Spanish Heritage month came to an end last Wednesday with a fiesta celebration from the Wayne State College Spanish club.

“Spanish Heritage Month is basically from Sep. 15 to Oct. 15,” said Lisneisy Gonzalez, president of the Spanish Club. “The start is Sep. 15 because that is the anniversary of five of the Latin American countries.”

The five countries are Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

“We celebrate it in the United States because it is recognizing the presence and contributions of Hispanics in the United States,” Gonzalez said.

The celebration honors the history, culture and contributions of those living in the United States who have ancestors from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

“The Spanish Club is about bringing awareness, so we have to say what (Spanish Heritage month) is about,” said Gonzalez.

“This is a fiesta, and we brought Hispanic dishes like tortilla española,” said Gonzalez.

The fiesta had traditional Hispanic food and a raffle. Guests tried horchata, Mexican rice milk, Cuban style lemonade, tortilla española, a Spanish omelet and elote en vaso, corn in a cup. The raffle was a dollar to enter, with prizes that were a stainless steel cup, two travel scrabbles, a notebook with dogs on it, a planner and ball point pens.

“Our last meeting was three weeks ago and we planned (the fiesta) at that meeting, and then we went shopping,” said Gonzalez. “It didn’t take that long.”

Gonzalez said that with this event, she hopes people take away how important the Spanish culture is, and that people start to become more interested in the culture.

Lidice Aleman is an assistant professor of Spanish and the adviser of the Spanish Club. She said that this is her first semester as the Spanish Club adviser.

“I don’t know if they did (the fiesta) before,” said Aleman. “I don’t remember them celebrating the Hispanic month.”

The fiesta lasted for about forty-five minutes, and about twenty-five people joined in the celebration.

“The fiesta celebration was for the end of the Spanish heritage month,” said Aleman. “With this fiesta and everything that we do, our goal is to make a little noise so our Spanish club gets noticed. Our goal is to celebrate our culture and get students to be proud of that. We are trying to be more visible.”