DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A historic Hispanic church in southern New Mexico is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Parishioners at Santa Ana Catholic Church in Deming are preparing for a monthlong festival to commemorate the occasion, the Deming Headlight reports .
The church was built in 1918 as Deming grew from the merging of the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad lines.
The emergence of World War I and the Mexican revolutionary Gen. Francisco "Pancho" Villa and his attack on U.S. soil in the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, brought the U.S. Army into Luna County. Those troops and a growing Hispanic population helped expand the Santa Ana Catholic Church.
The centennial celebration and fiesta will begin June 3 with the Feast of Corpus Christi and conclude June 24 with a closing Mass and outdoor dance. The celebration's theme is, "Looking at our Past with Gratitude; Living our Present with Passion; and Embracing our Future with Hope."
Organizers have put together activities for all ages, co-chair Christine Milo said.
"We hope the focus of our fiesta will involve parishioners, the community and southern New Mexico," she said.
Among the activities that will stretch throughout June will be a youth panel, presentations and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The celebration also includes an arts market, parade, ballet folklorico and mariachi forums, and a golf tournament at the Rio Mimbres Golf Course.