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E-mail StoryDelano elevates Chavez to 'national holiday'; let the party begin!
| Thursday, Mar 27 2008 6:20 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Mar 28 2008 10:53 AM
Delano city employees used to get all of Good Friday off until this year.
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What: Inaugural Cesar Chavez Celebration
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (march begins at 11 a.m.)
Where: Cecil Avenue Park, corner of Cecil Avenue and Norwalk Street in Delano
Photos:
Labor leader Cesar Chavez (Photo courtesy of Victor Aleman)
Grace Vallejo, mayor of Delano
Local Latin jazz/rock band Velorio: from left are Jorge Urbina, Alex Lopez, Alvaro Caceres, Benjamin Gomez, Eric Powers, Evan Ware and Jallah Koiyan. The band is playing at Delano's Chavez festival.
“They gave up half of what they’ve always gotten so they could get all of Cesar Chavez Day off,” said Delano Mayor Grace Vallejo.
Friday, for the first time ever, Vallejo said, Delano city offices are closed in honor of the labor leader and civil rights activist, whose birthday is Monday.
“Here in Delano it is considered a national holiday now,” said Carla Lapadula, a Delano resident for more than 30 years. “The city closes down everything. I think it’s well deserved. It only makes sense to have it because Cesar did wonderful things for the farmworkers.”
In the tradition of Chavez’s hardball negotiations on behalf of the UFW, members of Service Employees International Union Local 521 negotiated with the city to get Cesar Chavez Day off, said Aimee Barajas, communications specialist with Local 521. In exchange, they now work Good Friday morning.
“Obviously, Cesar Chavez Day is just as important to them,” Barajas said. “Delano is where the United Farm Workers movement started. Cesar Chavez celebrated Delano and Delano’s people. He fought for their rights, the rights of workers, so they would be respected and paid a fair wage.”
Vallejo, Delano’s mayor since December, said Local 521 is made up primarily of City Hall, local parks and recreation and corporation yard employees.
“It was very moving to see that the employees felt so strong about what has happened here in the community all these years,” she said. “The type of negotiations they did were recognized by the city officials, and those are true negotiations in my opinion.”
She said local police department and correctional facilities will continue to operate today.
On Sunday, with fanfare that includes a march, musical performances and speeches by local leaders, the whole city will celebrate Chavez.
Cecil Avenue Park, on the corner of Cecil and Norwalk Street, will be the focal point of the all-day celebration. Highlights include:
— A welcome by Mayor Vallejo and Dolores Huerta, who in the early 1960s co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, now called the United Farm Workers, together with Chavez. Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio also is expected at the event, according to a UFW press release.
— A march through town.
— Live music by Bakersfield Latin jazz-rock group Velorio and mariachi singer Rene Infante, son of legendary Mexican singer/actor Pedro Infante, who is sometimes referred to as “Mexico’s Frank Sinatra.”
— A carnival-like atmosphere for kids. Vendors will sell food, drinks, and arts and crafts. Lapadula is a proud vendor organizer for the event, she said.
A hero to farmworkers and Hispanic immigrants, among others, Chavez was born in Yuma, Ariz., on March 31, 1927. He is remembered for taking such drastic measures to improve the working conditions of farm laborers as participating in numerous fasts and leading a famous farmworker march from Delano to Sacramento in the mid-1960s.
Chavez died April 23, 1993, when he was 66.
BAKERSFIELD TO MARK BIRTHDAY
Bakersfield will have its own celebration in honor of Cesar Chavez from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The second annual Cesar E. Chavez Music Festival, sponsored by hip-hop radio Play 103.9 FM, will rock the crowds at College Park on Mount Vernon Avenue and Panorama Drive, across from Bakersfield College.
“I personally feel that Cesar Chavez had an impact for everybody, especially in Central California,” said Adlai (DJ D-Lay) Wilson, who is hosting the event again this year.
“I think this is a way for our radio station — we’re a pro-education, pro-community radio station — to give back to the community by bringing their favorite artists to them and get together to have a good time, but also remember Cesar Chavez.”
Performers and presenters, according to Wilson, include:
— Dance groups Maximum Velocity and Eclipse.
— Latino hip-hop artist Mr. Capone-E and Filipino hip-hop artist Roscoe Umali.
— Kern County students from various schools, who will be doing presentations on Chavez’s life, Wilson said.
— DJ Felli Fel from popular Power 106 FM radio in Los Angeles.
— Latino R&B artist Brown Boy and R&B artist James Cappra Jr.
The festival is free and open to the public. People are encouraged to bring their own lunch and non-alcoholic beverages, Wilson said, as this is an alcohol-free event, and blankets for sitting on the grass.