Rosarito July Fourth Party Provides Celebration For Expatriates and Benefits Free Health Clinic

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---More than 800 people, many from this city’s large expatriate community, attended a traditional July Fourth celebration Sunday with a few Mexican touches for flavor.

The six-hour event in a tented area between the Rosarito Beach Hotel and the ocean had two purposes.

Not only did it provide a U.S.-style Fourth of July celebration, it also was a successful fundraiser for the Flying Samaritans, the group that organized the event and also runs a free clinic in downtown Rosarito for Mexicans who have no other source of health care.

Twelve vendors provided food and drinks for the event. It included hot dogs and hamburgers, ribs, apple and cherry pie, plus salmon and strawberry tacos with blueberry chipotle, which both provided a Mexican touch and a red, white and blue color scheme.

The crowd listened and danced to music provided by the Truck & Roll Band, Nueva Esperanza & Cochimi Dancers, Miryam Malak, Beth Wilson and the Not Guilty Band.

Cuba Gooding Sr., a part-time Rosarito resident and a goodwill ambassador for the city, sang a medley which included his 1970’s hit with the Main Ingredient, “Everybody Plays The Fool.”

A grand fireworks display over the ocean ended the event, which was also attended by Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres, other city officials and two vice consuls from the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.

Major sponsors included Bancomer Preferred Customer Division, the City of Rosarito, its Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Rosarito Beach Hotel and PIRO Baja, which provided fireworks.

The event raised abut $8,500 for the 15-year-old Flying Samaritans clinic, which serves about 300 patients a month under the direction of nurse Nancy Callison, said Flying Samaritan Susan Smith

“It’s a big boost,” said Flying Samaritans president Dean Stalcup. “Still, it represents lessthan half of our yearly budget and donations have been very hard to generate recently. We hope the publicity from this event will generate more.”

  

Anyone interested in donating can contact Stalcup at 858-538-5922 or rdstalcup@aol.com.

Photo Caption (from left): Pete Baltierra, Carmen Hernandez, Cuba Gooding, Mayor Hugo Torres and Tom Maher.