Planada Community Day set for Saturday

Planada’s traditional Community Day is back.

This year’s event will kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Houlihan Park, 9167 E. Stanford Ave.

Community Day is held annually to celebrate Planada’s people. Ben Esquivel, a Planada native and one of the event organizers, said there is great emphasis on pride and family in Planada, and this event helps recognize that.

“You always hear about the bad things that happen in Planada,” he said. “But good things happen here, too. We have great people and schools.”

As tradition has it, the day will open up with the grand parade. This year’s grand marshals will be the Garcia brothers – Esteban, Jesus, Antonio and Jose. The brothers own Garcia Brothers Trucking in Planada and are known in the community for their volunteer work, donations and support of youth programs.

“It’s nice that we get to recognize them because they have done so much for this community,” said Fabi Cervantes, one of the event organizers.

Cervantes said she has attended the event for decades, and is always surprised how much it grows each year. She estimates that last year the event gathered about 2,000 people from all around Merced County and from Fresno, Modesto and Chowchilla.

“It’s open to everyone so that people can see what Planada is all about,” Cervantes said.

In addition to the parade, the event will also include live music, dancers, games, informational booths and deep pit barbecue. Organizers said the highlight of the event is the barbecue, which starts at noon.

Other groups that will be making an appearance this year are Merced’s Got Talent, dancing show horses and a senior citizens folklorico dance group.

For more information, call Cervantes at (209) 261-6282.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Planada Community Day set for Saturday."