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The best way to win a contest is to be the only competitor to show up.

Fred Aragon of Grand Junction was the winner and only competitor Saturday in the zoot suit contest that was part of the Latin-Anglo Alliance Foundation’s 26th annual Cinco de Mayo Festival downtown.

“I had to give it a shot,” Aragon said with a smile.

Dressed in a crisp black-on-black, striped suit, Aragon proudly carried around his nearly 2-foot-high, gold-and-pink trophy for all to see. He smiled, posed and shook the hands of friends who walked by.

“I was hoping for a bigger one,” Aragon said jokingly about the trophy.

A zoot suit is high-waisted trousers paired with a long coat and topped off with a felt hat. Aragon also wore wing-tip shoes.

He said his wife told him he’d embarrass himself by entering the contest, but lo and behold, he won. She was happy he entered in the end.

Aragon said he purchased the suit in San Antonio. He plans to display the trophy in his house next to his model cars. That trophy will be the first thing he sees when he walks in the room, he said.

“First place, mind you,” Aragon said. “Not second, not third.”

There were plenty of other contests and events during the Cinco de Mayo festival. Jason Manzanares, emcee of the car show stage, said the turnout was “excellent.”

Six people entered the jalapeno eating contest, in which contestants had to eat as many jalapenos as they could in 20 minutes. First place won free beer all day from the beer tent, plus $100 and a CD.

Spectators stared at the contestants’ reddening faces, although winner Curtis L. Cummings, who ate 11 spicy peppers, barely broke a sweat.

When asked on stage what his jalapeno eating secret was, the crowd hushed in anticipation of his response.

“Eating them for breakfast with my eggs,” Cummings replied.

People walked back and forth across Main Street between stages to see the traditional dancers, young singers, vendor booths and the hopping low-rider car demonstration produced by the Solo Car Club. Saturday night’s activities included the annual street dance with New Mexico performer Bryan Olivas.

The Latin-Anglo Alliance awarded education scholarships to nine area students. Winners were Diana Loya, Norma Treto, Shaneille Robles, Alexander Rodriguez, Joseph Trujillo, Jose Cervantes, Martin Medina, Liliana Gutierrez and Carolina Rodriguez.

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