The Order of the Cascaron was born out of The Faces of Fiesta. 

 

In 1991, Fiesta San Antonio celebrated its centennial year.  As part of the 100th anniversary, the Fiesta Commission wanted to recognize the many volunteers who have given so generously to help make Fiesta one of the leading festivals in America.  Marsha Hendler secured the support of the San Antonio Express-News and created the Faces of Fiesta.  Each day for 100 days, The Express-News featured a Fiesta volunteer on its front page, highlighting their many contributions to Fiesta.  The Fiesta Commission invited all 100 individuals to participate in The People’s Parade, a Centennial kick-off event.

 

Robert W. “Bob” Carlson was so impressed with the event he wanted to make it a permanent part of Fiesta and as the 1992 Fiesta Commission President, he recommended the Fiesta Commission create The Order of the Cascaron.  Through the Order, the Fiesta Commission is able to recognize and honor those volunteers who have made singularly outstanding contributions to annual celebration, thus taking it to a higher level.  Nine charter recipients  were inducted in 1992:  Carol Canty, Nancy Clayton, Louis Engelke, Roger A. Flores II, James Gorman Jr., Bob Heckman, Naomi Russell-Wolfman, Logan Stewart and Maximo Virgil.   

 

The design for the Order’s medallion was created by Robert B. Sosa and was inspired in part by the 1984 official Fiesta poster, also designed by Sosa.  The posted shows balloons flying out of a broken cascaron. The asymmetrical medal depicts a yellow and green cascaron, or confetti-filled egg, on a blue and red background. The surface is enameled and the medal is worn on a ribbon placed over the honoree's shoulders.  The medallion design is also embroidered onto the distinctive red sashes, worn by Order of the Cascaron members.

 

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