Rosas’ honored to be San Miguel’s Fiesta royalty

Their faith journey at San Miguel is more than half century old.

This year’s San Miguel Fiesta Royalty, Reyes and Rose Mary Rosas, were married at a young age at San Miguel and have been married for 54 years.

“We were brought up by our parents in the Catholic religion,” said Rose Mary. “I remember to this day that we sat in the same pew Sunday after Sunday. And today, if the pew is open, that’s where we like to sit.”

Rose Mary and her husband, both received all our sacraments at San Miguel Church. They also served as Mayordomos of the San Antonio Church in Alamillo, N.M. for more than three years and also were members of the San Miguel Choir for the 8 a.m. Mass.

“Upon my retirement, I was interviewed with the local newspaper and at that time, when I was asked what I planned for after I retired and my answer was that I planned to volunteer at San Miguel Church,” said Reyes.

Reyes didn’t know at the time, his wife had plans for his retirement. “It didn’t take very long and before we knew it, we volunteered as co-chairpersons with the Fiestas.

It was a tradition back then to have a Chairman and Co-Chairman,” said Rose Mary. “We were there not only to help out the Chairmans with the planning, but also to learn about Fiesta planning for the following year, when we would then become Chairmans.”

After a few years of learning, Reyes and Rose Mary became the Chairmans and remained chairpersons for about six more years.

“It involved a lot of hard work and dedication, but thanks to the community, the Fiestas always turned out to be a great success,” she said. “One of our biggest endeavors as Chairman was when we were asked by our Pastor (Fr. Domingo) to get together with the City and have the Fiestas over at the City Plaza on a trial basis.

This took lots of hard work as we had to travel back and forth from the church to the City Plaza. It was very successful but not too popular with some of the parishioners, so the following year it was moved back to the San Miguel Fiesta grounds.”

The Senior King and Queen became a tradition when the Reyes’ were Chairmans. It was originally set up for couples who celebrated 50 years of marriage and were active participating members of the church. “We felt that that was one way to acknowledge these couples,” she said. “It was a blessing indeed.”

Preparing for Fiestas starts early during the month of June. Committees need to be set up for each booth. Rose Mary said everyone works together as a team to get their booth ready for Fiestas. Then there is contracting entertainment, getting raffle tickets made, getting the BBQ set up as well as getting donations for the booths, setting up and taking down booths.

“The volunteers who sign up for the Fiestas work very hard to get it all ready,” she said.

When Rose Mary received the call about being selected as the King and Queen for this year’s fiesta, she was asked by Annie Anaya, if she was sitting down.

She asked Anaya, “Did I win a million dollars?”

The news was better when she was told she and Reyes had been selected by the Fiesta committee to be this year’s Fiesta King and Queen. She described it as a blessing far better than winning the lottery.

“It brought tears to my eyes after we hung up on the phone,” Rose Mary said.

Today, Rose Mary still helps out during the Fiestas in one of the food booths. The same food booth where she first started to volunteer.

“Reyes and I fully believe that you must keep your faith at all times, through the good times and the bad times,” Rose Mary said. “We learned that as children with our parents, continued it with our two sons and also with our four grandchildren. They do not live in Socorro anymore, but they still practice their faith in their own parishes. My grandchildren have also come down to help during the Fiestas. It’s a family thing and we have done it for years. We thank God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon our family.”

In 2019, Reyes was involved in a terrible accident which almost claimed his life. With prayers from the church, our pastor, our community and our deep faith in God, he is with us today, Rose Mary said.

Volunteers are a major factor of the church. Rose Mary and her husband, Reyes, said they were beyond blessed to have been part of this for so many years. “It has connected us to our community, and we are more than thrilled to be this year’s San Miguel Fiesta’s King and Queen.”