FAIRMONT– On Thursday, Aug. 24, the community is invited to attend a Hispanic Voices in Martin County panel and fiesta. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fairmont and is being put on by Project 1590’s Celebrating Cultures committee.

Briana Joseph has been planning for and working on the event all summer. Joseph is an intern for Project 1590 through the Martin County/Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) intern program. Another key player behind the event is Celia Simpson, a member of the Celebrating Cultures committee.

“The goal of the event is to open up lines of conversation and move beyond some of the initial relationship barriers between cultures that have happened in the past,” Simpson said.

One of the best ways to do this is allow the broader community to hear some of the voices of diversity in the community.

Joseph had shared some statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau which said that demographics in Martin County are shifting with more than a 50 percent increase in the Hispanic population from 2011 to 2021, even as the population has declined by 3.5 percent.

The event will feature five Hispanic community members who will serve as panelists. They will talk about their background and experiences either coming to or growing up in the community. As some may speak in Spanish, interpreters will be available on site.

The five panelists are Genesis Vergara (Venezuela), Ramon Vega-Ramirez (Mexico), Valeria Morales (Mexico), Abraham Sepulveda (Chile) and Josif Szucs (Mexico).

Szucs said he agreed to be a panelist because he thinks that hearing voices from different cultural backgrounds offers diverse perspectives for the people of Martin County to be more inclusive of the smaller communities within.

“I am a proud Mexican American husband and father of three young children. I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California and lived there until 2015 when I moved to Texas where I met my wife. In Texas I began my career in food processing and manufacturing which eventually led to my family relocating to Minnesota in 2020 and we love it here.”

“I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, playing video games and being a youth mentor with Kinship of Martin County. I am now Kinship’s newest board member and have been attending events with them regularly which I really enjoy as well. I am also a member at Chain Lake Lodge #64 Fairmont’s masonic lodge,” Szucs said.

He and the other four panelists will share more about their experiences and their involvement with the community during the event.

COPAL, a grassroots organization that aims to impact the quality of life for Latinos in Minnesota, will serve as moderator of the event.

After the panelists speak, there will be food available for purchase from Los Potrancas taco truck. A number of area agencies will have booths with information set up at the event. There will also be games, music and dancing.

Simpson shared that some volunteer students from Fairmont High School’s National Honor Society will be available in a supervised kid zone to watch children so parents can listen to the panelists and engage in conversations without distractions.

“We hope the fun environment will allow people to continue to ask questions of one another and enjoy time together,” Simpson said.

Planning the event has been a group effort between multiple agencies.

“Originally last September I was approached by Joshua Schuetz of the Martin County EDA to work with him on a grant application for SMIF (Souther Minnesota Initiative Foundation) to get grant funds partially for an event that I was looking at doing,” Simpson said.

Martin County EDA is using funds received from SMIF to pay for the interpreters. Fairmont EDA (FEDA), Community Education and Recreation (CER) and the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce have also been involved.

“Some of the target audience are business members and organizations because there has been a number of businesses looking to connect better with Hispanic community members,” Simpson said.

The Martin County Historical Society has also been involved. Along with planning for the event, Joseph has also been working on creating an online storytelling platform, for which she’s been interviewing members of the Hispanic community. Lenny Tvedten with the Martin County Historical Society reached out as they were looking for ways to get more representation of the Hispanic population in the museum.

“They’re interested in a learning aspect. Some of Briana’s pieces might be integrated into the historical society,” Simpson said.

The panel and fiesta event is free to attend and open to the entire community and because of this, it’s hard to know how many people will attend though Simpson said she’d like to see 100 people come through.