I believe my “heritage” means my culture and the traditional things passed down from my great-grandparents to my grandparents and on to my parents, that are now being taught to me and my siblings — things which we will some day teach our own children.
My culture and traditions are Hispanic. During the holidays we have a number of customs that have been handed down from our ancestors, although some have dwindled away.
In our Hispanic culture, it was the custom for the children to go from house to house, much in the way as it’s done for Halloween, standing outside the door and chanting, “Mis crismes, mis crismes.”
The door would be opened and the children were invited in and given treats. Many years ago, Hispanics were poor but had good, kind hearts and they would give children treats like bizcochitos or empanaditas. They also were given hot cocoa before they were sent onto the next house.
All the children would do this throughout the village, then go home with their goodies to enjoy.
On New Year’s Day, a big tradition during Ano Nuevo was for men from the village to get together, along with their instruments. At midnight they began going from house to house singing Dando las dias and Pedundo los anos nuevos at each and every house.
All the men were offered goodies to eat and drinks. The musicians would go on to the next house, gathering more followers from each house until they had a large group. Usually, they would still be going strong until 6 or 7 a.m. When they finished going through the village, they would go home to sleep.
At noon, everyone would go to the street to watch the parade. Men would be on their horses. The musicians would be in a horse-drawn carriage and go through the town. The people would follow them to the dance hall, where they would have a professional band and a dance would be held until 5 or 6 p.m., when they would end the dance.
The flags were presented and honored at the beginning of the dance. Admission charge for the dance was $5 per person. Food would also be sold until the proceeds to pay the band and costs like electricity were raised.
This has been a tradition in Vallecitos for many years. Many people from out of town come to the dance in Vallecitos. Native people from who have left Vallecitos always came to the dance because people that haven’t seen each other for a year or longer to get to visit.
It is a tradition that still happens today. Hopefully, the people from Vallecitos will not let it die. It’s a beautiful tradition that is also sentimental.
Hernández resident Jerame Martinez, 14, is in the eighth grade at Mesa Vista Middle and High School. 
I want to read comments posted on this story