La Luz Center. Tel: (707) 938-5131, Fax: (707) 996-1287
04.27.08 | Press Realease
Cinco de Mayo Poster Contest Winner Chosen

Musicians on stage play as a dancing couple swirl to the music on the poster announcing the upcoming Cinco de Mayo Fiesta for Education presented by La Luz Center, with support from KSVY Radio, on Sunday, May 4th in the Sonoma Plaza.

Lauren Johnson, a third grader at El Verano Elementary School, is the winning artist in La Luz Center’s annual poster contest. She will receive a framed copy of the poster, designed by Lynn Ross Graphic Design, a gift certificate from Readers’ books and other gifts.

The annual fiesta will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 4th, in the Sonoma Plaza, featuring music, dancing, food and games. The poster contest winner and runners up will be presented with awards at 2:00 p.m. in the Grinstead Amphitheater.

“Lauren’s painting is full of movement and color – conveying the feel we wanted for our fiesta, said Ellen LaBruce, Executive Director of La Luz. The children’s poster contest is a great way to get kids involved in Cinco, in which we celebrate our valley’s Mexican heritage and raise money for college scholarships. This year we have all new activities for children at this family event. There will be a costume contest with prizes for the most authentic Mexican outfits, face painting, candle making, a treasure hunt and other games.”

Six runners-up in the poster contest were Sofia Vitale and Maddie Cashel from Flowery; Creighton Rochlin from Sonoma Charter; Kerstin Steiger from Prestwood; Alonzo Carrillo from Dunbar and Sydney Shopoff from Woodland Star Charter. There were also two honorable mentions: Paige Knef from Prestwood and Rachel Shopoff from Woodland Star Charter. These students will receive a special printing of their artwork and a set of notecards that display their paintings. Posters and notecards will be on sale in the Plaza during the day of the Fiesta at the La Luz Booth.

All contest entries will be displayed in the children’s section of the Sonoma Valley Regional Library at 755 West Napa Street from April 28th through mid-May 30th.

For more information about the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta for Education, please call the La Luz office, 707-938-5131.


We are a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Sonoma Valley by insuring that immigrants to the Valley with limited resources have the opportunity to become productive members of our community.

Our office is located at 17560 Greger Street, Boyes Hot Springs, CA 95476. Our phone number is (707) 938-5131 and we are open Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm EST.