The year went out with a bang for the MeCHA club, Lincoln’s Latino Student Union, when members held their first annual ¡La Fiesta! in the cafeteria on May 29.

Students, parents and teachers from the Lincoln community flocked to the party, where homemade Mexican food was served and traditional dance and music presented.

The event was the culmination a year’s worth of work for the MeCHA students, called the “Mechistas,” who started the club in the fall to raise cultural awareness for the Hispanic community.

“We want to demonstrate that although Hispanics are a minority here at Lincoln and in this country, we are still able to overcome the barriers and obtain success,” read the ¡La Fiesta! booklet handed out to all attendees.

Dancing groups,  “Calpulli Coatlicue” and the “Ballet Papalotl,” dressed in traditional Latin American garb, presented Mexican Aztecan dance.

Mexico was not the only Hispanic country represented, however. Each table had informational cards about a different Latin American country, ranging from Cuba to the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.

This was only fitting, seeing as how the goal of the night was to introduce the Lincoln community to all of Hispanic culture.

“We were like, ‘we should do a fiesta and celebrate all we are and all that we were,’” said MeCHA vice president Zanya Andrade-Fitz.

And so they did.

“This is an amazing amount of work to put together,” said Melinda Gale, one of the club advisers. “I’m so proud.”