SAN ANTONIO (June 29, 2020) – As the Fiesta San Antonio Commission prepares for Fall Fiesta 2020, postponed from April to November due to COVID-19, its Participating Member Organizations have elected Officers to serve through Fiesta 2021 in April.
Baltazar (Walter) Serna, Jr., of the Law Offices of Serna & Serna, has served as Treasurer, Vice President, Senior Vice President and most recently as President-Elect of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission. Prior to that, he served as Regent for the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation from 2011 to 2016 and as Rey Feo LXII in 2010. His civic service includes the City of San Antonio 16 de Septiembre Commission, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan Planning Organization, VIA, and Alamo Regional Mobility Authority. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Rey Feo Consejo organization and Lone Star National Bank.
“As we prepare for the 130th Fiesta San Antonio next April, I am honored to serve with this outstanding team of officers,” said Walter Serna, President. “These unusual times only accentuate how important Fiesta is to all of San Antonio – even more than the $340 million economic impact, it’s how we come together every year to celebrate what we have in common and what makes us different.”
In addition to Mr. Serna as President, the following officers were elected to serve one-year terms beginning July 1, 2020, and ending May 31, 2021, as they are charged with leading Fiesta San Antonio 2021:
President-Elect: COL (Ret) Jon Fristoe retired from the U.S. Army at the rank of Colonel in 2015 and is co-founder of Double Eagle Innovations, LLC. COL Fristoe joined the Fiesta San Antonio Commission in 2013 and is now a Lifetime Member who has served as Elected Commissioner, Secretary, Vice President and Senior Vice President, as well as Chair of the Accreditation, Technology, Membership, Fiesta Verde, and Bylaws Committees. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation, where he also served as Rey Feo Consejo Military Minister, and the Conservation Society of San Antonio, where he was a member of the Bylaws Committee and Chair of the Junior Associates. COL Fristoe is set to become the first military retiree to become president of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission.
Senior Vice President: John Meyer most recently served as Commission Vice President, and also served as Presidential Appointee to the Fiesta Commission Executive Committee for Fiesta 2018, as Chair of the Host Committee in 2019, and as an Elected Commissioner. He has held various leadership roles as a member of the Texas Cavaliers, the Order of the Alamo and the San Antonio German Club, and served as Night Aide to King Antonio in 2011. He is a former President of the Alamo Kiwanis Club and has served on the boards and in committee leadership roles for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio, Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, and San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries.
Vice President: Roger O. Flores is a former City of San Antonio District 1 Councilman currently serving as Secretary of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission. He is a member of the Texas Cavaliers and the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation. Roger’s father, Roger Flores, was President of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission in 1989, and his mother, Vangie Flores, served as President in 2012.
Vice President: Richard Sparr leads the Sparr Law Firm and was King Antonio for Fiesta 2018 after a long series of leadership positions with the Texas Cavaliers. He most recently served as Fiesta San Antonio Commission Treasurer, after serving as an Elected Commissioner. Mr. Sparr has served as president of the Alamo Kiwanis Club, the Town Club and San Antonio Young Lawyers, as well as board positions with the March of Dimes and The Witte.
Secretary: Ferne Burney is the outgoing President of The Woman’s Club of San Antonio, one of the founding participating member organizations of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, and has represented the Woman’s Club on the Fiesta Commission Executive Committee for the past two years. Ms. Burney is also a member of the Military-Civilian Club and has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio, the Monticello Park Neighborhood Association and Incarnate Word High School.
Treasurer: David Christian, partner in the law firm of Casillas and Christian, most recently served as Elected Commissioner of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission. He is a member of the Texas Cavaliers and has served on the boards of the Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation and Brooks Development Authority.
The Fiesta Commission membership has also selected 10 new Elected Commissioners, each with years of service to Fiesta-related organizations, to serve three-year terms ending in May 2023:
• Irma Iris Duran de Rodriguez
• Everett Fly
• Charlie Garza
• Dennis Gutzman
• Elizabeth M. Jauer
• Holly Jones
• Deborah Long-Shirley
• Jim Mery
• Mari Sandoval
• Denise Thieme
The 2020 Fiesta San Antonio will take place November 5-15, 2020, and Fiesta 2021 is April 15-25, 2021.
By Paige Wolf, Director of Communications
