Two days after more than 5,000 people attended the North Texas CHamoru Association’s DFW 81st Guam Liberation event at the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum on July 12, association founder Desiree Wolford and her team of volunteers were still cleaning up at her home in Frisco.
“I haven’t had a moment yet to sit,” Desiree said with a laugh during a phone interview on Monday when she had a spare moment in between washing dishes as it rained in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb. “It hasn’t sunk in yet that we just had this beautiful celebration.”
The daylong event was part Liberation commemoration, part cultural festival, complete with fiesta tables laden with traditional island foods including a roast pig, and dance performances by adults and children dressed in colorful island attire.
“It was phenomenal,” said Tracy Aaron-Thomas, president and CEO of Visit Cleburne and the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce. “It was a true experience of the culture. The laughter filled the air along with the dancing!”
To prepare for the performances, fafa’någue from the Marianas and the West Coast flew to Texas to teach the Texas CHamorus at a two-day workshop last Thursday and Friday. They included Eric Reyes of Guma’ Taotao Taga in Tinian, Rosemary Mantanona of Guma’ Imåhen Taotao Tåno in San Diego, Heidi Chargualaf-Quenga of Kutturan CHamoru Foundation in Long Beach, and Joel Larimer of Guma’ Imahe in Tacoma.
Tricia McDermott, who is now living in Texas and leads the group Ta Hita, provided shirts for the dancers who don’t belong to a guma, Desiree said, “so that every person had an opportunity to belong to one. That was so impactful. She made us feel like we belong to her now — everybody that cannot commit to a guma, she takes us in.”
And of course, no CHamoru gathering is complete without the fiesta table.
“If there’s anything about CHamorus, they will show up and show out” when it comes to food, Desiree said. The association received thousands of donations of chicken, ribs and more, including Tony Rosario’s donation of 100 pounds of rice. The kitchen and barbecue crews, led by Jesse Toves and Jason Toves, worked around the clock starting the day before.
“The food was magnificent,” said Carrie Murdoch, who manages the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum with her husband, David. “It was the biggest, most beautiful presentation of food. And everybody that came, they were showing up with dishes as well! I don’t know who made it, whoever made the cherry pie, but it was the best I've ever had in my life — that and the chicken — they smoked and cooked so much chicken — it was the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. I heard from other guests too that it was the best food they’ve ever had.”
The success of the event, especially with such a massive fiesta food, wouldn't have been possible without key support. In addition to the dozens of volunteers, the association is “extremely grateful” to the Murdochs for all their assistance, from arranging a parking shuttle on the day of the event to helping with setup and cleanup at the museum, Desiree said.
Their support was crucial, and the setting they provided was perfect for the event, she added.The 10-acre site features historical buildings and exhibits dedicated to the history of a famous cattle-driving route called the Chisholm Trail, and its 8 acres of outdoor space has been used for large gatherings such as Native American powwows. It’s the second year in a row that the Liberation fiesta has been held there.
That first year, in 2024, “was a magnificent event,” Carrie said. “Everybody talked about how friendly and warm the people of Guam are. They totally respect the land — they left the museum grounds immaculate after the event. The music, the opening ceremony, the dancing was so moving. I looked up and down at the city council members, the mayor — and even myself — there were just tears streaming down. It was something we had never experienced at an event before.”
So when it came to this year’s celebration, “we knew it was going to be that and so much more,” she said. This year’s attendance, which exceeded last year’s by 2,500, broke the record for the museum’s events — “the numbers were off the charts.”
‘You’re embraced by the culture’
But it wasn’t just the numbers that impressed her. “When the groups started arriving in town last Tuesday, it was like family. Just the warmth and kindness of all those involved from setup to cooks to vendors to everybody that came. It was just phenomenal, it's the best event we do here.
The board of directors agreed, if we only did one event a year, we would do this and nothing else, it is that good.”
Tracy of Visit Cleburne echoed her sentiments, recalling Saturday’s island atmosphere: “When you walk around, you can feel the peace and happiness coming from them and they share that.
… All day long, you walk around and you’re getting that true sense of how they are, it’s not a staged performance, you’re embraced by the culture.”
“That’s the biggest reason why we do this — so that our children don’t forget where they come from, they don’t forget about the Liberation of Guam and what it means to our people,” said Desiree, who has lived in Texas for 30 years while raising her family.
“I’m a mother of five, grandmother of 14 and great-grandmother to 1. I don’t know if my children or grandchildren … will ever be able to visit Guam, and we want them to know where they came from,” Desiree said in explaining why she founded the association and established the Liberation event. “We don’t want anyone to forget your culture, don’t forget where you come from … and it just evolved from there.”
How it started
Desiree actually has a long history with Guam’s historic celebration — back in 1981, she was Liberation Queen for Talo'fo'fo. Her mother was the singer Remedios Quinata Castro and her father was Jose Baza Toves; she was born in California but was raised on Guam since she was 2 years old and didn’t leave until she was 22.
She’s been living in Texas with her family for the last four decades, and established the Liberation celebration five years ago after being inspired by a young Chamorrita she knew.
“This young lady, Angela Sanchez Hale, had more faith in me than myself. They used to have an Inetnon CHamoru gathering in September or October, and I asked why we don’t do Liberation in July. They said it’s too hot — but it’s hot in Guam in July? That was in 2019.”
At the next meeting, Desiree brought up the suggestion again, saying “How will our children know about the liberation of Guam if we don’t teach it to them? On my way out the door, (Angela) stopped my hand and said, ‘If you do liberation I’ll support you all the way.’ But then she died that year, she died during COVID.
“When she died it ignited something in me — she taught me life is too short, and if you keep waiting for tomorrow it’ll never happen.”
‘It was the låncho’
So she worked with other supporters and started a Liberation gathering, which drew 200 people. The next year, attendance doubled to 400 and again in the third year to 800-plus. After that, “we looked at each other and said we have to move, we need a bigger venue,” Desiree said.
Carrie of the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum said that when the association first approached them about having the event there, “they said the land called to them.”
As Desiree described it, when she and her team first discovered it, the space reminded them of home. “It was as if you were looking at the ranch — it was the låncho. We said we can have it fiesta style underneath the canopy and gather everyone in one place.”
As it turned out, that "låncho" feeling wasn't just about the physical space. “People met their families there,” Desiree said. “Tony Mantonana met his sister’s daughter that he never met before, that was heartwarming. I knew that was why we were doing this, to connect people together.”