Most of the spread has come in the 1990s. Hispanic populations doubled in Arkansas and Nevada. Advertisements on store windows, radio, television and in the Lexington Herald-Leader are likely to be in Spanish as well as English. It includes a Spanish broadcast of psychologist Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. About twice a month on Sunday nights in Lexington, the sounds of popular Mexican recording artists waft from the Continental Inn, while as many as 400 people dance.
Whole families come, bringing toddlers and infants.
The popularity of the Cinco de Mayo celebration in Lexington follows the lead of other American cities where celebrations of Mexican festivals are becoming large public events. In Clinton, N.C., for example, the march for La Virgen de Guadalupe is a major event. In Lexington, Neb., the Cinco de Mayo picnic draws more people than the Fourth of July event. Some of these towns went from less than 10 percent to 50 percent Hispanic in less than a decade. But not all the change is smooth or celebrative.