May 10, 2001

By Dan Keane

PRESIDIO — It’s May again, and the days are getting longer and the temperatures are getting hotter. For Presidio residents, these are signs that the 2001 Onion Festival is just around the corner. 

This year’s festival will be held Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20. The Presidio Chamber of Commerce wishes to dedicate this year’s festival to Herb Myers. Twenty years ago, Presidio first became an incorporated city, and Herb Meyers was elected as her first mayor. Headlining this year’s festivities will be the country and Tejano sounds of Craig Carter and the Spur of the Moment Band, who. take the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday night at Lions Club Park. Admission is $3, and children under the age of 12 are free. 

Saturday night will also be a chance to win one of different door prizes during the dance. Admission to the dance enters your name in the drawing. Prizes include gift certificates at many local businesses. “They’re really a good deal,” said Terry Upchurch, Chamber of Commerce president. Raffle tickets for this year’s big prize, a Panasonic 25-inch TV/ VCR, cost $1 and are available at City Hall and will also be sold at both Friday and Saturday’s dances. The drawing for the TV will also be held at the Saturday night dance.

The festival kicks off Friday night, with a dance at Lions Club Park featuring music played by DJ Richard Portillo. The dance begins at 8 p.m. and runs until midnight. For those that still have fresh legs after Friday’s dance, a basketball tournament is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at Presidio High School. A girls’ basketball tournament will follow on Sunday, also at the high school and beginning at 10 a.m. Contact Martin Cosio at the Huateque Sports Bar for more information or to sign your team up

At 11 a.m. Saturday, judging will begin in this year’s Onion Bake Off. There are six categories this year: appetizer, soup, entree, bread, dessert, and chile macho. Winners in all categories will receive a $50 gift certificate to a local grocery store. For the first time in the history of the festival, contestants will not be required to include onions in their dishes. The Chamber of Commerce feels that suspending the requirement will make the dessert category simpler than in the past, and spare the judges from tasting any bizarre concoctions such as onion cookies or onion pie.