This month has been a whirlwind of events surrounded by events preparing for the events. Meetings and meetings with community members, with City of Pasadena staff members, district staff members, and students. There have been countless- well, they could be counted, but I'm not going to count them - emails, phone calls and lists. Some in English, some in Spanish, and many in bureaucratese.
None of the above are the highlight of my experiences.
Not that anyone was unpleasant, but I don't revel in this sort of work.
Balancing all of the above was working with the following committee members:
Sandra Abarca, Rozanne Adanto, Kathee Hennigan Bautista, Kevin Bruce, Martha Camacho,
Javier Carbajal-Ramos, Carlos D. Carrillo, Rosa Cesaretti, Deisy Chilin, Jacqueline Chilin,
Sylvia Covarrubias, Christian Cruz, Rosy Cortes, Margarita Dominguez, Ofelia Cavazos Edmondson,
Liz Espinoza, Merrilee Fellows, James Grimes, Sandra M. Gutierrez, Catherine Haskett Hany,
Ruben Hueso, Jose Jimenez, Darlene Leyba, Jose Madera, Don Martinez, Blair Miller,
Leticia Montañez, Yuriko Montes, Gilberto Nañez, Patricia Navarro, Erika Peralta, Leslie Perez,
Hilda Ramirez Horvath, Stephanie Retana, Thelma T. Reyna, Soccoro N. Rocha,
Joyce Roys-Aguilera, Michael Sedano, Carmen Serrano, Connie de la Torre, Luis Torres,
Mary Urtecho Garcia, Christopher Villanueva, Tina Williams, Jacqueline Zavala, Michelle Zavala...
The teacher in me enjoyed watching them work with each other so that when 5 of our 7 vehicles were not functioning we could get 11 people including:
Latino Heritage board members
Grand Marshal, La Santa Cecilia
Honorary Grand Marshal, Dan Guerrero
State Senator, Carol Liu
Mayor, Bill Bogaard
Vice-Mayor, Jacque Robinson
Driver Scott and his son all on to a 1939 truck
Our parade entries varied from the PCC drumline
to the Puente and Unidos students of Marshall High School
and so many more groups that I'll post tomorrow on Latino Heritage blog and fb page.
They were 1,000 strong, marching and chanting with pride on the streets of Pasadena.
For me, this was also the last time that I'll be taking the lead in producing, there I've written it, the event with folks like Fatima and, my dear, dear bro, Kevin.
This last picture, is one of those I will most relish. All the charming young girls I'm seated with don't know who I am, but they mostly didn't mind my sitting with them.
And I'm betting that they didn't know a time when the Parade didn't exist.
They just assume it is.
And that's the way it should be.
You look beautiful, Roberta! It must have been a wonderful day, and you organized it - congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It was fun to go all out in purple. It was a great day. It has been a team effort for the last 15 years. Kevin has been there every year for the last 14 years.
DeleteMay each of these young girls bring their children and grandchildren to the Latino Heritage parade and jamaica in their own time. May it be for the future what you have given to us over the past fifteen years! It is a day to celebrate our wonderful history, culture and heritage. May each year in the future continue to be one in which the parade continues to exist! It is a day when each of us is latino/a! We are forever thankful to you, Roberta Martinez for this gift of joy! Abrazos-- Kathee
ReplyDeleteMay these young girls bring their children and grandchildren to the Latino Heritage parade and jamaica in their own time. May each coming year be one in which these events continue. What a pleasure to have a day in which we celebrate our history, our culture and our heritage! Thank you Roberta Martinez for this gift of joy! What a beautiful celebration you have given us! It is a gift of 15 years and a gift for the future!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it was a gorgeous day and everyone had a good time.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that drum line is the same one that played at the Christmas Tree Lane opening ceremony last year. If it is, I love them. Maybe even if it's not. I love the concept and the sound.
Will you please, some year, have the parade on a weekend when I'm in town and available? Just give me a call and we can schedule it.
It was a gorgeous day despite this having been a hot, hot day.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe they are the same. This is the PCC drumline.
Ah, this last Saturday was the last day I had a call on the date. This was the last time I was in the lead for coordinating the event.