the walkers began right after that race. Runners from all over the valley came; even the Antonito High School track team joined in the fun. During those races, there was a station across the street, where the San Luis Apostolic Church sold breakfast burritos and snacks to racers and spectators. While that was going on, the youth had a historical tour walk with people around town. Shortly after the pancake breakfast, there were vendors in Parish Hall, selling items while music was being played by Lopez y Mastaes and Indian Nickel. Around 6pm on Saturday, a bonfire was held right outside of Parish Hall. Many people showed up to have fun while DJ G. Styles played music by the bonfire. The ending of this first annual Founders’ Day was a blast for both young and old. Adelante San Luis and Town Hall plan to do this again for years to come. They would also like to thank those who came out and had this celebration with them.