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Saturday, December 27, 1997

Winter Texans throw seventh annual Christmas party for children

McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- For the seventh straight year, Winter Texans have thrown a Christmas party for Mexican children living along the Rio Grande.

Carlos Estanislado, 7, heard his friends yelling "Santa is here" on Thursday, just before they started to dash into the main street of Nuevo Progreso, a town of 10,000 people on the Mexican side of the border.

It was all part of the annual "Amigos de los Ninos de Mexico" Christmas party.

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus smiled and threw candy at the excited children as a burro, instead of the traditional reindeer, pulled their carriage.

As many as 2,000 children rushed into the streets to see Santa at the Christmas bash.

Carlos followed Santa's carriage to Nuevo Progreso's Ford 45 Elementary School, where hot dogs, pinatas and plenty of Christmas fun were waiting.

"There are so many needy children on this side of the border," Wilma Beaty, chairwoman of this year's event, told The (McAllen) Monitor.

"On the American side, many children wake up and open their presents, but for many of these children (on the Mexican side of the border), this is all they are going to get," she said.

The organization, which has more than 100 members, raised about $5,000 from volunteers around the Rio Grande Valley. They borrowed the school building for one day and invited Mexican city officials to the celebration.

Anacaren Sanchez, 6, peeled an orange with her teeth as she talked about her eye-opening visit with Santa and his burro.

"Santa is over there. The burro is very funny," she said.

Behind her, hundreds of children batted brightly colored balloons back and forth. Others stood in line waiting for their opportunity to break the pinata and grab more sweets.

"I like everything: the oranges, the candies, everything," Carlos said, his hair disheveled and shirt coming undone from chasing wildly about the school and the streets of Nuevo Progreso. "I thank all the gringos for bringing all this food for us. They made me very happy."