Kids day draws crowd in Aurora

It was a day to celebrate children in Aurora.

But for 9-year-old Siomara Burciaga, Saturday's annual "El Dia de los Ninos" was a day to kick some booty in the ring.

The Aurora girl joined about 20 youth fighters in an afternoon exhibition at the Aurora Transportation Center. Youth boxing clubs from Elgin, Harvey and Chicago planned to be in attendance.

"I just started practicing six months ago," Siomara said during a break from shadow boxing with her 14-year-old cousin, John Lino. "I really like hitting the pads."

Boxing was just one of several activities planned for Saturday's event, which is organized by the city's Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board. Despite rain that persisted throughout the afternoon, organizers welcomed hundreds of families who took in dance and singing performances, rode carnival rides and perused some of the vendors stationed on the grounds.

"As you can see, the weather hasn't affected us all that much," Cynthia Hernandez, chair of the city's heritage council, said of the families who were filing into the grounds.

Among the performers waiting to get up on the festival's main stage was 10-year-old Anthony Hernandez. Dressed in a button-down shirt, jeans and donning a cowboy hat, the fourth-grader at Annunciation Catholic School planned to sing a John Denver tune, "Annie's Song."

"I don't really get nervous anymore when I go on stage," Anthony said. "I've done a lot of this stuff at school, too."

Proceeds from Saturday's event will be used for a scholarship fund for area high school and college students, Hernandez said.