Hoffman Esates celebrates tenth annual Unity Day

Irma Sanchez oozed nostalgia as she pointed to the stage filled with dancing children dressed in boots, cowboy hats, red plaid shirts, jeans and denim skirts.

"That's the kind of dance I did as a little girl back in Monterrey," she said to her 9-year-old daughter, Angeles, and husband, Francisco. "It's kind of like a Mexican polka."

The Sanchez family moved to Hoffman Estates from northern Mexico five years ago. For a few hours on Saturday, they were thrilled to get a little piece of home at the village's 10th annual Unity Day.

In addition to the Grupo Folklorico Quetzal Latino dancers, other entertainers taking the stage at Virginia Mary Hayter Village Green included a mariachi band, juggler, Vidya Babu Indian dancers, Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko Group drummers, Second Baptist Church of Elgin Choral Ensemble, Jesse White Tumblers and Mayer School of Irish Dance.

Chairing the free event was Pearl Henderson, a member of Hoffman Estates' Cultural Awareness Commission.

"A day like this gets the community together to celebrate our different heritages," Henderson said. "Hoffman Estates is a very diverse place."

According to census figures, about 30 percent of Hoffman Estates residents are minorities. Illustrating the diversity was a "Guess the Flags" contest. Participants walked about one-and-a-half miles along a path lined with 36 different flags representing the most common nationalities found in the village.

As an ESL teacher at Algonquin Lakes Elementary School, Julie Gall, of Hoffman Estates, is familiar with that diversity. Her students speak languages from Korean to African dialects.

"I don't think you can underestimate the value of exploring new languages and cultures," she said. "We can learn a lot from our neighbors."

More than 300 people attended last year's Unity Day event and the rare beautiful day - in addition to the tamales and Indian chicken - was expected to bring out even more.