Del Rio Grande 0517

MAY 2017

MARIA MARTINEZ BFCU’s President/CEO wins national award

GRANJA LA NEGRA Organic farmer continues family traditions

UNIQUE ANTIQUE Couple transforms vintage furniture into modern art

Empowering Women

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Celebrating moms and strong women GRANDE / MAY 2017

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GRANDE / MAY 2017

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FROM THE EDITOR

MOTHER’S DAY

GENERAL MANAGER/ ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sandra Castillo INTERIM EDITOR Karen Gleason WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Karen Gleason Brian Argabright Bonita Santillan Megan Tackett Albert Treviño SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: Diana Vela - DV Photography ADVERTISING Ashley Lopez Selene Rodriguez EDITORIAL karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 300 ADVERTISING sandra.castillo@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 245 STORY IDEAS karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com

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Del Rio Grande is published by the Del Rio News-Herald.

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his photo was taken 34 years ago, in the spring of 1983, two months after I became a mom. The little guy is Tim, whom I often call “The Boy,” and he is now 34 and living his own big life in Dallas.

I didn’t realize until many years after this picture was taken that there is no work I have done or will ever do that is more lasting or more important than being this child’s mother.

As an adopted child, I was the daughter of two mothers – the woman who gave birth to me, Carlene Swan, and my Mama, Marianne Zenner. But I am also the product of the guiding hands and life lessons of many other strong, wise and generous, women, especially my late mother-in-law, Lois Gleason.

Since Mother’s Day falls in May, we here at Grande wanted to honor the lives and work of mothers and strong women in our community.

We’d like you to meet Maria Martinez, wife, mother and president/CEO of Border Federal Credit Union, whose simple life philosophy of doing good and working hard has allowed her to realize the real American dream.

Congratulations on your award!

We have two other Marias for you this month: Maria Onofre-Silva, mom and organic farmer, and Maria Mayfield, who still serves up delicious meals to her “kids,” Del Rio’s ballplayers and their families.

Two other strong moms we feature this month are the savvy and always stylish Laura Rojas, the focus of this month’s Closet Confidential, and Gabi Mendez, whose drive and passion are reflected on this month cover and in her gym downtown. • Happy Mother’s Day!

Karen Gleason Grande Interim Editor

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CONTENTS

MAY 2017

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CLOSET CONFIDENTIAL

Organic farmer feeds her family

WILDFLOWERS FOR MOTHER’S DAY

Top Realtor Laura Rojas’ savvy style

GRANJA LA NEGRA

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April showers bring Mom’s day flowers

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FASHIONABLE FAMILY

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UNIQUE ANTIQUE

Moms, kids model spring styles

BASEBALL’S GEM

24 TOP PICKS

Fans flock for Mayfields’ food

Dusty treasures find new home

10 GIRL POWER

Mother’s day gifts made easy

Gabi Mendez on our cover

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12 EMPOWERING WOMEN City Planner Janice Pokrant keeps her eye on the future

MARIA MARTINEZ The power of good works

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OUT THERE Paddling on the Devils River with Amistad Expeditions

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FACES OF DEL RIO Mother’s Day 2017

ON THE COVER: Gabi Mendez. mother and owner/operator of The Body Factory, 765 S. Main St., offers her own interpretation of the famous World War II-era “Rosie the Riveter” poster “Rosie,” whose catchphrase was “We Can Do It,” became the embodiment of women taking care of business. Photo by Karen Gleason.

GRANDE / MAY 2017

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LAURA ROJAS

My Tori Burch is the perfect size. It’s easy to carry, and the material is long lasting. You know how you buy a purse and it rips? This one is durable. I’ve had it for a year, and it’s been fine.

My Michael Kors watch tracks my steps and how many calories I’ve burned. It shows the weather, and I can connect it to my phone so I can call from my watch.

My favorite jewelry designer is Kendra Scott.

My daughter and I fight over these pieces every morning.

This Brighton bangle comes with interchangeable straps. They come in all different colors. A very dear friend gave it to me.

CLOSET CONFIDENTIAL Story and photos by MEGAN TACKETT

The Rojas family celebrating Laura’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. From left: Vanessa, Laura, Jessica and Ruben Rojas.

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I’m on my feet all day showing homes so my shoes have to be comfortable and conservative.

If I’m wearing a nicer pair, I’ll always bring a second comfier pair with me to change into.

From left: Tori Burch, Gianni Bini, Nine West

I wear these on special occasions. If you put the lotion on before the perfume it will last all day.

I don’t want to wear so much that my clients notice, either. From left: Coco Chanel and La vie est belle

Editor’s note: Laura Rojas is a self-admitted 24/7 real estate hustler. She was named the 2016 top residential seller in Del Rio, she served as president of the Del Rio Board of Realtors from 2014 to 2016 and won Realtor of the Year in 2014 and 2016. She exercises exclusively at 5 a.m. because, according to her, that’s the only time clients are not calling and keeping herself accessible to clients is a top priority. As if her life doesn’t sound exhausting enough, she does all this looking fabulous.

• Fashion Philosophy: How I dress is very important. I want my customers to feel very comfortable with me. I want them to know I’m ready and I love my job. I like to see women dress their age. To me that’s very important, for women to look professional and age appropriate.

• Style Icons: My number one style icon is Ivanka Trump. I love her. She represents what she’s selling. She looks so sharp every single time. When she speaks she’s so comfortable. She looks confident. She’s one of those perfect figures. She’s a mother and a business woman, and she still manages to look perfect.

• Favorite Designers: I like Antonio Milani, Gianni Bini and Michael Kors.

They design for professional women. Their clothing fits perfect for my age group. I’m 45. I’m not trying to look any younger. I’m trying to look my age but with a youthful style.

• Celebrity wardrobes you’d like to raid: Tamron Hood. I love the way she dresses. I watch the Today Show just to see what she’s wearing. I’d like to see who dresses her. It probably shows that at the end, but I only see the beginning and then I’m out the door.

• Best place to bargain shop: Marshalls and Ross. I’m always after sales. I don’t buy anything full price. I recently bought a Calvin Klein dress at Marshalls that was originally $150, and I bought it for $50. When I see those prices I buy two or three in different colors.

• Fashion Crime: I remember I was going crazy in the middle of the night when I had my little ones. I went to Wal-Mart at 1 a.m. to do some Christmas shopping. Who do you think you’re going to run into at 1 a.m.? I looked horrible, no makeup, and I hear “Is that you Laura?”

It was (a client). I learned from that time to never go to into public unprepared. •

“How I dress is very important.

I want my customers to feel very comfortable with me.”

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Wheeler built this sixseater table from the backside of a turn-of-thecentury French armoire.

The table sold in one day for $685

UNIQUE ANTIQUE

BRINGING THE PAST TO THE PRESENT Story and photos by MEGAN TACKETT

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ammy’s House Antiques receives furniture in various conditions.

Select pieces are showroom ready.

A little buffing here, a little polish there, and they’re ready to sell. Other pieces have succumbed to the test of time. Rather than sell the weathered pieces for a lesser price, owners Sammy Ayala and Johnny Wheeler create something beautifully unique.

The design duo received a damaged, turn-of-the-century armoire from Brittany, France. To modernize the armoire, Wheeler deconstructed the piece into three fragments: two doors and the backboard. One armoire door was transformed into a wood bench, using new wood for the seat and legs and the door for the bench’s back. The armoire’s backboard

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was repurposed into a six-foot dining room table.

Combining early 20th Century European elegance with rustic pinewood is Ayala and Wheeler’s signature design. What was once a neglected antique is now shabbychic design perfect for any southern home, Ayala says.

“It comes from France and it looks perfect here in Texas,” says Ayala.

Sammy’s showroom also features a chalk paint-finished sideboard, incorporated from multiple repurposed antiques. Legs from a vintage chair, an antique door panel, and old iron brackets come together to form a functional storage piece, a exclusive to Sammy’s.

While Ayala and Wheeler enjoy

transforming antique pieces into modern wonders, custom furniture requests is the lifeblood of their business. One customer recently brought iron from a vintage door to incorporate into a headboard. Another asked for a custom chalkboard she saw while scrolling through Pinterest.

“I like it when people bring me designs, new ideas, new needs for them because that tells me ‘ok what is next?’” Ayala said.

“It’s just like with fashion, you have to always think what’s the next color, what’s the next trend?”

Ayala said she will likely incorporate the remaining armoire door into a headboard.

Whatever comes of it, between Ayala and Wheeler’s creativity, the possibilities are endless. •

This custom sideboard is currently available at Sammy’s House.

The sideboard’s doors were extracted from an English antique door panel. The iron brackets came from the same door.

“I like it when people bring me designs, new ideas, new needs for them because that tells me ‘ok what is next?’

Before adding it to her show room, Sammy Ayala gives a vintage chandelier new life with a fresh coat of paint.

Wheeler constructed this bench from the same antique armoire as the table. The armoire door was used as the backrest and new wood was used for the seat and legs.

Johnny Wheeler creates everything you need to make your home Texas-chic, including the bench he’s resting on.

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ON OUR COVER

GIRL POWER Story by ALBERT TREVINO and photos by KAREN GLEASON

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el Rioan Gabi Mendez might just be the very definition of the phrase “girl power.”

Featured on this month’s cover, Mendez interprets the famous World War II poster of “Rosie the Riveter,” which, according to The History Channel, was part of “a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry.”

The poster, created by artist J. Howard Miller to boost morale for employees of the Westinghouse Power Company, was adopted, The History Channel reveals, “by the feminist movement of the 1980s as a modern symbol of female empowerment.”

The Rosie poster carried the tag line, “We can do it,” which could be Mendez’s own personal slogan.

Mendez is not only a mother and a fitness instructor, she is an entrepreneur whose goal is to help others, not only by sharing her fitness philosophies and workout skills, but also to motivate others who need help or who may just need to briefly get away from a stressful day.

After graduating from Del Rio High School in 2007, Mendez attended the University of Texas at San Antonio and earned a degree in kinesiology and exercise science.

Mendez said her goal was always to help others with their fitness goals, and in 2015, she opened her own gym,

named The Body Factory, at 756 S. Main St., in the heart of Del Rio’s historic downtown.

For more information on The Body Factory, call Mendez at (830) 734-3592 or email her at gabisfitness@gmail.com.

The Body Factory has a rugged look and an open floor for Zumba classes, and it is here that Mendez has been helping women – and men – become stronger and more confident in themselves.

Growing up, Mendez said she looked up to her parents as hardworking and strong-willed.

“I learned from them to work hard for what you want,” she said.

Mendez said she tries to teach her five-year-old daughter Valentina the same principles she learned from her parents.

Through all this, Mendez also finds time for her favorite hobby, participating in bodybuilding competitions. In 2013, Mendez reached her goal of landing one of the top three places in her first competition. She was hooked and has been training and competing ever since.

With three bodybuilding competitions lined up for the rest of this year alone, Mendez’s schedule is busier than ever.

Mendez said encouraging and motivating herself to reach her goals helps her to encourage and motivate other women.

“The key to success is consistency,” Mendez said. •

Gabi Mendez, owner and operator of The Body Factory and Del Rio Grande May issue cover model, and her five-year-old daughter Valentina. Mendez said she tries to instill in her daughter the same principles of hard work and perseverance she learned from her own parents.

key to success “ The is CONSISTENCY.

Gabi Mendez, left, and Genella Rubio warm up before the start of a workout at The Body Factory, 756 S. Main St., a gym Mendez opened in 2015. Rubio has been working with Mendez for the past three years.

Gabi’s Go-To Workout 10 Jumps 10 Jumping Jacks 10 Pushups 10 V-Ups Repeat five times.

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Jumping Jacks

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Pushups

V-Ups

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EMPOWERING WOMEN

FUTURE PERFECT Janice Pokrant helps guide city’s growth Story by photos by KAREN GLEASON

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s a mom and as Del Rio’s city planner, Janice Pokrant has her eyes on the future.

Pokrant has been the city planner for nearly a decade, navigating the sometimestreacherous waters between politicians, administrators, developers, builders and the public with style, substance and aplomb.

She is one of those people who rarely seems to have a bad day, greeting those who visit her map-strewn office at the City Hall Annex with a bright, friendly smile.

Pokrant was nominated as an “Empowering Woman” during the March “Women Empowering Women” seminar at the Del Rio Civic Center.

As city planner, Pokrant works with new development in the city, whether it is a residential or a commercial development.

“We are the coordinators, bringing all the city departments together, bringing their comments together, making sure we communicate clearly with the person who is building or developing. We start looking at what do we want the city to look like in the future? What do the mayor and city council want the city to look like in the future? And then we help to mold ordinances so that it can get there,” she said.

Before landing the job at the city of Del Rio, Pokrant worked for members of the San Antonio City Council, beginning as a constituent services representative and working to a position in planning and development, parkland development and a chief of staff stint.

“Then my husband got stationed here, and so I moved

with him,” Pokrant said.

Born to a military family, Pokrant is a native of San Antonio and a graduate of the

really. I really feel like I’m part of an important team, and there are just so many projects I want to see finished,” she said.

“

I make time for the little things now. I enjoy every step of the process, and everything isn’t a huge deal.

Alamo City’s John Jay High School.

Pokrant had a daughter when she was 19 and said she believed “it was too important to work and spend time with her,” so she hasn’t yet finished her college degree, though she says it is a goal she is working toward.

“When I started going back (to college) again, I had baby number three, 20 years after the first, but I definitely want to go back and finish,” Pokrant said.

Pokrant’s daughter Karrie Anne is now 23, and she also has a 19-year-old stepson, Austin. Her baby, Caroline, is two-and-a-half.

A two-year-old baby? What’s up with that?

“We were empty-nesters.

Our youngest had gone off to college, and she was our surprise. But she was a really cool surprise. She’s been a blessing all around,” Pokrant said with a smile.

The new baby has brought some changes, Pokrant said.

“Now, it’s different because I have this job, and it really wasn’t an option to quit working. I like what I do. I love what I do,

“

Pokrant said the years have given her a different perspective on mothering as well.

“I make time for the little things now. I enjoy every step of

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the process, and everything isn’t a huge deal,” Pokrant said.

About being a working mom Pokrant said, “It’s difficult, and I think what most parents don’t understand is that you have to ask for help. When they talk about it taking a village (to raise a child), it really does, even if it’s just talking to your co-worker or your good friend or your parents about the challenges you’re dealing with. I think a lot of moms feel like they have to act like the perfect mom and handle everything, but that’s not the case. Everyone has some wisdom to share, and I think we don’t talk about those challenges enough as women.

We try to hold it in and act like everything is perfect, but we have to lean on each other,” Pokrant said. •

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EMPOWERING WOMEN

GRANJA LA NEGRA Maria Onofre-Silva grows her own Story by photos by BONITA SANTILLAN

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“Men always say they’re the man of the house …,” Onofre-Silva said. “My mom will walk the entire perimeter of the property about two or three times a day to look at the gate and fences and see if something’s off. She’s the first one who calls about it … but it doesn’t mean she’s going to fix it. She’s the one who tells my dad what to do.”

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ost families have an heirloom or tradition they pass down from generation to generation. For four generations, a grapevine has been passed down in Maria OnofreSilva’s family.

“My great-grandmother gave my grandmother a piece of grapevine — a twig,” Onofre-Silva said. “She planted it, and my grandmother got grapes. So when my mom got married, they gave her some pieces of the grapevine so my mom planted it, and they grew.”

Each grapevine started out as a twig and has become a piece of history that the women in the Onofre-Silva family have cherished for generations.

“It makes my mom happy, like she knows her mom is still with her,” Onofre-Silva said. “This coming fall it’s my turn to take from the grapevine — I get to take my piece of history with me.”

From this grapevine growing in the 15-acre lot of the family’s farm, Granja La Negra, baskets and

baskets full of grapes are harvested.

“It was then that I realized it’s a female thing, it’s a woman thing — women are in charge of feeding their children,” Onofre-Silva said.

Onofre-Silva’s mom would tell her stories when she was a little girl — “stories you hear … but don’t really pay attention to,” she said.

Onofre-Silva knew her family did not come from a wealthy background — they struggled. “I knew what my grandmother had gone through ...” she said. Yet, the family was always fed — pork, chicken, ducks or eggs — they always had food.

The gears started turning.

“I started looking at pictures,” she said. “My grandmother had rose bushes, but there were things I didn’t think about. Yes, they were pretty, but rose hips have more vitamin C than an orange. The kids would get sick, and she would have them eat those.”

One day Onofre-Silva decided to calculate grocery costs, transportation to and from work,

Grapevines grow above the chicken coop in Onofre-Silva’s backyard. The 10 chickens on the property lay different colored eggs such as green and brown. Eggs come in different colors depending on the breed. The family doesn’t name the hens unless they have sat on eggs and have kept their usefulness.

take-out lunches and dinners, babysitting costs. “After all deductions were truly made, I think I made maybe $200 extra a month.

It made no sense to continue to work and keep up the gardening and farming,” she said. “I would make more money staying home than I would be going back to work.”

Onofre-Silva, a mom, wife and daughter, has been gardening for some two and a half years — but starting out was no walk in the

park.

“I was sitting here crying when I noticed a lot in front of my house full of plants that just grow … no one takes care of it. So I decided to take that approach,” she said.

As a family effort, the farm has improved in its production over the past year.

Last the year, the farm produced 198 pounds of fruit, 206 pounds of meat and 118 dozen eggs. And as of the beginning of

March, the farm has produced 19 pounds of fruit, 78 pounds of meat and 35 dozen eggs.

“Each year there is a better outcome than the last,” she said. “But I can’t do this by myself. This is completely a family type thing.”

The family shares the workload in the upkeep of the city lot area that now grows 16 fruit trees: peaches, plums, pomegranates, kumquats, loquats, jujubees and more.

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The lot contains 11 garden beds, 10 grapevines, eight breeder rabbits, 10 chickens and escape artist ducks named after the “I Love Lucy” cast.

“If somebody doesn’t do their part, our whole system kind of just falls apart,” she said.

Onofre-Silva’s son is in charge of food for the animals, including harvesting the weeds and other plants for the bunnies and chickens.

Her daughter is in charge of keeping the water clean for the animals and picking up the eggs.

Husband Juan Carlos Onofre takes care of researching how to grow different plants, i.e. how to grow an orange tree.

“He’ll do the initial process to get it to sprout. Once it sprouts, it’s given over to my mother. She’ll grow it. That’s her job,” she said. “You name it, and she will grow it. Her gift is to sprout things, and we’re in charge of planting everything.”

Onofre-Silva admits not having the same gift in sprouting different plants.

“I try to do what my mom does and just stick stuff in the ground, but it doesn’t work,” she said.

Onofre-Silva’s mom enjoys exploring different plant combinations such as pineapple mint, lemon basil and chocolate mint.

“Every plant has its use, and it has more than one use,” Onofre-Silva said.

“We just have to figure out what that use is.”

Granja La Negra extends from their city lot-sized space to a 15-acre lot behind the family’s home.

On this land is a home where OnofreSilva’s parents live, a 100-ft by 180-ft space where an estimated 150 fruit trees grow, a tool storage they call a “giant toy box” and a small structure where they spend their weekend nights as a family.

Onofre-Silva’s father built both homes and the smaller structures on the property. “It takes us a little bit of time to get things done because we want to do it ourselves, but it’s one of those things that you appreciate it a little bit more because you do it yourself,” she said.

The fruit trees growing on the 15-acre lot are about one year old, including, but not limited to, plums, peaches, pomegranates, navel oranges and olives.

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The family waters the trees using a gray water system, which saves them money on the water bill.

More than half of the fruit trees, nut trees and other plants on both properties were grown from seed or pruning. Only the four original trees in Onofre-Silva’s backyard were bought and planted.

“Dad is in charge of watering the trees on the property,” Onofre-Silva said. “He makes sure all the ditches are clear and that the water can pass from one tree to another.”

At some point every day, Onofre-Silva will check the garden beds to see if there is anything to harvest or tend to. She hand waters everything so as not to lose control on how much water the gardens are getting and what is growing.

To make sure the family is producing food year-round, Onofre-Silva leaves “gaps” between garden beds.

“Our whole idea is to teach other people how to go back to what we were,” she said. “There are pictures of the White House in the 30s, 40s and 50s. They had goats roaming around the White House lawn. Every house used to have a kitchen garden … but we’ve lost track of that type of thing.”

Onofre-Silva volunteers with the Del Rio Parks Foundation, teaching the aspect of growing and eating to those in community both young and old.

Monday morning socials at the Del Rio Community Garden focuses on the younger children where kids harvest their own vegetables and taste the variety nature has to offer.

“There are kids who don’t really know what a peach is supposed to taste like,” Onofre-Silva said. “I went to the grocery store the other day and bought a peach that looked so juicy and delicious … I was so disappointed when I ate it. It didn’t taste like a peach!”

The parks foundation has been offering various classes from eye-opening facts about grocery store food to making food with the community garden’s food and food items those in the community bring.

“All these processed foods, they’re not in the business of making sure my family has a good breakfast, a good lunch, a good dinner — they’re not,” she said.

“They’re in the business of making sure I

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buy their breakfast, their lunch, their dinner.”

Depending on the season, Onofre-Silva’s family will have an egg in some form, a fruit and oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch the family will typically have a grain such as rice or quinoa with any meat they have processed (two to three ounces) and any greens that are in season. And for dinner the meal will consist of a grain and a stir-fry of any meats and vegetables that are available.

For the Onofre-Silva family, no food goes to waste. Every plant serves its purpose. From feeding the animals to feeding the family and canning the excess fruits and vegetables, Onofre-Silva is confident her children will continue to live on homegrown food. •

Onofre-Silva explains the gray water system in the 15-acre lot where they grow fruit trees and nut trees. The family has been slowly incorporating the system into a “food bank.” The trees are gravity-fed enabling the family to reduce their water bill costs. Most farms don’t plant trees so close together since they use machines to tend to them.

Since Onofre-Silva’s father is in charge of the water for the trees and making sure all the ditches are clear and the water can pass easily through them, they are able to plant the trees closer together.

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Karla Flores, designer and owner of Unyk Collections, is wearing an off the shoulder top with intricate floral detail on the side. She paired this outfit with a layered choker look from her own line.

Choker styles from top to bottom are: “Glory”/“Fonzy”/ “Miracle” *Fun fact: All Unyk Collection designs are handmade, hand stamped and gold filled.*

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Yoly Flores de Arana is wearing a white open shoulder blouse with ruffle accents, paired with one of Unyk Collection’s MUST’S for this summer…the “Tazzled” teal earrings. (Available in various colors & styles.) Karla Flores accessorized with Unyk Collections designs: “Jenga” earrings / “Sky” choker / “Beaded Chain” also a customer favorite, the gold metal brass ring with accent precious stones. Larizza Flores is wearing a long-sleeve, crisscrossed blouse. paired with “Twilight” earrings and matching “Galaxy” choker by Unyk Collections. Yoly Flores is wearing a black open shoulder chiffon top. Paired with HB Accessories beautiful “Eterno” necklace which is made of fresh pearls on 18K gold plated.

Yoly Flores, owner of Clasyk Gallery, is wearing an open shoulder flowered chiffon blouse paired with a matching Pulccino necklace and bracelet. These pieces consist of braided rope and cultured pearls with an accent adorned two sided Virgen de Guadalupe on 24K Gold Plated. *Did you know that Yoly has owned Clasyk Gallery for over 10 years!?*

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Yoly Flores de Arana, owner of Le Bowtique, wearing an open shoulder striped blouse paired with the “Lazo” choker by Unyk Collections. (Choker also available in brown and grey) Little Sofia is rocking a small black leather bow by Le Bowtique & a custom black suede choker also by Unyk Collections. *Did you know that Yoly also does professional makeup? She did her sister’s makeup, along with her own for this editorial.

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Maria Martinez, center, in red, celebrates her Herb Wegner Memorial Award at a dinner and awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 27 with her husband Abner, her children, her brothers and sisters and other members of her immediate family.

FEATURE

MARIA MARTINEZ Border Federal Credit Union President/CEO garners top award Story by KAREN GLEASON, photos by ABNER MARTINEZ, KAREN GLEASON

M

aria Josefina Martinez, president and chief executive officer of Border Federal Credit Union, may just be the very definition of a working woman.

Petite, beautiful and always impeccably dressed, her firm handshake and brilliant smile convey a sense of competency and intelligence that leave a visitor feeling they are in the hands of someone who takes care of business in every sense of that overused phrase.

Martinez herself has an extremely simple philosophy that can be communicated in two words: Do good.

“I think if you do good, good comes back to you. It’s as simple as that,” Martinez said.

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In February, Martinez’s work with the Border Federal Credit Union was honored when she received the prestigious national Herb Wegner Memorial Award at an awards dinner in Washington, D.C. “Within our credit union industry, there is an association called the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) and every year, they select two or three individuals that they can acknowledge, and so what happened back in the middle of last year without my knowledge, my staff nominated me,” Martinez said.

She said the nomination process is lengthy and must include letters of recommendation written by colleagues and leaders from the nominee’s community.

Martinez said her staff gathered the

letters, filled out the application and submitted it, all without her knowledge.

She said she had no idea until she received a call informing her that she would receive the award “I couldn’t believe it, and I said, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ But he said, ‘No, no,’ and I said, ‘Hold on just a minute. I’m going to put you on speaker,’ so I ran down the hallway and got whoever was here and asked them to come to my office, and asked him to repeat what he just said. So he starts telling me about it, and by then, I’m already crying, because to me this means a lot,” Martinez said.

She added, “I’m not sure anybody really understands how I feel about this. . . Every year I’ve been going to this conference,

and every year I’d go to the dinner and watch this video of everybody else, and I’d always wonder, if I could ever be featured there, if I could ever do anything good enough to be acknowledged for that. You have to earn this award, and you have to have a really good team to even get there, because you can’t do it alone. . . I don’t care how good a leader you are, if you don’t have the people to back you up, you’re not going to get there. You have to have the right people, and not just the right people, the right community.”

“It was a dream for me, and in my speech at the dinner in Washington, that was my theme, ‘My Dream Came True,’ because it really did,” Martinez said.

Adding to the emotional impact of the award for Martinez was the fact that the dinner and awards ceremony was held on Feb. 27, Maria’s mother’s birthday, a bittersweet event because her mother had died just last year.

She said she was also honored because U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio) and Texas Rep. Poncho Nevarez (D-Eagle Pass) attended the awards ceremony and dinner.

Martinez said she was told repeatedly at the ceremony how organized, excellent and inspiring her presentation was, and said although the praise filled her with pride and joy, the words stayed with her as she returned to Del Rio and filled her with the desire to do even more.

In her speech accepting the award, Martinez dedicated the night to her mother, Leandra Garza.

And lest you think Martinez was born with a silver spoon, little could be further from the truth.

“My mom was always

Maria J. Martinez is a daughter, sister, wife, mother and president and chief executive officer of Border Federal Credit Union. Earlier this year, Martinez received the 2017 Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement “in recognition of her decades of service to the credit union movement and leadership in the fields of community development, philanthropy and advocacy.”

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Maria J. Martinez delivers her acceptance speech at the National Credit Union Foundation Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 27.

Martinez titled her speech, “My Dream Came True,” and told the story of her journey from living as an illegal immigrant to becoming a leading business woman of her community.

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working. She was a hustler. They were from Mexico, Reynosa, and that’s where I was born, and so my parents were married, but they never really lived together,” Martinez said.

Martinez recalled the growing up poor, with her mother buying items like clothing on the U.S. side of the border and reselling them on little ranches in Mexico.

When she was 13, Martinez, her mother and two brothers and two sisters went to San Antonio for a family vacation to visit an aunt. The aunt invited Martinez to stay with her so Martinez could attend school in the U.S. Martinez stayed in San Antonio and eventually urged the rest of her family to join her. “(My mother) brought the whole family, and we came and stayed here ever since. We were undocumented for 13 years and then in 1986, they had the amnesty, and that’s when we were able to legalize our status in the United States,” Martinez said.

She recalls being deported and once, hiding from immigration officers in a closet inside her aunt’s house.

“You had to watch your back all the time, and you had to follow rules, because you knew you were in this country illegally, so you had to do good, you couldn’t mess up,” she said Before becoming a citizen, Martinez graduated early in the top six of her high school class of more than 300 students and went to college.

Even in high school, Martinez said, she had a sense of where she wanted her life to go.

“When I was I was in high school I took an accounting course, and I really loved it. I was good with numbers,” she said.

Martinez and two of her siblings went to Our Lady of the Lake University, and she remembers holding three jobs: working at a jewelry store, a hospital and for the university’s work-study program.

Her struggles as an illegal immigrant made the award she received even more poignant.

“I think a lot of people see illegal immigrants as a bother to this country, and I don’t think they are. A lot of us, we came here to do good, and that’s the

Maria Martinez with husband Abner Martinez, right, and U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio), left.

Maria Martinez accepts the Herb Wegner Memorial Award.

From left, Abner Martinez and Maria Martinez with Adriana, Anali and Abner Abraham Martinez.

Maria Martinez with members of the Border Federal Credit Union board of directors and BFCU staff.

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way we were raised. You’re coming here, and you’re in somebody else’s house, so you’d better behave,” she said.

In college, Martinez attended Our Lady of the Lake’s business school and was accepted. After earning her degree she got two job offers on the same day: one from a savings and loan and the other from a hospital, so she had to decide whether to go into banking or hospital administration.

After she made the decision to go into banking she began in data entry, helping tellers balance their drawers after their shifts, a job at which she excelled.

A year later she moved into the accounting department, where she stayed for several years.

Then her boss left and she became the accounting supervisor. Her boss who had left called her and asked her to join him at his new job, offering her the accounting supervisor position there.

After seeing a newspaper ad for an accounting manager at a credit union, she applied and snared the position out of 77 applicants. In her new job, she began working on fundraising events for the Children’s Miracle Network. She also became involved with volunteering in a homeless shelter and an organization that assisted under-served youth.

She became the credit union’s comptroller, part of the executive leadership, but when her husband took a job in Del Rio, she joined him here.

She called several banks and the credit union, but was only offered teller positions.

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Her husband Abner moved to Del Rio in August 1994 and two months later, at the beginning of October, Border Federal Credit Uniot called to offer her the position of vice president of lending.

Martinez recalled how difficult the first year in Del Rio was for her. She missed her family and said she longed to go back to San Antonio.

“After a while, though, it became very comfortable and I said, ‘I guess we’re here to stay, so I better give it my best shot.’ So the CEO decided to retire. He announced it, and I felt real sick when he announced it, and when I went to the doctor, he told me I was pregnant and I thought, ‘Oh, no, they’re never going to give me the job if they know I’m pregnant.’ I told my husband, and he was very excited, but we decided not to tell anybody else for five months,” Martinez said.

Martinez landed the job, taking over the reins of the credit union in June 1997.

“By then, people thought I was just eating too many tacos,” she recalled with a laugh.

On June 9, she will mark her 20th anniversary as BFCU’s CEO. Under her steady guidance, the credit union has grown.

“We had 32 employees at the time. Now we have about 120. We’ve had tremendous growth. We’ve also grown in Eagle Pass, and we opened our branch in Crystal City last year,” Martinez said.

When asked if she sometimes recalled her own mother, juggling kids and business, Martinez said, “I never really thought of it, but then years later, you look at

Maria Martinez in 1964

Maria Martinez’s high school graduation portrait in 1979

Maria Martinez’s mother, Leandra Garza.

Special messages presented during Leandra Garza’s funeral in 2016

Maria Martinez is also a wife and mother. Here she is with husband Abner and children Adriana, Anali and Abner Abraham.

Maria Martinez with the Border Federal Credit Union staff members who nominated her for the Herb Wegner Memorial Award

Maria Martinez, left, meets with BDCU Lending Supervisor Dora Gonzalez at the BFCU’s North Bedell Avenue location.

it and you say, ‘I’m doing the exact same thing, just at a different level’.”

Martinez said the most challenging aspect of her work over the past 20 years is dealing with people.

“The workforce has changed. The people you hire now, you kind of have to go the way they think. Work ethics have changed so much that you almost have to give in, and that has been the toughest challenge,” Martinez said.

She said she has learned to work around the new breed of workers, helping them to feel that they are part of the team.

Martinez identified several great joys of her work.

“I have one of the best teams that I can

Maria Martinez with the BCFU mascot, Border Buck

think of. A great team, and a very supportive board of directors. A lot of CEOs complain about their board, but I never do, because my board, if I go there, and I’m prepared, and I give them a challenge or a new thing that we want to do, they don’t just rubberstamp it and they ask a lot of questions, but they will buy into it or they let me perfect it.

I’m very thankful for that.”

“I believe that God looks out for me, because things may not happen the way we plan them, but then when they happen, they are even better than we planned. I feel blessed, and I’m thankful,” Martinez said.

Martinez said she is also extremely grateful for the support of the community.

“I believe our community is very

open-minded, especially in accepting the programs we offer, like the VITA (tax preparation) program, the financial counseling, the youth camp, people support us so much,” she said.

Through it all, Martinez said her simple philosophy has always been her compass: Do good, and good will come back.

“I’ve always told my kids, ‘God has given us a little bit more so that we can give back to others.’ It’s like He gives us a bonus, but that bonus you’re supposed to give it back.

It’s like, don’t keep the bonus. If you see somebody that has a need, help them out, because that will come back to you,” she said. •

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The state flower of Texas is the bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis, is planted extensively along the state’s highways by the Texas Department of Transportation. This showy plant is a member of the lupine family and is native to Texas and several other southern states. In some areas of the Hill Country and north Texas, these flowers form great blue fields in April and May.

Drummond’s wild onion, wild garlic or Drummond’s onion, Allium drummondii,is named after Scottish naturalist Thomas Drummond, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

Drummond spent almost two years collecting plant and bird specimens in south-central Texas in 1833 and 1834. The wildflower center notes these plants love “a sunny position in well-drained soil.”

You have to look carefully for purple groundcherry, Quincula lobata, as this small plant and its beautiful purple flower grow almost flat to the ground. These plants continue blooming until the frost and are native to the western plains states to California.

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GRANDE OUTSIDE

WILDFLOWERS FOR MOTHER’S DAY April showers bring Mom’s day flowers Story and photos by KAREN GLEASON

I

t’s almost a cliché: flowers for Mother’s Day, but when Del Rio receives rain at just the right time, Mother Earth furnishes bouquets for everyone’s enjoyment.

More than a flashy store-bought arrangement, wildflowers invite us to slow down and become more mindful of the beauty blooming nearly everywhere we care to look.

That’s not to say that wildflowers can’t be flashy as well. Anyone who has ever woken up and found a carpet of Pink Ladies blanketing their lawn or driven past an ocean of lavender cenizo stretching as far as the eye can see might argue otherwise.

Texas takes its wildflowers seriously since the patronage of Lady Bird Johnson.

Indeed, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, described as “an internationally recognized botanic garden dedicated to inspiring the conservation of native plants in natural and designed landscapes,” proudly carries the former First Lady’s passion into a new century.

Though some may dismiss them as weeds, Texas wildflowers are a lot like its women: tough, tenacious, beautiful and able to bloom despite whatever hardships the world may throw at them. •

Fiveneedle pricklyleaf, Thymophylla pentachaeta or Dyssodia pentachaeta, can be found growing on rocky hillsides and arroyos throughout Val Verde County. This is a small plant, often no more than six or eight inches tall, but it can’t be overlooked because of its numerous, small, bright yellow flowers. The flowers, though pretty, have an unpleasant odor, and these blooms are sometimes referred to as dogweed.

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Growing in nearly every vacant lot and field is arugula, Eruca sativa, an edible plant in the cabbage family. Known in Great Britain and France as rocket, garden rocket or roquette, the leaves of this plant are a popular salad ingredient, though we don’t recommend you eating any found growing wild. Arugula is native to the Mediterranean and blooms in Del Rio all year long.

Indian paintbrush, Castilleja purpurea, blooms come in a variety of colors, depending on the species and variety of paintbrush. These, found growing along U.S. Highway 90 east of Del Rio, are a rich pink. Indian paintbrushes can be found in grasslands of many types, plains, prairies, savannahs, fields and alongside highways.

They are native from the central plains region of the U.S. south to the upper Rio Grande plains.

The common sunflower, Helinathus annus, is native to North America and has been cultivated by humans here for millennia. In Del Rio, common sunflower can be found growing in well-lit areas along fence lines and walls, as well as in fields and meadows. These flowers are an important food source for many bird and insect species. Helianthus annus is the ancestor of the modern cultivated, commercial sunflower, which were developed in Russia.

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Snapdragon vine, Maurandella antirrhiniflora, is not a true snapdragon, but a wild vine native to Texas and the rest of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

The caterpillar of the Common Buckeye butterfly feeds on this plant, and the snapdragon vine’s small but gorgeous purple flowers make it a lovely addition to any wildflower garden.

A Pink Lady, Oenothera speciosa, is known by many common names: pink evening primrose, Mexican evening primrose, pink ladies and pink buttercups. These showy little flowers, which sometimes form large carpets of pink on lawns and in grassy ditches, are native to the plains and prairies from Kansas south to Mexico.

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A type of globemallow, a member of the genus Sphaeralcea, these plants form bushy clusters in vacant lots or any other area with disturbed soils. There are many different species of globemallow, and their flowers can range from pale pink and lilac to this brilliant red-orange.

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A skipper butterfly sips nectar from a blooming Passiflora foetida, a Stinking Passionflower, also called Corona de Cristo, love-in-a-mist and wild water lemon, growing at the edge of San Felipe Creek in the Rincon Del Diablo.

This plant gets its name from the bad smell its foliage emits when damaged.

Texas prickly pear, Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri, is a common cactus throughout Val Verde County. Its large, showy yellow flowers welcome the spring. The pads of this cactus, with their sharp spines removed, can use used in salads and tacos, and its fruit, known locally as tunas, can be made into a tasty, tangy jelly.

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Yellow prickly poppy, Argemone Mexicana, is a member of the poppy family native from Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas. The yellow prickly poppy has bright yellow, gauzy, petals, with an orange-red center. Its leaves and seed pods are covered in sharp spines.

Horsemint, Monarda citriodora, is not a terribly common wildflower in Del Rio, but is can sometimes be found growing in stands along roadsides and in the corners of fields. Horsemint, sometimes called lemon beebalm or lemon mint, has a minty, citrusy smell when its leaves are crushed. Both bees and butterflies are attracted to the flowers of this plant.

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David and Maria Mayfield have been married 27 years. The couple operates the concession stand at The Bank & Trust Ram Field, but Maria oversees the cooking and preparation of all the stand’s food.

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BASEBALL’S GEM

MARIA MAYFIELD Homemade treats keep fans coming back for more Story and photos by BRIAN ARGABRIGHT

B

aseball is as American as apple pie, or at The Bank & Trust Ram Field, as American as homemade tapatios, gorditas and lemonade.

And it’s all thanks to the efforts of Maria Mayfield.

Mayfield, a mother of three, operates the concession stand at the baseball field and owns and operates her own catering business. And while her own children - Fatima, Hector and Jack - are grown, she has spent the past 13 years feeding and watching hundreds of Del Rio’s children as they grow older and continue to play a sport near and dear to her heart.

Along with her husband of 27 years, David, Maria devotes her time during baseball season to maintaining one of the most unique concession stand menus in the state. You can buy hot dogs and chili bags there, but you can also buy Maria’s own homemade delicacies including tapatios, gorditas, brisket sandwiches, tacos and more.

“It’s a lot of work … it’s like I live here,” she said.

The Mayfields began operating a concession stand at a different park before being approached by former Babe Ruth Baseball President Bill Jewell. He asked if they’d be able to run the concession stand at what it is now The Bank & Trust Ram Field and she agreed but only if she was able to make food she wanted.

Once the Del Rio High baseball season began, the Mayfields were

once again called upon to operate the concession stand after the team’s booster club couldn’t find anyone to run it. That began what became a yearly venture that has continued ever since.

Mayfield’s love of food and cooking began at an early age. Her mother passed away when she was two years old, so it was her older sisters who showed her how to cook. However, Maria was less than impressed with the results.

“I wanted to put my own taste in there. If I tried something and didn’t like it, I would try something different. Same thing with the food I sell here. When I cook, I have to taste it. If I like it, I will sell it. If not, then I’ll try again,” Mayfield said.

Maria prepares much of her food the night before and then refrigerates it. On the day of games, she makes sure the vegetables for her meals are fresh and she will spend hours before games prepping everything to ensure that the first people to her window are served as quickly as possible.

“A lot of people know not to eat before coming here. They prefer to eat from the concession stand,” David said. “Some people come just to buy the food. They won’t stay for the game. We used to have a phone here and we would have people call in orders. We’ve even had people from Laredo place an order to go to take back with them.”

Maria will make about 150 tapatios and prepare several pounds of beef

A plastic tub holds more than 100 freshly made tapatios. Maria Mayfield will hand make the tortillas and chicken filling, roll them up individually and then refrigerate them before they are deep fried and sold by the half dozen.

A popular meal at the concession stand at The Bank & Trust Ram Field – a pair of chicken gorditas, a barbecue brisket sandwich and a large cup of homemade limeade.

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the day before and the hours before each game. The tapatios, which she sells for $5 per half dozen, are some of her biggest sellers. Using handmade tortillas and seasoned chicken, it takes just a few minutes to bathe the rolled up concoction in a fryer before they’re ready to be served along with freshly cut tomatoes, cabbage, cream and one of Maria’s four homemade salsas, ranging in flavor and heat.

Her container of tapatios usually doesn’t last long because folks just keep coming back for more every game.

Even her brisket sandwiches and tacos get the special treatment. Maria’s father worked in a meat market, so she learned about the different cuts of meat at an early age. By the time she was 11, Maria could butcher her own pigs.

That knowledge has allowed her to find just the right cuts of beef for her dishes. Like any cooking master, Maria won’t reveal what all goes into her dishes. She admits that she’s passed recipes along to other people, including her daughter, but the complaint she hears is that they just don’t taste like her meals.

“I always tell them the secret ingredient is love,” Maria said jokingly. “All of my recipes are in my head. I can’t just write them down because when I cook I just know exactly what to use and how much of spice and seasoning to add. I’ve done it for so long that it’s just something that comes naturally.”

Maria said she’s proud of all her children and said they all know how to cook, but when they get together she enjoys cooking for them. She’s even gotten used to taking her talents on the road, especially when it came to following her youngest son, Jack Mayfield, as he played baseball

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Maria Mayfield carefully cuts a slit inside a fresh-out-of-the-fryer gordita shell before she fills it with one of four different fillings – beef, chicken, chicharron or nopalitos.

Stacks of gordita shells are ready to be deep-fried, stuffed and served. The shells are handmade, prepared and refrigerated a day before they are to be sold.

across the state and eventually in college.

“I don’t like eating in restaurants, so I would always take my crockpot and skillet to cook. We went to visit Jack in Oklahoma one year and I made some guisado. His teammates weren’t sure of what it was but once they tried it they came back for more,” she said.

There have been other menu items that have come and gone, but Maria said the biggest

“Everything I make is done with lots of love. I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to do something you need to do it right or don’t do it at all”

David Mayfield scoops up a ladle full of homemade limeade. According to Maria Mayfield, it can take between 30 and 60 fresh limes to make a jug full of the refreshing treat.

obstacle she faces is a lack of space for more equipment. The concession stand is occupied by crockpots, fryers, roasters, coolers and more. Everything has its place in her prep area and from opening to close she’s moving from one work station to another.

David said the concession stand at The Bank & Trust Ram Field has become something of a destination for fans during baseball season. Maria said it feels good to know so many people enjoy her food and said it’s something she’s proud of.

“She takes a lot of pride in what she does. She receives lots of compliments from visitors every year. We have people come here early from Laredo just to eat,” David said.

“Everything I make is done with lots of love. I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to do something you need to do it right or don’t do it at all,” Maria said. •

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OUT THERE

AMISTAD EXPEDITIONS Paddling the wild, wonderful Devils River Story by photos by KAREN GLEASON

T

he Devils River looks impossible, its water the color of the Caribbean, edged by imposing limestone bluffs, a spring-fed oasis in the middle of the harsh west Texas brushlands.

Widely hailed as one of the most pristine wild rivers in Texas, the Devils River meanders through the center of Val Verde County, and is not easily accessible other than by boat from Lake Amistad.

Nicki and Darren Carr, owners and operators of Amistad Expeditions, aim to help kayakers and canoeists fulfill their 46

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dreams of a paddle down the Devils.

Carr, who manages the Indian Head Ranch north of Del Rio, said he first encountered the Devils in the mid-1990s.

“To me, it’s just one of the most beautiful places in the whole state of Texas. I took a drive down the Dolan Creek Road wondering, ‘What’s at the end of this?’ and I sure wasn’t expecting to find what I found, this awesome and amazing river,” he said.

Carr said Amistad Expeditions was born when he learned of a concessionaire opening with the Texas Parks and Wildlife

Department.

“I’d spent a lot of time on the Devils River, and I was already based here at the ranch. It was kind of a supplemental job, but it also gave us a chance to make sure everybody we were putting on the river was being educated about it,” he said.

“I’ve always enjoyed kayaking on the rivers here in Texas, the Blanco, the Nueces, different rivers. This one – the Devils – was just kind of the ultimate, and it’s right here in our own backyard,” Carr said.

Carr’s wife and business partner, Nicki,

Photo courtesy of Amistad Expeditions

Photo courtesy of Brady Sullivan

Father and son paddlers, Guy Semmes, left, of Washington, D.C., and Ben Semmes, of Houston, wave to fellow paddlers as they set off on a day’s paddle down the Devils River in their canoe.

Brandon Bruton of Kerrvill, Texas, sets off on a day’s paddle down the Devils River. Brandon and his brother Brent Bruton experienced the Devils River in early April.

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Aaron Moore of Alvard, Texas, backs away from his launch point and into the Devils River current after an overnight stay in the north unit of the Devils River State Natural Area in central Val Verde County.

Brent Bruton, left, and Jared Morelock, both of Brownwood, Texas, load gear into their kayaks for the day’s paddle down the Devils River. Bruton and Morelock camped on the river’s edge in the Del Norte Unit of the Devils River State Natural Area in central Val Verde County.

Aaron Moore, left, of Alvard, Texas, and Brandon Bruton, of Kerrville, Texas, carry a kayak from their campsite in the Devils River State Natural Area, Del Norte Unit, to the edge of Devils River to begin a day’s paddle.

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said she had encountered the lower areas of the Devils after moving to Del Rio, “but it wasn’t until I moved out to the Indian Head Ranch and met Darren that I got to see the northern section of the river.”

Asked about her first impressions of the Devils, Nicki said, “I love being around water, period, so when I saw this river and how clear and blue and Caribbean-like it was, it made me very happy that I was going to be living right on it. I consider myself quite lucky. I know Del Rio’s slogan is ‘the oasis of Texas,’ and the Devils River certainly is that.”

“It’s the west Texas Riviera,” Darren Carr added with a grin.

Amistad Expeditions offers several services to its clients.

“We are a concessionaire for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and we run shuttle services to and from the Devils River. We also do kayak rentals. Our main focus is to get people on the river, but also to be good stewards of the river,” Nicki Carr said.

Darren said he and Nicki don’t do many guided trips of the river, though those are available.

“We have a pretty extensive orientation, which is a good thing, because we have this hour-and-ahalf ride (from the Indian Head Ranch to the Devils River State Natural Area), so we have a lot of time with the folks,” he said.

Customers leave their personal vehicles at the ranch behind a locked gate and are shuttled to their “put-in point” by van or pickup.

“We’ll run them through the rules of the park, the Devils River State Natural Area and the rules of the river. Some of the major concerns are trespassing on (property) along the river, making sure they understand they need to stay below the river gradient boundary if they’re going to be camping,” Darren said.

The Carrs explain where this boundary lies to their clients and repeatedly urge them to observe it.

“You’re also required by Parks and Wildlife to traverse the river with a ‘WAG bag,’ which is a sanitation bag.

Everything you take in there, you

need to carry out. Everything. Leave it as good or better than you found it. We are just trying to educate people, because it’s a very much a different setting than, say, floating the Guadalupe in central Texas,” Darren said.

“And we don’t want it to be that,” Nicki added. “We don’t want it to be the Guadalupe or the Comal or the Frio. The Devils River is never going to have a big stage with a band. We want the river to be as pristine as when our kayakers go on it, as they come off of it.”

Nicki said in March, Amistad Expeditions aided more than 100 people in negotiating their trips to and from the Devils.

“March seems to be the kickoff month. Spring break is absolutely our busiest week, and then it just kind of gradually increases. On average, our busy months we’ll have 30 to 35 groups, and each group could be from two to seven people,” she said.

Carr said Amistad Expeditions offers trips of varying lengths. Two trips are the most popular: The first is putting in at Baker’s Crossing and taking out at the south unit of the Devils River State Natural Area, which is called the Dan Allen Hughes State Natural Area, and which is not yet open to the public, a 30-mile paddle.

The second is putting in at San Pedro Point at the Devils River State Natural Area’s north unit just above Dolan Falls on the river, and taking out at the south unit, a trip of 15 miles.

“The 15-mile trip is definitely the most popular. . . .Baker’s down is 30 miles, and the average kayaker does about seven miles a day on this river,” Nicki Carr said.

“The trip between the two state natural areas is a good weekend trip.

You can do it in either two full days or two-and-a-half days, two nights.

We suggest two nights and utilizing the state natural area campsites, especially on your last night,” she added.

As beautiful as the Devils is, the Carrs say it is not a river that should

be approached without planning or without caution.

“We hope that people do their research before even calling us, but if not, that’s what we’re here to do, is educate people,” Nicki said.

Darren Carr added, “We spend a lot of time working with the Devils River Conservancy and, when we have time, we like to meet with the landowners when they get together at some of these meetings and hear their concerns, try to educate them also about what were doing with our clients.”

Darren said in recent years, there seem to have been fewer complaints about members of the public using the river and he said he wants to keep it that way.

“The cheesy statement of ‘I want my grandkids to see it as I saw it,’ is really true in my case,” he said.

For more information about Amistad Expeditions, contact the Nicki and Darren Carr at (830) 703-0127 or visit their Facebook page, Amistad Expeditions.

For more information about the Devils River, visit http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/devilsriver/river-trips. •

Darren and Nicki Carr of Amistad Expeditions

SUSAN JANE TAYLOR, M.D.

Specializing in the treatment of cancer and diseases of the blood.

• In-office chemotherapy • Board certified Oncology & Hematology • Blood disease treatment • Monitoring of blood thinning medications • Oncology Certified Nurse

(830)775-5800 • Fax (830)775-8811 • 1301 Avenue G • Del Rio, TX

GRANDE / MAY 2017

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Faces of Del Rio Mother’s Day 2017

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GRANDE / MAY 2017

We’re looking for fresh new FACES of DEL RIO for our June issue of Del Rio Grande Magazine.

In celebration of Father’s Day send in your best father/son or daughter photos.

Del Rio Grande Email roland.cardenas@delrionewsherald.com or selene.rodriguez@delrionewsherald.com GRANDE / MAY 2017

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