A total of 22 candidacies are facing this Friday to become the Perlé de Honor of this edition, within the different categories established. A few days ago, the members of the Carnival Commission were in charge of the secret voting, which will be revealed this Friday during the inauguration events of Carnival 2024. Before that, let’s get to know the nominees a little better:
* JESÚS CARNAVALES AMBIT
– AMPA ‘Padre Zegri’ of the Colegio Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes: For their work in the development of our Carnival, tirelessly involved in the development of the children’s parade on Friday, ensuring that between 120 and 150 students participate with the same theme and costume design, promoting a sense of community and belonging. With their activity during Carnival, they have contributed to strengthening the bonds and connection of the children with the most important celebration in our town.
– Los Traviesos: A carnival reference since 2002, animating the parades and the Offertory, and organizing various cultural and festive activities in the town. In recent years, they have taken the idiosyncrasy of the Herencia Carnival to various towns such as Villarrobledo, Quintanar de la Orden, or Socuéllamos, becoming a reference for our Carnival.
– Mari Paz Röhr: In March of 2000, already retired, she returned to Herencia from where her mother’s family was originally from and since then, she recovered the lost carnivals. She has become a classic of Carnival. Since 2001, she has actively participated in all the events of this celebration, giving her all. In addition, Mari Paz is a person who participates in all cultural and social activities in the town and is always available to collaborate in whatever is asked of her.
ASSOCIATIVE-HUMANITARIAN AMBIT
– Juvenile Association Aktive Kosmos: A non-profit organization, born to meet the needs of young people and provide them with services for their personal, professional, social, and cultural growth, betting on training and personal enrichment. Their work is based on the participation and organization of projects and workshops focused on gender education and feminism, education for social change, accessibility in sports, international mobility, linguistic competence, and cultural exchange. Therefore, since 2017, they have been carrying out these projects in our town, collaborating with other associations and people to expand the impact and repercussion. They have had five international Erasmus plus projects, participating in more than 200 youth exchanges and training courses.
– Venerable Third Order and Brotherhood of the Most Holy Virgin of the Mercedes: In 2024, we witness the commemoration of the 300 years of its official foundation, making it the oldest brotherhood in Herencia. It is indissolubly linked to the history of the town, as its members have kept alive over the centuries the devotion to the Virgin of the Mercedes and the traditions linked to the worship of the image and the feasts celebrated in her honor. The Brotherhood has known how to adapt to the new times, consolidating new traditions such as the Devotional Floral Offering or the Way of the Redemption.
– Friends of the Plato Grande Association: This club has stood out significantly, not only for its performance in competitions, but also for its positive impact on the community. It was created in 2008, although it has been showing its passion for cycling for over 20 years. Its members have participated in numerous competitions, achieving not only podiums, but also inspiring others with their dedication and outstanding effort. They currently organize 3 annual events to promote an active and healthy lifestyle. In 2019, they created their own cycling school in which the youngest people enjoy this great sport. Currently, there are more than 40 members who enjoy and promote this sport.
– Marisa Moraleda Sanz and Germán López-Sepúlveda Gómez-Calcerrada: A couple who, together and separately, represent the values of effort, solidarity, empathy, and respect. They participate selflessly in the cultural, social, artistic, and educational organizations and groups of Herencia, getting involved in the social and cultural life. Among other activities, they are founders of the group ‘Bosco’, an a cappella choir, which offers free concerts to promote sacred and medieval music. They are members of different reading groups, the local hiking group, the feminist association ‘Herencia de Mujeres’, or volunteers in social activism.
SOCIAL-LABOR AMBIT
– Leandro Montes Hardware Store: A trade and services company that has managed to endure over the years, offering a variety of items that meet the needs in different areas of transformation, provision, and maintenance of industrial and agricultural machinery, as well as being a pioneer in the distribution and maintenance of the first basic mobility elements such as bicycles and mopeds, and bringing small machinery to facilitate agricultural work. It has always been a very important support for DIY and locksmith work, as well as the contribution of the distribution of small appliances and household items. It is currently in a state of second generational succession.
– Jabali Gastro Gin: For its years of trajectory, passing from parents to children and offering good hospitality services to the townspeople.
– Artisan Sausages from the town: It starts four generations ago dedicating itself first to the buying and selling of livestock and meat, and then selling the livestock in the town’s market square. Later, they opened two butcher shops with their two sons. Remigio started his project in 1968 and his son started collaborating and learning with his father about meat and sausages from the age of 12, leading to the desire to sell the product outside the town. As a result, in 2014 his brother joined the project and they created the company ‘Artisan Sausages from the Town’, starting their journey in the wholesale trade sector. They have 14 employees. They are an example of business growth due to the high demand for their product, which has led them to be in the process of building a new factory in the industrial estate. Additionally, they are dedicated to the social, cultural, and sporting fabric of the town by sponsoring different disciplines and collaborating and getting involved in various sporting and social events in the municipality.
– Pérez Churrería: A family business originating from a traditional and emblematic one, represented in its 4th generation by Felipe Pérez, which has been able to evolve by taking advantage of generational change to innovate without losing the craftsmanship essence, reinventing itself and adding value to typical products from our town such as churros, porras, flowers, rosca utrera, or potato chips. Not forgetting that these products are present on the shelves of the main large supermarkets, reaching national and international consumers.
– Oviheren Meats: Born in 2013 with the union of two sheep farms to obtain a fair price for the sale of their milk-fed lambs. Both farms are extensive, where the animals graze daily in natural parks of the wetlands of La Mancha, promoting biodiversity and caring for the environment, forming the natural feed of the lambs. Oviheren only markets meat from its own livestock. Currently, it is a reference in the regional primary sector thanks to its meat products from suckling, recental, and pascual lamb, Manchego cheese, made with the milk of their sheep, and saffron collected and selected flower by flower.
– Frutoplan: A family horticultural company founded in 1992 with the aim of meeting the needs of professionals in the agricultural sector throughout our region. Its activity is mainly focused on the production of plants for agriculture. With a combination of quality and service, they offer their clients the greatest profitability in their harvest. They have large capacity production facilities and the best quality of seeds. Innovation, which bets on the development of the primary sector.
– Pedro Martín-Barrajón Corrales: Born in 1943 and beginning of his working life were in the field, planting and plowing with mules and becoming a pioneer of the tractor by acquiring an EBRO Super 55. As a testament to his innovative capacity and experience, he participated in numerous plowing contests, winning numerous awards. His career in agricultural activity makes him a social and economic reference, as he has the best machinery for the services he provides. His entrepreneurial capacity led him to start the activity of buying and selling manure, and currently has four trucks that work serving numerous farms and farmers throughout the region, being a leading company in the sector, despite his 81 years.
SOCIAL-CULTURAL AMBIT
– María del Señor Fernández-Amaro Díaz-Pavón: From a very young age, she was fascinated by the world of the arts and demonstrated it when at 18 she went to Valencia for 10 years to study Fine Arts and then doing a Master’s in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets, specializing in the restoration of polychrome wood sculptures and archaeological and ceramic materials. She worked at the Restoration Institute at the Polytechnic University, and in 2016 she returned to Herencia to open her own workshop, which she combines with making artistic works modeled in clay, drawing, and painting. Some of the works in which she has intervened in these years have been in the Main Altarpiece of the Church of the Assumption in Guadalajara, the Holy Sacristy of Santo Domingo de la Calzada de Alcorcón, Andas de San José, the sculpture of San Juan Evangelista, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, or the Holy Christ of Consuelo, among many others in our municipality.
– Gabriel Molina Prados Association: It emerged from the interest of a group of musicians to try to give the Music School the cultural space it deserves. After an agreement with the City Council to manage this cultural service, it started with 45 students and currently has 140. It is worth highlighting the collaboration in educational concerts or with symphony orchestras such as that of Castilla-La Mancha, or with musicians from the Vienna Opera, bringing music in different ways, so that the students of the center have an extra incentive.
– Fátima Martín del Campo Jiménez-Ortiz: Her motto ‘Dancing is a way of making poetry with the body’. She has been a dance teacher at the Ntra. Sra. de la Merced School and in Campo de Criptana. For over 12 years, she has been responsible for some of the choreographies of the Peña Axonsou directing various groups. She creates choreographies and dances for the various races and solidarity events in the town, showing great empathy and generosity, as well as participating in fair openings, Carnival, Christmas galas, or dance workshops. In recent years, she has been an active dance and body training teacher in the Municipal Sports Schools, transmitting dance as a tool to escape from everyday problems to all its participants.
– José Antonio Fernández-Baíllo: A self-taught amateur photographer who has made photography his therapy. He is generous and shares everything he discovers about Herencia and its people through pages like herencia.info about the history of Herencia, his profiles on social networks Herencia2000 with moments, landscapes, and daily activities, restores old photographs, or collaborates annually with the Carpe Diem Center in the annual production of the calendar. We can say that his photographic eye makes visible everything he captures, putting special emphasis on his main protagonist, Herencia and its people.
– Catechist Group of the Immaculate Conception Parish: For their work in evangelizing children and young people, giving everything without expecting anything in return, setting aside their chores, but with the satisfaction of giving and carrying the Christian view. A task they perform on a weekly basis, and they get involved in activities such as meetings or prayer workshops, representing a great educational tool.
– Yolanda Portillo: A singer and songwriter who has had a distinctive and candid voice since she was very young, and which has allowed her to be part of tours with top artists such as Manuel Carrasco, Mónica Molina, or José Merce. In 2006 she released her first album, and in 2015 she made her first role as a voice actress and since then, she has been the voice of various actresses in films and series. This artist’s life is unstoppable with compositions such as Silencio, Lienzo de Colores, or Respirar.
– Cis Adar: A group of Catholic religious music formed by the marriage of Miguel García-Parrado and Mariavi Díaz-Pavón. It is a musical evangelization project. With a trajectory of almost 15 years, they have seven albums on the market, in addition to receiving different awards and participating in numerous music and evangelization courses. They have performed numerous times throughout the country and have received international recognition.
– Eduvigis García-Botijas García-Villacañas: Born in 1955, she showed her interest in dance and music from a young age, and at 15, she joined the Women’s Section group, which soon became the Folklore Group of Herencia, where she would learn to dance in 1971. Her family life kept her away for a few years, but in 1993, she returned and started teaching the new generations. Since then, in collaboration with Mercedes Naranjo, another of the monitors and within the Popular University, they do not stop participating in events and contests with the boys and girls. Now retired, Edu continues to be a member and trainer of the Herencia Folklore Group.
Spanish post in Los ganadores de los Perlés de Honor se darán a conocer en la inauguración del Carnaval
