KANOPOLIS — Family, friends and former pastors braved the heat at St. Ignatius Loyola’s Annual Fiesta Saturday.

“Favorite moments include Fr. Basil Torrez coming to lunch,” said fiesta organizer Tomasa Cisneros.

Fr. Torrez originally grew up in Kanopolis, was one of the parish’s early pastors and is currently retired in Collyer.

Another former pastor, Fr. Don Zimmerman, Manhattan, stepped in when Bishop Jerry Vincke was unable to attend Mass.

“It was a special moment for me to look up and see the sanctuary full and reconnect with people,” fiesta organizer Bonnie Orozco said. “My niece and her family have come several years now from Kansas City. It made me smile to see her 3-year-old jump out of bed when I told her, ‘Today is fiesta day!’” “Aunt Tommie said her favorite memory was hearing all of the voices of her nieces singing the traditional Spanish hymns,” Cisneros said.

The heat hovered in the upper 90s as friends gathered for lunch, Mass and then an evening of more traditional Mexican food, as well as carnivalstyle games and bingo.

Cisneros and Orozco say the best part of the fiesta is the day of the event because family and friends from afar come back to visit.

Parishioners prepared 120 dozen tamales for the event. Of that, 115 dozen were sold during the fiesta, and five dozen were held in reserve for an upcoming parish event.

“While you can buy tacos and tostadas in lots of places now, no one has tamales and enchiladas like St. Ignatius,” Orozco said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons people keep coming back. They even buy in bulk to freeze and eat later. We take pre-orders for tamales for this reason.”

Greg Cisneros, Indianapolis, returned for the fiesta.

“When I was a kid, we came every year,” he said. His family lived in Ohio at the time, and they would make an annual trek to Kanopolis, his father’s hometown, for the event. “I haven’t been here in about three years,” he said. “I come back for the food — the tostadas with the hottest sauce possible. My aunts are in the kitchen, so it makes the food better.”

The fiesta is the parish’s primary fundraiser.

“We won’t have final figures on revenue until all the bills have come in,” Cisneros said.

“I will say that the Country Store exceeded previous years’ sales due to the donations of baked goods, jellies and vanilla, handmade baby blankets, quilts and crocheted items,” Orozco said.

In terms of food, the parish sold more than 65 dozen tacos more than 62 dozen tostadas.

“One long-standing tradition made a comeback this year: sno-cones!”

Orozco said. “It had been a favorite for many through the years.

Terrill Smith, told Pete Orozco, ‘Your dad sure loved the sno-cones.

Grape — he always asked for grape.’ Pete ran the sno-cone machine Saturday afternoon and evening.”

Another popular aspect of the fiesta is the raffle. More than 3,000 tickets were sold.

As the sun set, attendees of all ages sat down for many games of bingo. “People here do love bingo, and we have very generous donors in our local community for the prizes,” Orozco said.

“This is what the fiesta is all about — good times, good food, family and friends.”