ROGERS : Wal-Mart brings 3 Kings to stores
Posted on Sunday, January 4, 2009
ROGERS - The approaching Three Kings Day holiday was as exciting as the American countdown to Santa Claus' visit on Christmas for Rafael Nieves while growing up in Mexico.
So, the Rogers resident was delighted to learn his local Wal-Mart Supercenter was among 480 Wal-Marts nationwide hosting celebrations of the Hispanic-themed holiday, which is Tuesday this year.
In Arkansas, the only other celebrations were this weekend at stores in Springdale and Little Rock.
Saturday morning, the Nieves family headed to the Walnut Street store to see the visit of the Three Kings.
Much like department-store Santas, the kings - Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar - were on hand to have their photographs made with children and a few fun-loving adults, too.
Nieves, wife, Patricia, and sons Emmanuel, 9, and Eduardo, 5, were among families who turned out for the event.
"He remembers growing up, the anticipation of the Three Kings was something he looked forward to," said a translator and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesman, Lorenzo Lopez, relating the recollections of Rafael Nieves, who speaks Spanish.
"It's a tradition they've practiced for generations."
The Three Kings Day tradition is celebrated in Spain and Latin America.
Although celebrations differ from region to region and country to country as far as customs, Jan. 6 is the officially recognized day of the Christian holiday of the Epiphany, Lopez said.
The story behind this involves the visit by the Three Kings, who followed a star by night to bring gifts to the newborn Jesus.
The Nieveses originally came from the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
Their custom involved the Three Kings bringing gifts on the eve of the holiday.
Then on Jan. 6, they eat sweet Rosca de Reyes, also known as "Kings Cake," and drink hot chocolate.
In some cultures, a plastic toy baby Jesus is embedded in the oval ring cake, and whoever gets the toy is responsible for bringing tamales to the Feb. 2 celebration of the Candelaria, which marks the end of the Epiphany. For the Nieveses, the cake contains three toy babies - tres the fun.
Similar king cake traditions are celebrated in Louisiana, France and elsewhere.
After having their photos taken with the kings by an official Wal-Mart photographer, the Nieves family and others were told they could pick up their prints at the store's onehour photo shop.
Besides the kings' visit to the Rogers store Saturday and a scheduled Saturday visit to the Base Line Road store in Little Rock, their other Arkansas visit will occur from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 2004 S. Pleasant St. in Springdale.
Some Wal-Mart stores are offering the Rosca de Reyes bread.
On Saturday, the large rings of sweet bread could be seen in a large display case in the bakery section and in the carts of shoppers like Nieves Sanchez.
Sanchez, who is from Seville, Spain, now lives in Bentonville with her husband, David Kopsch. They brought their son David Kopsch-Sanchez Jr., 3, out Saturday.
"In Spain, she says they have the rosca, but it's filled with whipped cream," translator Lopez said after a short conversation with Sanchez. During the celebration, whoever gets the little prize baked into the rosca, "It's their job to bring the rosca the following year," Lopez continued.
Lopez has his own take on the Three Kings celebration. Born in the United States to a family of Cuban-American heritage, his family moved to the U.S. territory of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico when he was 8 years old.
"In Puerto Rico, we leave grass for the camels," Lopez said, adding it's similar to American children's tradition of leaving cookies and milk for Santa, only this tradition focuses on the Three Kings' transportation and not the kings themselves.
In some other countries, the kings do get their own presents.
"In Spain and Argentina and Uruguay, children will leave shoes ready for the kings before they go to bed," Lopez said.
The kings leave presents for children in countries where Three Kings is observed as a gift-giving holiday - and in some cases adults get presents, too - but in other countries it is observed more as a religious celebration.
Three Kings is not to be confused with another Hispanic holiday known as Las Posadas that typically occurs in December, said Yvette Ortiz of Los Angeles, a team leader for Wal-Mart vendor Marketration Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif., as she snapped her own photos of families and the Three Kings.
"My family also, they celebrate this tradition," Ortiz said of her parents, Anita and Edmundo Campos of Los Angeles. "My mom, she's carried it on for years."
For Three Kings, some cultures give gifts only on Jan. 6, while others give gifts in the 12 days running from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6, Ortiz said.
The Posadas is a celebration of the preparation for the birth of Jesus, she said.
"In Puerto Rico, both holidays are gift-giving holidays," Lopez said.
Children still have time to write letters to the Three Kings, especially if they use a postcard template available by logging on to www.AhorraMasViveMejor.com.
The Wal-Mart Web site, with selections in Spanish and English, also provides more information on the holiday traditions, the rosca and on the Three Kings' visits to the 480 stores nationwide.
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