‘There are so many great stories’

RICHMOND, Va. — Persona de Poder, an annual celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month, takes place Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

“We’ve been working with the community for 15 years, and there are so many great stories of people working for the benefit of our community, we wanted to honor them,” 1380 am Radio Host Oscar Contreras said.

The awards program was created in 2021 to honor people from around Virginia who have impacted the Latino immigrant community.

Seventeen Virginians from sports, arts, education, journalism, politics and law enforcement will be honored at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

“It is amazing that we’ve been doing it here in the Virginia Museum of Culture and History because they also recognize our community. They recognize all communities in Virginia,” Contreras said.
“The honorees come in… and seeing their faces, seeing their stories already in the museum, I think it just is a great fit.”

This partnership has evolved over the years starting with the museum’s citizenship program and now for the second year Persona de Poder.

“It meets one of the essential goals of the museum itself, which is to represent and to showcase the stories from everyone across the state,” Joseph Rogers, the museum’s director of partnerships and community engagement, said. “We’re not the Richmond Museum of History and Culture, we’re the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.”

In addition to the awards ceremony, there will be cultural performances, Latino food trucks, an art exhibition and more.

“We will also be hosting bilingual tours of the actual exhibits themselves,” Rogers explained. “So we’ll be doing short, 20-to-30-minute tours. Translators will be available to actually showcase and highlight what the museum has to offer.”

Saturday’s event, which is free and open to the public, recognizes individuals who have contributed to the advancement and development of Virginia’s immigrant and Latino communities through example, word and action.

You can also explore the flavors of Hispanic Restaurant Week throughout the state at the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce through Sunday, Oct. 13. Click here for participating restaurants.

Noche de Fiesta in the Garden: Honoring Dia de los Muertos will take place Saturday, Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Entertainment, an altar for offerings, featuring electric candles, and spaces for photographs and names to honor the departed (Located by Bloemendaal House on Crepe Myrtle Walk) Bilingual Storytime is 10 to 11 a.m., face painting, crafts. The Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will have a table offering info and activities. Click here for more info.

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