Del Rio Grande 0219

FEBRUARY 2019

THROUGH POLLO’S EYES

GOTTA HAVE JULIO’S RAIN OR SHINE OR . . .

FEBRUARY 2019

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FROM THE EDITOR Gotta love it!

PUBLISHER Sandra Castillo EDITOR Karen Gleason WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Brian Argabright Xochitl Arteaga Harold D. Becker Karen Gleason Taylor Goodwin April Little/Vanilla Bean Photography Megan Tackett ADVERTISING Xochitl Arteaga Alicia Jimenez Ashley Lopez PRODUCTION Jorge Alarcon Roland Cardenas Antonio Morales EDITORIAL karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 247 ADVERTISING ashley.lopez@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 250 STORY IDEAS karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com

2205 North Bedell Avenue • Del Rio, TX 78840 delrionewsherald.com Del Rio Grande is published by the Del Rio News-Herald.

No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without written permission of the publisher. Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher of this magazine.

Editorial and advertising does not constitute advice but is considered informative.

Like many of our friends and neighbors, I am a transplanted Del Rioan. I live here because this is where I want to be.

My first glimpse of Del Rio was hardly inspiring: I arrived at the old Greyhound bus terminal that used to be near the Roswell building downtown on a night in early December of 1982.

At the time, I didn’t care whether I was going to Del Rio, Texas, or Outer Mongolia. I was in love, and I was following my heart.

My high school boyfriend – I won’t name names – had moved to Del Rio from Fargo, N.D. to take a job at the old Del Rio Flying Service. I waited a few months, then visited him on my 19th birthday in December of 1982.

He didn’t really seem all that happy to see me, but love is indeed blind, so I went back to Fargo after that first visit, and a month later, in January 1983, I packed a few clothes and books into a small suitcase, took out the $50 in my savings account and came back.

Long story short, my boyfriend lost his job at the airport and moved back to Fargo.

I had left a four-year scholarship at North Dakota State University and a pretty good part-time job to come to Del Rio. As you can imagine, my parents were furious, and while I certainly didn’t blame them, I was not going to go back home and listen to the recriminations.

So I decided to stay.

My decision was made easier because I had met a young man from San Antonio named Michael Gleason, who had worked with my boyfriend at the airport.

Mike suggested I move in with him, and I did. We married a few months later, and he has provided a soft place for me to land for the last 35 years.

When I first came here, I didn’t have a job and spent a lot of time driving around town in my boyfriend’s little car. I would lose myself on the back streets of San Felipe and Chihuahua and stop in at little corner stores for a Coke and some conversation.

I was surprised at how friendly everyone was. It seemed that if people here talked to you for five minutes, you were suddenly family.

I also loved that Del Rio was bicultural, binational, bilingual.

I grew up speaking German and English, and I was very used to hearing and participating in conversations that were half in one language and half another.

There are so many things I love about Del Rio, it would take much more than this small space to tell you about them. Suffice it to say that in Del Rio, I found my home, my place, my family, my tribe.

In this spirit, we wanted our February issue to be about some of the things we as a team love most about Del Rio. We love Pollo Barragan, our intinerant local photographer. We love the San Felipe Creek and its beauty. We love the weather and Julio’s Chips.

Hope you love it too!

Karen Gleason Grande Editor

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JANIT A

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CONTENTS 8

CALENDAR Keep busy this month at these local events.

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HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

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WEATHER WONDERS The good, the bad and the ugly of Del Rio’s remarkable weather.

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CLOSET CONFIDENTIAL

Writer Brian Argabright talks about his hometown.

Rosa Linda Sanchez shares her unique personal style.

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QUEEN CITY’S CROWN JEWEL Sparkling San Felipe Creek is a rare treasure.

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‘YO ME ACUERDO’ Pollo Barragan captures memories of San Felipe.

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DEL RIO STYLE Clothing celebrates Del Rio’s ties with its Mexico sister city.

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DEL RIO FAVORITES Pick up these hometown themed gifts and accessories.

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PERFECT POZOLE

A GRANDE LIFE

Home cook Xochitl Arteaga prepares one of our favorite soups.

Blanca Larson sings Del Rio’s praises... on the job and off.

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GOTTA HAVE ’EM Julio’s Chips and Seasoning are a hometown success story.

AGUAS FRESCAS Alfredo Miranda helps us make a refreshing drink.

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LAST LOOK Writer/photographer Brian Argabright wraps up the issue.

ON THE COVER: Alejandra Torres shows her love for Del Rio in front of one of the city’s many colorful murals.

• Photo by Harold D. Becker

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RED WHITE & BLUE

RUN PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT RED, WHITE & BLUE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Check-In and On-Site Registration at Gorzugis 1:00-2:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m. Start

For more information call (830) 313-0373 Amistad Bank and DRNH will be hosting a 5k run/ walk. All proceeds will go to the Red, White & Blue Scholarship Fund. Education is the beginning of a better tomorrow, we want to impact the lives of our Del Rio graduating seniors who continue their education to a brighter future.

• Start/Finish at Gorzugis (2101 Dodson Ave.) • Event is timed • Awards will be given to top 3 finishers by age category • Drinks, music and awards provided • Register at Del Rio News-Herald and Amistad Bank or ONLINE AT www.delrionewsherald.com, www.amistadbank.com • Silent Auction

5K - $20 Adults 18+ • 5K - $15 Youth 13-17 • 1K - $10 Children 12 & Under Running in an event other than the registered event will result in unofficial times and a disqualification for awards.

The first 100 paid pre-registrants will receive a commemorative t-shirt.

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FEBRUARY CALENDAR Keep busy this month at these fun local events

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1 ELIZABETH HODGES DEL RIO COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS FIREHOUSE GALLERY 120 E. Garfield Ave. • 7 p.m.

The art of Elizabeth Hodges, previously the choral director at Del Rio High School, as well as a special education teacher, performing arts agent and professional musician, will be featured at the DRCA Firehouse Gallery this month. Hodges, who currently lives at Fort Clark Springs, loves color and Texas themes and has been painting in acrylics for eight years.

2 IT TAKES 2 PAUL POAG THEATRE 746 S. Main St. • 8 p.m.

Two great artists, one fantastic show. Rod Stewart tribute artist Vic Vaga is back, and this time he’s brought a friend: Samira “Truly Tina.” Get ready for a high-energy event that will have you dancing in the aisles and singing along.

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746 S. Main St. • 7 p.m.

Azul Barrientos is an acclaimed musician dedicated to uncovering and conserving the cultural influences and connections between Latin America, Africa, Europe and Mexico. Get ready for a magical evening as Barrientos celebrates her Latina roots, giving new life to the rhythms and stories of previous generations.

16 RED, WHITE & BLUE 5K RUN/WALK GORZUGI’S

RED WHITE & BLUE

2101 Dodson Avenue • 2:30 p.m. Start Amistad Bank and the Del Rio News-Herald will be hosting a 5K Run/ Walk. All proceeds will go to the Red, White & Blue Scholarship Fund.

Education is the beginning of a better tomorrow. We want to impact the lives of Del Rio graduating seniors who want to continue their education to a brighter future.

16 LOS FLAMENCOS DE SAN ANTONIO PAUL POAG THEATRE 746 S. Main St. • 7 p.m.

This performance, hosted by the Casa De La Cultura, will embody the complex musical and cultural traditions of Spain. A perfect date night, girls’ night out or just a little getaway.

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Lake Amistad is about 10 miles west of Del Rio, but its beauty and serenity, and of course fishing, is one of the major draws to this area.

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What I love about

Del Rio

A glimpse into what’s great about life on the border Story and photos by BRIAN ARGABRIGHT

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hen Del Rio Grande Editor Karen Gleason tasked me with writing a piece about what I love about Del Rio, what I thought was supposed to be a labor of love turned into an anxiety test beyond compare.

How do you cram what you love about the place you’ve called home for nearly your entire life into a magazine article? So I did what I always do: I sat down and listened to music and let the memories flow.

Del Rio is as unique a place as I’ve ever visited. The balance of small town values and traditions coupled with big dreams and ideals have created an atmosphere that blends the best of both worlds. You can always leave Del Rio, but it never really leaves you.

So what do I love about Del Rio? Where to begin?

THE PEOPLE Friendliness is a trait that comes in bunches around here and is as common as the blossoming ceniza. We say “please” and “thank you,” and answering folks with “yes, sir” or “yes, ma’am” doesn’t mean we think you’re old; that’s just how we were raised.

It’s not uncommon to see men still tip their hats to women as they pass and for folks to keep the door open for strangers whenever they enter a building. It’s part of who we are.

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It’s also a big reason many folks are always looking for someone to help.

We have volunteers at the ready for a wide variety of reasons, whether to help out a person in need or giving time to an organization that needs all the manpower it can get. It’s true that you see a lot of the same people volunteering, but they have a lot of love and time to give. There’s nothing wrong with that.

THE FOOD It’s not uncommon to see strangers hold the door and tip their hat for folks as they enter a building around Del Rio. Del Rioans, like Sabien Escareño and his sister Liana Escareño, who were both born and raised here, are some of the friendliest folks I’ve met in my travels.

Del Rio’s unique relationship with its sister city of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico lends itself to celebrations that span not just the people, but borders, too. These wooden eagles, located outside the Del Rio Civic Center, is a symbol of that.

Growing up, my friends and I filled up on macho burgers from Don Marcelino’s, double or triple meat cheeseburgers from Salas and the rare treat of Julio’s chips in the old fashioned white buckets. Now, we have food trucks which bring us all kinds of tasty delights and family ice cream and cold treat shops that entertain the next generation of Del Rioans. The places I went are still here, except for a handful of joints, and it makes me happy to see new folks discover them every day.

When my friends come home to visit during the holidays, or whenever they get that wild hair, invariably their social media posts will be dotted with the food they missed so much.

Tapatios … we’ve got those. Super, crazy-looking nachos … check. Steaks the size of a cushion … not yet, but we’re getting there.

Our favorite places to eat have become such a part of us that we know where to go to satisfy those certain cravings and even when to go to avoid the rush or to take advantage of those times our favorite people are manning the grill.

THE SCENERY Sometimes you just want to sit back and smell the roses. Growing up, it wasn’t so much the roses I cared about, but rather the unique marine smells that could come only from Lake Amistad or the San Felipe Creek.

Swimming around here isn’t just limited to pool times. If running around in the sprinkler in the front

When some folks think of Del Rio, the first thing that pops into their mind is the food. Julio’s chips and salsa, Meme’s onion rings, the legendary guisado, bean and cheese taco and, of course, a tasty hamburger from Salas Better Burger.

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Want a quick guide to Del Rio? Check out the mural that adorns a wall at Doc Holliday’s off Las Vacas. Bull riding, Lake Amistad, Amistad Dam, fishing, Brown Plaza, Laughlin Air Force Base and more is represented on this local tribute.

lawn isn’t your style, grab your stuff and truck it on over to the creek where cold water, giggling kids and the occasional waft of someone grilling will instantly make you fall in love with one of our most beautiful local landmarks. I spent many a weekend jumping off the small foot bridge, fancying myself some kind of daredevil for falling less than five feet into the water, but it was a rite of passage and something we all did.

As I got older, it was the lake.

Fishing isn’t really my thing, so I spent my time leisurely floating in the lake and letting nature’s sounds just wash the worries of the day away. When I was in high school, it was common to start getting anxious during the last period of the day because once that final school bell rang, it was sometimes a Cannonball Run-style race to your vehicle to see who could get out to the lake the fastest.

And no I did not jump off the cliffs, but many of my friends did. I swim like a rock, so no leaping off outcrops for me.

THE CULTURE Del Rio shares a beautiful bond with its sister city of Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico, and that relationship is reflected in the culture of this community.

Many of us have family members on both sides of the border, and growing up here, it wasn’t unusual to spend a Saturday in Acuña shopping or eating dinner. My mother and my grandfather made regular trips to Acuña to buy medicine or specific foods that they swore you could only get there. I went along hoping for a toy or the occasional comic book printed in Spanish.

That culture has spilled over to Del Rio. Cinco de Mayo and Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebrations in Del Rio last for days and are an homage to the land that helped mold this city into what it is today. I’ve visited, walked Brown Plaza and even worked as a vendor there, and all the wonderful things I’ve mentioned before – the food, the people, the scenery – are on full display. •

GRANDE / FEBRUARY 2019

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An aerial view of the San Felipe Creek just upstream of the Tardy Dam. The creek and the springs that feed it have provided an important water source for the area for thousands of years. After Europeans arrived, the creek also provided water for irrigation and power.

• Opposite page, from top: A female Belted Kingfisher, the San Felipe Creek rushes over boulders near Del Rio Rotary Park and a Texas River Cooter turtle suns itself on a flood-drowned tree.

SAN FELIPE

CREEK Story by KAREN GLEASON; Photos by KAREN GLEASON and BARRY WEST

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Clear stream is Queen City’s “crown jewel”

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ormer Del Rio Mayor Dora E. Alcalá often referred to the San Felipe Creek as “the crown jewel of Del Rio,” and the creek and the springs that feed it are indeed a rare and important treasure.

It is no understatement to say that Del Rio would not exist without the presence of the springs and the creek that flows from them.

The San Felipe Springs are a series of springs that – depending on the researcher quoted – are either the third or fourth largest artesian springs in Texas, flowing up to the surface world from underground reservoirs and streams of water through faults in the porous limestone that underlies this entire region of the state.

The Spanish explorer Gaspar Castaño de Sosa may have been the first European to see the springs when he passed through the

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area in 1590 on his way to that region of the continent that would one day become New Mexico.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made to settle the area around the springs in the late 17th and 18th Centuries. Then in the 1830s, English land speculators working north from Mexico attempted another permanent settlement here, but it, too, was abandoned because of the constant threat of Indian attack.

The first truly permanent settlement is credited to James and Paula Taylor, who established it in the 1860s.

According to a history of the San Felipe Springs on the Edwards Aquifer’s web site, “. . . Development along the creek was rapid.

Irrigation canals and dams were built to water vineyards, orchards, and gardens, and spring water was hauled and sold in town until 1900 when a water system was installed. In 1882 two gristmills were using the water for power, and by 1901 there was also an electric light and ice plant.”

That same history of the San Felipe Springs quotes an observation recorded by two surveyors for the U.S. Geological Survey in 1896. They wrote: “The westernmost of the line of fault springs are the San Felipe springs near Del Rio. They break out at the edge of the Edwards Plateau, 2 miles northeast of Del Rio and about 5 miles from the Rio Grande. The pool is almost as large as that at the head of the San Antonio River. From the deep-seated rock at its bottom the water can be seen welling up in a great column, and has the same peculiar greenish-blue color as that of the other streams of this class. No trees surround it; it is alone - a fountain in the desert.”

The Taylors and their business partners were among the first to see the importance of a reliable source of clean water and set about establishing a small agricultural empire.

Their efforts drew others to the area, and at least one of those early agricultural concerns remains to the present day, the Val Verde Winery, the oldest licensed winery in the state.

Today, the San Felipe Springs are still the sole source of water for the city of Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base.

The clear, beautiful water provides habitat for many species of fish, birds and mammals, and is a focus for much recreational activity

by Del Rio residents all year long. •

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The San Felipe Creek flows past Lt. Thomas Romanelli Memorial Park, top right of photo. There is much public access along the creek as it flows through south Del Rio toward the Rio Grande. • Below, from left: A male Green Darner dragonfly on the hunt, arugula blooms in meadows along the creek and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron takes flight.

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‘Yo Me Acuerdo’ Ruben ‘Pollo’ Barragan

documents life in San Felipe Story by KAREN GLEASON; photos by KAREN GLEASON and RUBEN ‘POLLO’ BARRAGAN

A

s a child, Ruben “Pollo” Barragan lived a stone’s throw from the San Felipe

Creek.

Once, when he was still quite young, he said, two men from the neighborhood tossed him into its clear waters and when he resurfaced, teased him for looking “like a drowned chicken.”

“They called me “Pollo,” chicken, and the name just sort of stuck,” Barragan said.

Barragan has no other nickname, though he said during his Christmas gift-giving days, children sometimes called him “Pollo Claus.”

For decades, Barragan has been a fixture in south Del Rio, peddling his bicycle along city streets, a trusty Canon camera slung over one shoulder.

Barragan, his gnarled brown worker’s hands clasped on the table in front of him, met me in the garden outside the Casa De La Cultura to talk about his life and times.

“I was born here on Plaza Brown, Chapoy Street, 103 Chapoy Street, on March 11, 1947, through a midwife.

My father was Jose Barragan and my mom, her name was Dora Garza and then Barragan. My father was born in Mexico, and my mom was born here

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Ruben “Pollo” Barragan gets ready to shoot a photo with his Canon camera. Barragan’s father was a photographer in Del Rio for nearly four decades, and Barragan has carried on the family’s photo tradition.

“They called me ‘Pollo,’ chicken, and the name just sort of stuck.”

in Del Rio,” Barragan said.

Barragan came to love photography through his father.

Barragan said his father was a professional photographer who worked for Del Rio photographer, studio owner and businessman Robert Warren for about 40 years.

Barragan said he is sure his interest in photography came from his father’s profession, but he picked up a camera out of sheer economic necessity, he said.

“I used to live in Fort Worth, but when I came back here, I couldn’t find a job, so my friend (Andy) Porras told me

since my father had been a photographer, I could try to progress myself by taking pictures, too, and make a little money, so he bought me a little old camera, and I started taking pictures of people in the bars around here,” Barragan recalled.

He frequented the watering holes that once dotted San Felipe: La Piedra, Jando’s Place, El Rancho Chico Café, the Maria Felix Lounge.

“I would take people’s pictures, and they would give me 50 cents, a dollar. That was a long time ago,” he said.

When I observed that was a hard way to make a living, Barragan was quiet for a moment, then said, “Very hard, but it helped me survive. I made a little money, and I like it.

I like it very much. The photography, you don’t get rich, but you leave good memories. I’ve seen pictures that my father took 60 years ago, in houses here in the area, and they tell me, ‘Hey, Pollo, mira, your father took this picture,’” he said.

From his work as a bar photographer, Barragan began working events, meetings, political rallies, community gatherings.

Before he returned to Del Rio to stay, though, Barragan spent years as a field and cannery worker and as a welder in California and Texas.

“My father never told me anything. Mi papá, he never told me, ‘Hey, tienes que ser fotógrafo, you have to be a photographer, you have to go to school and get a better job than this.’ I never got educated. We couldn’t. We had to go

“Pollo” Barragn helps hand out small Christmas gifts to some of the street children in Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico.

Ruben “Pollo” Barragan holds as a small child during one of the Christmas gift distribution events he helped organize in the city’s Barrio San Felipe.

Ruben “Pollo” Barragan shot this view of the main cathedral on the zocalo in Mexico City while on a bus tour to the Mexico capital in 2017.

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“I would take people’s pictures, and they would give me 50 cents, a dollar. That was a long time ago.”

Former Del Rio News-Herald Publisher Joe San Miguel, right, presents Ruben “Pollo” Barragan with the newspaper’s “Del Rioan of the Year” award in 1989. Barragan today recalls the presentation as one of his life’s proudest moments.

This photo was taken on a bus tour to Mexico City in July 2017.

Barragan said the stop was not on the tour, but the bus driver pulled over when a group of women insisted. This is Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. “They say a lot of miracles happen there,” he said.

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to work,” he said.

Barragan said he worked in the fields for about 10 years before moving on to work in the canneries, mainly because of pay. In 1969 he went to Fort Worth and started learning to weld, then returned to Del Rio in 1980.

In Del Rio, he worked for the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) volunteers, a group that developed community activists, and Barragan said his stint as the neighborhood “Pollo Claus” grew out of his work with that program.

“We visited homes, and I saw the needs, so in 1979, I was living in a house over on Elm Street. It was a long building, divided into 12 little rooms, and there were maybe 12, 15 children living there.

“On one Christmas morning, I got up and built a fire. All these children came out of those little rooms and started hanging around me. They were just standing there. Christmas Day, man. No gifts, nada. Some of them were playing with car tires and old bicycles.

“I said, ‘Hey, que te trajó Santa Claus?’ What did Santa Claus bring you, man? Nada, Pollo. Santa Claus no viene por aqui. Santa Claus doesn’t come here. And I said, ‘Nada?

I’m going to get you guys something.’

“So me and about 12 kids, we walked to one of the bars on the plaza, and it was open and I walked in, and they asked me, ‘Hey, vato, how you doin’?’ And I said I’m getting some money for these kids. They didn’t get anything for Christmas. You got a quarter? Yeah, I got a dollar. Let me give you 50 cents. Let me give you two dollars.

“I got a total of 15 bucks, and I went to Blanco’s. There was a store there, a grocery store, and we went in there, and the old man asked me, ‘What are you doing with so many kids, Pollo?’ And I explained, and we got candy, we got bubblegum, dulces, and I went over there to Falcon’s, and Falcon helped me, too, and we got balloons.

“We came back, and we were around the fire, and we were, like,

Ruben “Pollo” Barragan is a fixture in the city’s San Felipe neighborhood.

For decades, Barragan has ridden his bicycle to public and private events, carrying his camera to document the event for the ages. Here, he rides on Canal Street past a mural on Brown Plaza.

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All photos by Ruben “Pollo” Barragan. Clockwise from top left: View of entrance to the basilica in Mexico City; views of old and new basilicas in Mexico City built to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe; Barragan’s favorite photo, a nameless ranch near Marfa, Texas; photo of an old man tending his outdoor cookstove at Ejido de Oregano outside Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico; Brown Plaza bandstand decked out in Christmas finery; and Texas Horned Lizard that Barragan found and photographed outside the American G.I. Forum on East Garza Street about five years ago.

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Barragan’s photo of Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos, the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heavens in Mexico City, taken during a bus tour he took there in 2017.

‘Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas!’ That was the first year,” Barragan recalled.

The impromptu Christmas morning celebration grew year to year and continued for the next three decades.

Barragan and his neighborhood cohorts received help for their efforts from some of the city’s movers and shakers – bank presidents, store managers, business owners.

It also morphed into a school year drive to provide shoes and school supplies for the neighborhood’s youngsters.

What are Barragan’s best memories of those days?

His best memory deals with one of the Christmas gift distributions.

“We were distributing toys inside the Casa, and (one year) I was in here with Santa Claus and the line of kids went out the door and all the way to the creek. It was sleeting and ice, miserable, and this guy, Robert Chavarria, who was checking out the line and making sure the kids didn’t fight came over to me and said, ‘Hey, Pollo, come here, I want to tell you something. All the way at the end of

One of Barragan’s most well-known portraits, of Juan Corbatas, who was known around town as “Johnny Tie.” “He was hard to take photos of, because he was like a little kid. The sombrero he’s wearing, I gave that to him.” Barragan said he traded the hat to Juan in exchange for allowing him to take the photo.

the line, there’s a little girl. She’s eight years old and she’s with her grandma,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, what’s the problem?’

And he was like, ‘She’s blind, esse.’ So I said, ‘Get her over here, boss, bring her over here.’

“So they brought the little girl, and she was the first one to get stuff that year. I mean, what could I give her? I said, ‘Lord, help me,’ because what could I give that little girl?’

I got her the biggest, prettiest teddy bear we had. She got it in her hands, and she put her hands all over it, and she knew what it was. Then she kissed me, and that was my Christmas present. I will never forget that one. Never, as long as I live,” Barragan said.

I asked Barragan how he would like to be remembered.

“As a good guy. Just a good guy, a caring guy, a guy who cared for human beings, for anybody. If there’s a guy and he’s walking across the street and he’s 100 years old, try to help him out. That’s the person I want to be remembered as,” Barragan said. •

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“Grande magazine is a quality magazine with great stories and color.

I feel that it’s a great place to advertise and reach local and surrounding areas. I love it.”

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Rain or shine or...

Del Rio’s got great weather – except when it doesn’t Story by MEGAN TACKETT; Photos by TAYLOR GOODWIN/TAG OUTDOORS

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GRANDE / FEBRUARY 2019

D

el Rioans wake up each morning expecting to see simmering sunshine and cerulean skies outside their windows. For many residents, Del Rio’s consistently wonderful weather is what keeps them around.

Del Rio sees an average daily temperature of 70 degrees and less than 61 days of rain each year. These reliable conditions allow Queen City citizens to regularly enjoy the region’s recreations, while providing Laughlin Air Force Base pilots the perfect terrain to train.

According to Smalltown Weather blogger and meteorologist Dan Schreiber, a subtropical high pressure positioned over much of Texas creates an atmospheric barrier, keeping temperatures high and precipitation limited.

“This works as a bubble over the region and keeps significant moisture and rainfall out,” Schreiber said. “The absence of significant moisture allows the atmosphere to warm faster than it would with significant humidity present.”

Data from the National Weather Service shows Del Rio sees an average maximum temperature of 81 degrees and an average minimum temperature of 59 degrees. Of course, Del Rioans know temperatures can soar in the summer and flirt with freezing in the winter, but generally speaking,the weather is mostly pleasant.

“That’s something a lot of people look for.

It’s not bitterly cold all the time. That’s why so many ‘snowbirds’ come down here to avoid that,” Schreiber said. “But it doesn’t get ungodly hot either, except for a couple days in the summertime.”

This reliably nice weather is a major reason the Air Force selected Val Verde County as the perfect place to train its pilots, more than 300 each year.

Air Force officials specifically choose areas with wide open air space and fly-able weather patterns to establish pilot training bases, said Schreiber, a former Laughlin meteorologist.

But as the saying goes, especially in Del Rio, when it rains, it pours.

Del Rio straddles two sometimes conflicting climate zones, Schreiber said, the semiarid streppe zone and the humid subtropical zone. With dry desert climate to the west, humid subtropical climate just to the east and elevated terrain to the west, south, and north-northeast, Del Rio is prone to strong, sudden storms.

“Forecasting weather in Del Rio can be a challenge because of the way storms and other weather develops across the area,” Schreiber said. “The cold, dry air aloft from the desert to the west mixes with warm, moist air near the surface

GRANDE / FEBRUARY 2019

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funneled up the Rio Grande, and voila, close the shutters.”

Del Rio experiences heavy, but brief, rainfall due to convective precipitation from cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds, Schreiber explained. Cumulus clouds, puffy and cotton-like, can morph into towering, intimidating cumulonimbus clouds with increased moisture and temperature gradient.

“Our rainy season is during transition seasons, spring and fall, when warm, humid air at the surface is mixing with cold, dry air aloft,” Schreiber said. “This mixing, the transfer of heat is known as convection and is generally short-lived, sporadic, but often heavy.”

When bad weather charges through town, Del Rioans hunker down, endure and wait for sunny skies to return. Occasional storms and showers are not enough to scare them from their beloved hometown. •

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CLOSET CONFIDENTIAL

Rosa Linda

Sanchez Story and photos by KAREN GLEASON

Editor’s note: I’ve known Rosa Linda Sanchez for more than 20 years, since our sons played Little League baseball together. She has always impressed me as the epitome of the strong, put-together, no-nonsense woman that all of us of the female persuasion strive to be. When she invited me into her home to talk about her personal style and show me some of her treasures, I also found that she is a woman of wry humor, whose faith is like a deep and nourishing stream, someone who loves her family and who has traded the fleeting dictates of fashion for a striking, independent style.

Personal style “I like to have different looks, so I don’t consider myself as having one particular style. I ride a Harley, and I love to dress western. I also love to wear dresses. I don’t really look to anyone. I’ve just always liked clothes, and when I was younger, my mom made a lot of my clothes. For instance, she made my prom dress. When I first went to college, she made me gabardine pants with matching blouses. I’ve never shied away from strong colors or patterns. I love bright colors. I love to wear red. I love to wear orange. I love animal prints. Really, it’s whatever catches my eye at the time.”

Favorite Shops “Locally, I shop anywhere and everywhere. I do a lot of shopping at Ross and some at Marshalls. I like to go to Miles Away From Nowhere, Glam Girlz and Buffalo Girls. I also find clothes at J.C. Penney and

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“These beautiful, old-fashioned earrings were given to me by my mother-in-law, Mabel Sanchez.

I’ve probably had them 20 years or more.”

“I got this necklace from one of my grandsons, Jesse Paul III, on Valentine’s Day in 2015.

On it, it says, ‘A grandmother’s love is open arms.’”

“This is a rosary and case my daughter Jessica Rose bought for me when she graduated from college. She went on a European trip, and she went to Rome and Vatican City, and she had it blessed by the Pope. It’s something I carry with me in my purse all the time. It’s very special to me.”

“

“

“The fringed boots I bought while we were on a trip to Las Vegas, and the stitched cowboy boots I got at Buffalo Girls.”

I bought this sweater dress at Ross. It’s typical of something I’d wear to church.

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“These are coins my father gave me for my children and a note in his handwriting telling me what they were and who they were for. He gave these to me on Christmas 2000. These are what you call arras, and the groom would give the coins to the bride. My father has 13 coins for each one of my children from the year that each of them was born.”

This was my parents’ suitcase when I was growing up.

I remember us traveling with it, to Astro World, to Six Flags. Every summer we would visit my grandfather’s brothers, who lived on ranches in the Marfa area.

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“

“

This is the 50th anniversary Ford Thunderbird my husband J.P. bought me.

This is a look I might wear to dinner.

“A two-sided sparkly handbag I bought on a trip to New York City.”

sometimes at Bealls. In San Antonio, I go to the big Ross on I-10 and Macy’s.

I’m a bargain shopper, and I like to buy things on sale. I do buy things full-price if I really like it.”

Life philosophy “What I treasure the most, it’s not the material things, it’s the journey that he and I have had. We are high school sweethearts. We started ‘dating’ in 1973, over the phone, because I wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend. I was 13 and he was 14, so on Oct. 23 of 2018, we’ve been going steady for 45 years and been married for 37 years. It’s been a long journey, with ups and downs, of course, but a wonderful journey, and that’s what I treasure the most.”

Work Life “I worked for the Texas Department of Human Services as a case manager, for about eight years, and then I went to work for the school district as a teacher’s aide, again for about eight years. Once Eddie graduated in 2002, in the fall of 2002, I went back to college and graduated in 2008. I worked for Jesse for a few years, and from there, I worked for Sul Ross State University.

My degree is in business, and while I was there, I found out I could teach a business class and get a teacher’s certification in business. I also taught at the middle school, keyboarding, which is typing and career portals, for three years, and then I retired.”•

“This clock radio, which has an 8-track player built in, is something I asked for when I was a senior in high school.

I got it for Christmas in 1976, and I graduated from high school in 1977. I also took it to college with me.”

“My father, Jose M. Benavidez, built this many years ago. My mother used it as a china cabinet. It was in my parents’ house as long as I can remember. I use it to display pictures.”

“This perfume is what I wore when I was in high school, and it’s a perfume my husband gave me one Christmas, and one he always liked it. I still buy it. It’s about $11 at Walmart.”

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A GRANDE LIFE

Blanca Larson Story and photo by KAREN GLEASON

T

here is no doubt that Blanca Larson loves Del Rio, and she’s been singing the area’s praises long before she became executive director of the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce.

“My dad, Arturo Gonzalez, was an attorney here for over 80 years, and he passed away in 2012 at the young age of 104, probably on his way to work, and my mother was Cuban,” Larson said.

Her parents settled in Del Rio, and Larson is one of five brothers and sisters. There is Daisy Arledge, who lives in Indiana; Kathy Benson, who lives in Fort Worth; Arthur Gonzalez, who lives in Pearland, Texas; and the youngest, Val Verde County Court-At-Law Sergio Gonzalez Jr. “My mother ingrained in us, from the time we were little, the girls, specifically; that we all had to go to school because you had to have an education, and you never had to depend on a man unless you wanted to,” she said.

Larson’s childhood was marked by serious medical problems, but she remembers it as happy.

“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be because I liked everything. I made friends easily. I was really taken care of until I was 11. That’s when I had my heart surgery. In those days, I was in the hospital a lot because I was born with heart trouble, but I never had a bad experience,” she said.

Despite her health challenges, Larson continued her positive outlook and her love of other people.

“I think that’s because my mother was like that,” Larson said.

Her view of the future began to crystallize after she graduated from high school.

“I liked every subject except math, so by process of elimination, I picked communications, which was radio, television and film, and journalism was a minor, but I loved the production end of it. I got an internship at North Texas State University, which is now the University of North Texas, and I started as a production assistant, which is the go-fer,” Larson recalled with a laugh.

She completed her degree, a bachelor of arts in speech and drama.

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“I got a fellowship to do my masters at the University of Texas, but never finished, I was nine hours from finishing, when I got a job offer to work with the first Spanish TV station on Corpus Christi, which was pretty awesome. . . After that I came back home and met the people who were doing the mall, because they needed someone who was bilingual because of the marketing,” she said.

Larson began working for the company that operated the mall, CBL & Associates, in 1979.

“They have offered me many different properties to go to, but I stayed here because of family . . . My mother died in 1988, and my dad didn’t need anybody to take care of him, but because of family, mother-in-law, we stayed, and of course, I love Del Rio,” she said.

“I love Lake Amistad. I love the creek, especially

by Memo’s, that’s my favorite place, and Tardy Dam, and the Plaza Brown. It gives such a unique feel to the community, and I don’t think people take as much advantage of it as they should,” she added.

“We grew up in Moore Park. We grew up at the creek and the canals, also. And if we weren’t there, we were at the lake, and at the beach in Corpus. My mother was a water person, and so the girls were always skiing, and 99 percent of the time we were on the lake,” she said.

Now, Larson serves as the executive director of the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, a position she has held since January 2016.

She loves the position because it gives her a chance to spread the Del Rio gospel.

“I love the people. I love talking to people. I love when new people come in and they want to know where to go and what to do. If they’re here on a Thursday night, I send them to Memo’s for the jam sessions. I know people who have lived in Del Rio all their lives who have never been to Memo’s,” she said.

Larson said one of the things she tries to focus on “is promoting our city within our city.”

Looking back, Larson said she is glad she stayed in Del Rio. “I have no regrets at all on that.” •

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DECEMBER 2018

OCT 2018

NOVEMBER 2018

SEPTEMBER 2018

CHARLEY’S WRATH

MARCHING PROUD

AFTER THE DELUGE

Radney Foster carries Del Rio in his heart

Flood of 1998 worst in city’s history

The Mighty Ram Band takes its music seriously

THE NUTCRACKER BALLET DECEMBER 2018 $3.99

HOLIDAY DECORATING

EXOTIC EATS Wild Game Dinner offers guns and grub

Season’s Greetings GRANDE / DECEMBER 2018

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GIRLS WITH GUNS Cabello sisters hit the mark

NOVEMBER 2018 $3.99

HISTORIC HAUNTINGS

PASSING IT ON

Ghost tour thrills Fort Clark Springs visitors

Hunters work with youth to keep traditions alive

The Hunting Issue GRANDE / NOVEMBER 2018

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HALLOWEEN READY Homeowners create spooky scare-scapes

OCTOBER 2018

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AUGUST 2018

GUITAR MAGIC

Museum preserves flood artifacts

FLOOD STORIES

Responders and survivors share their memories

EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

Mexican holiday honors the beloved dead

Celebrating Autumn GRANDE / OCTOBER 2018

SEPTEMBER 2018 $3.99

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LOCAL SOUND Del Rio bands nurture musical renaissance

GRANDE / SEPTEMBER 2018

AUGUST 2018

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR MEN AND WOMEN TO MODEL IN FUTURE ISSUES OF THE MAGAZINE. If you are interested, send photos and contact information to Sandra Castillo at the following email: sandra.castillo@delrionewsherald.com or call 830-775-1551.

For story and photo ideas, email Karen Gleason at the following: karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com

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Miguel Garcia, owner and operator of Julio’s Seasonings & Corn Chips restaurant, checks out a batch of the unique seasoning that made Julio’s a household name in Del Rio and beyond.

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Gotta Have ’em

Julio’s chips, salsa and seasoning a true American success story Story and photos by KAREN GLEASON

I

n any discussion of the best food in Del Rio, Julio’s chips, salsa and seasoning are always mentioned, and no party or gathering of friends and family is complete without them.

The story of the chips’ skyrocket to popularity is a real Cinderella story, to paraphrase actor Bill Murray, a real tale of American small town success.

The success comes as no surprise to Miguel Garcia – son of Julio Garcia, the company’s founder – but Garcia said he is still gratified by the love customers show the company’s products.

“A friend of mine went to the Great Wall of China, and he took a bag of chips with him, and he took a picture of himself, with the bag of chips on the Great Wall of China, and for him to do that, I guess he wanted to show that Julio’s was in China . . . A lot of people have done stuff like that,” Garcia said.

Photos like the one described hang on the walls of Julio’s Seasoning & Corn Chips restaurant, 3900 U.S. Highway 90, depicting military service people who have taken Julio’s around the globe, including into the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq and many points between.

“We do get people who come in and ask for ‘care packages’ to be sent to faraway friends and loved ones, and we’ll do that. We’ll send our products anywhere around the world, wherever they’re at,” Garcia said.

“It feels kind of nice because people are craving it and missing it, and it’s part of something that they love, so of course you want to fulfill that for them,” he said.

Sometimes the Julio’s goes out to the people, and sometimes the people go to Julio’s, and they are people whose names you’d probably recognize.

“A few years ago, the professional wrestler, Steve Austin, he was sitting in the restaurant eating brisket, and a customer saw him and said, ‘Excuse me, sir, are you Steve Austin?’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I am.’ Forget it. Everybody bothered that poor man for autographs the rest of his meal.

“It’s surprising, but we see people like that; politicians come in here as well . . . It makes me happy that people come in here, that I’ve got something that people want to try,” Garcia said.

The chips were by no means an overnight success, if there is such a thing, but the product of careful attention, ingenuity and innovation and years of hard work and dedicated marketing by Julio Garcia and the members of his family, including Miguel.

Miguel Garcia said when he began working with his father, he was solely responsible for mixing and packaging the Julio’s Seasoning – all by hand.

Initially, the chips were an appetizer Julio Garcia made for diners at Del Rio’s old Cedar’s Steak House and at the Branding Iron Steak House when the elder Garcia cooked there and entertained diners with a repertoire of singing, dancing, fun and fabulous food.

Garcia began frying the chips in the kitchen of his home on Philemon Street.

In 1985, the operation was being run out of the Garcias’ garage, located adjacent to their house in the 400 block of Avenue B, between West Second and West Third streets.

“I used to work at H-E-B, and on my days off, I would go and help my dad. When I would get off early from work, I would go help my dad,” Miguel Garcia remembered.

“The chips weren’t real popular then, and the seasoning was really what started us off,” he added.

Julio Garcia began using the cardboard trays that held 12-packs of beer as the carrier vehicle for his $6 box of chips.

“My dad would get 30 of those trays, and he would take them home and wrap them with freezer paper and pour chips into that box, wrap it like a present, and that’s how he sold the $6 box. That was his packaging,” Miguel Garcia said.

The growth of the popularity in Julio’s chips and seasoning are two threads of the same success story.

H-E-B also played a role in the growth of the

After being stamped from masa, corn tortilla chips are taken by conveyor belt to a dryer.

Freshly baked corn tortilla chips are gently showered with Julio’s seasoning in the factory behind Julio’s Seasonings & Corn Chips restaurant.

New bags of Julio’s corn tortilla chips are seconds away from being placed in boxes and loaded on transport trucks for shipment to vendors throughout Del Rio and across Texas.

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popularity of the seasoning and chips.

Garcia said he began selling “a lot” of seasoning when the grocery giant began putting it on the shelves of “the little H-E-B” in south Del Rio. A real boost came when Garcia and his mother cooked some brisket using the seasoning and set up at H-E-B to hand out samples of the savory meat wrapped in Jimenez tortillas.

“I gave them a little bit of brisket in a fourth of a tortilla, and people would taste it and just grab a seasoning. ‘That’s all you put? No way!’ And off they’d go,” Garcia said.

He recalled even the store being impressed when he sold 10 cases of seasoning in eight hours.

“My job, when I sold out, was go home and make some more, hurry up and make more, pack it and get it out there,” he said.

When Garcia went to work at “the big H-E-B” on Veterans, the seasoning went with him.

Julio Garcia, in the meantime, had gone to work at the old Peppers convenience store, now a Stripes, at the corner of Veterans and East 15th Street.

“He was working the graveyard shift, and he was making chips for Peppers, only because noticed that nachos were selling there a lot,” Garcia said.

When Julio Garcia brought the chips and seasoning to Peppers, they were just as popular as they had been at the steak houses.

“And people just loved them, and they were like, ‘Sell me a bag of it.’ So he would send them over to the house, and that’s how it started getting more and more popular,” Garcia said.

He recalled how his father asked one of his sisters, who worked in a local restaurant, to bring him some of the white plastic buckets that pickles and potato salad came in.

“I remember she came in with about 10 of them, and he cleaned and washed them, so he made the chips and he would pour them into those buckets, and he made a bucket and called it the $15 bucket,” he said.

Garcia is the first to admit there were fits and starts, but all-in-all, the company has grown and grown.

When did he begin to realize how big the company would get?

“When I was making chips, and I got a broker, and the broker asked me, ‘Can you keep up with the demand?’ My first instinct

was, ‘Yes, I can,’ but I never knew the amount of the demand. We were making everything by hand by then. We were already over there at the Avenue B place, and we had gone through three fryers because the business was growing every year, and every year we were trying to buy a better fryer,” Garcia said.

Garcia said he began to realize the business was going to another level when the family began running out of space at Avenue B. Garcia said he believes his father realized the business would become bigger than any of them had imagined when he told the family he would have to quit his job because he was no longer able to work full-time and fry chips on the side.

“He quit his job and went to the shop, and that’s when people really started coming to him, and he would sell his box of chips and his salsa, and people were coming every day,” Garcia said.

Then, Del Rioans began asking their local retailers to carry “Julio’s” chips.

Eventually, Miguel, too, left his job at H-E-B to concentrate 24/7 on the burgeoning family business.

Julio Garcia passed away in 2014, but his legacy lives on.

Miguel Garcia today owns and operates Julio’s Seasoning & Corn Chips restaurant, where Del Rioans and visitors can stock up on Julio’s products but also sit down for excellent fajita tacos, tapatios and other Tex-Mex specialties, many of them based on Garcia family recipes.

“I always felt I was going to own some type of food establishment, because my mom and my dad are cooks, and we always cooked out.

We ate, and we loved tapatios and tortas and barbacoa,” Garcia said.

The factory behind the restaurant has equipment that churns out 500 pounds of chips in an hour, and even that level of production can in no way keep up with demand for the crunchy, tasty snacks.

Miguel Garcia is deep in plans for expansion, including a factory that can triple his current production numbers.

His dad’s faith in the company never wavered, Garcia recalled.

“He believed in it from day one. He’d always tell us, ‘These chips are going to pay my bills,’” Garcia recalled with a laugh.

They have done that and then some. •

“Try it, you’ll love it” is the motto of Julio’s seasoning, good for everything from grilled fajitas and burgers to fruits, vegetables and salads.

Light, tasty and utterly addictive, bright yellow bags of Julio’s corn tortilla chips line a shelf, waiting for customers.

Julio’s Home Style Mild Salsa is still the best-selling of several different varieties of salsa offered by Julio’s. Other include Hot Salsa, Serrano Salsa and Habañero Salsa.

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Local Looks

Gateway to Mexico graphic tee Jeans, Sarape Tote, and Bracelets By Lemon Drop Shoppe

PHOTOS BY VANILLA BEAN PHOTOGRAPHY MODELS: ALEJANDRA TORRES, ANISSI VASQUEZ WARDROBE PROVIDED BY LEMON DROP SHOPPE

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Acuna Mex graphic tee, Pink floral embellished halter by Lemon Drop Shoppe

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Neon Del Rio Texas tee By Lemon Drop Shoppe

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Del Rio Favorites This saucy ball cap is available in a variety of colors at Del Rio Feed & Supply. When someone asks you, “Del Rio? Where’s that?” you’ll be able to give them the lowdown.

Great as a gift or to keep around the house, wines from Val Verde Winery, the oldest licensed winery in Texas, are always a hit. Stemmed and stemless wine glasses etched with the winery’s logo are the perfect vehicle for your afternoon sip.

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Keep your hot drinks hot and your cold drinks cold while showing love for local attraction, the Whitehead Memorial Museum, “a small frontier village in the middle of Del Rio, Texas.”

Available at the museum’s gift shop.

Handmade in your hometown, Mija’s Soap is carefully produced in small batches by Del Rio maker Maria Sorola at Cedillo Sorola Pottery and Handcrafted Goods from natural ingredients. Shown left to right are Carolina #1, Honey and Brazilian Clay.

Reach Sorola at Maria.sorola@gmail.com.

You’ll always be able to find your way back to Del Rio if you’re wearing one of these stylish cuff bracelets stamped with the Queen City’s map coordinates. Available in goldtone, silvertone and coppertone. Find them at Del Rio Feed & Supply.

Home is where Del Rio is. Show your pride in your hometown with this soft, long-sleeve tee available at Russell True Value.

Read up on hometown history with these two excellent books by local historian Doug Braudaway. “Val Verde County” is part of the Images of America series, and “Del Rio: Queen City of the Rio Grande” is part of the Making of America series. Both books are available in the gift shop at the Whitehead Memorial Museum.

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Pozole Recipe by XOCHITL ARTEAGA; Styling by ALMA NUÑEZ; Photo by KAREN GLEASON

W

hen we talk about typical Mexican dishes, dozens come to mind. One in particular always comes to my mind because of its different presentations throughout Mexico, the pozole.

Pozole is a soup made with hominy and can be prepared with chicken or pork, with its garnishes, oregano, avocado, cabbage, radishes, toast and lemon. The name of the dish is derived from the name pozolli which means foam, which is produced when the corn or hominy is boiled. There are different pozoles, green, red, white with chicken, pork and even seafood. The most popular are green (typical of the state of Guerrero), red (consumed in Jalisco and Sinaloa) and white (mostly consumed in the center of the country).

Ingredients • Cilantro • 2 onions • 5 Poblano peppers • 5 Jalapeño peppers • 7 Serrano peppers • 2 lbs. tomatillos • Oregano • 2 heads of garlic • 1 big can of hominy • Shredded cabbage • Sliced radishes • Thinly-sliced avocado • Salt to taste • Whole chicken

Method • I begin by opening the can of hominy can and rinsing the hominy. Get a big pot and start boiling the hominy with one onion. I get the chicken and clean it, then cut it into four pieces. I then place it in the same pot with hominy and add a complete head of garlic. Boil this for 40 or 50 minutes.

• Once cooked, remove the chicken and let it cool so you can shred it later. In a separate pot, I start to boil the peppers, tomatillo and one onion, washed and peeled, and a tablespoon of oregano. Once boiled, I blend them with the cilantro and the other head of garlic. Then I season with salt.

• Once the salsa is ready, you can add the salsa into the big pot with hominy.

After shredding the chicken, you can add the meat to the pot and add salt.

• Cook this for 20 to 30 minutes.

• Wash the cabbage and radish, then cut into fine pieces. Cut the avocado and lemon. Serve and garnish with cabbage, radish, avocado, fresh oregano and enjoy!!

Note: You will have a lot of salsa left over.

You can reserve or freeze for more pozole.

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Aguas

Frescas

Recipe by ALFREDO MIRANDA; photos by KAREN GLEASON

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A

lfredo Miranda creates his light and refreshing aguas frescas for Goodies Snack Around in the Plaza Del Sol Mall, a business owned by his wife, Marissa Puente.

Miranda explained aguas frescas, a phrase that translates literally as “cool waters,” is a non-alcoholic drink made from water and different types of fruits, including melons, lemons and limes.

Aguas frescas, popular in Mexico and Central America, are sometimes also made from flowers.

During the weekdays, Miranda only offers melon aguas frescas made from cantaloupe, but on the weekends, he also offers aguas frescas made from watermelon and lemon.

Miranda has been a chef in the Del Rio area for about 25 years. He has worked at Avanti’s, the Ramada Inn and at the Icon Bar & Grill.

Ingredients

Method

• Fresh cantaloupes, peeled, seeded, chopped and blended into puree

• Buy the freshest and ripest cantaloupe you can find. Peel it, seed it, chop it into one-inch chunks and puree in blender.

• 1 can of Carnation evaporated milk (may be omitted)

• Add evaporated milk and brown sugar.

• Brown sugar, to taste

• This puree makes enough for about five gallons of aguas frescas.

• Strain mixture through cheesecloth to remove bits of melon.

• Pour puree into large plastic container and add fresh water and ice.

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Last Look Howdy readers -

I could spend all day telling you what I love about Del Rio, but what it really comes down to is the people. Truth be told, I wasn’t born here (I was actually born on Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska), but I got here as soon as I could.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned that there are always people that come into your life that make you learn to appreciate the place you call home even more.

Here in Del Rio that means folks like Ruben “Pollo” Barragan, who has chronicled life in San Felipe longer than the models for our photo shoot this month have been alive, or Rosa Linda Sanchez, whose style is first class and a reflection of the down-to-earth woman she’s always been.

It also means marveling at the natural scenery that we take for granted because we see it every day. I grew up with the lake just a few minutes away or swimming in San Felipe Creek with my cousins and friends, but I always love hearing strangers talk about their beauty.

They’re a huge part of what make this town great.

And when someone comes to town and asks, “What’s there to eat around here?” your first reaction is usually “What are you looking for?” before rattling off a list of eateries that are ready-made to satisfy your hunger pangs. Julio’s Chips have become such an institution that it wouldn’t shock me to hear there’s a penguin in the arctic somewhere that devoured a fish covered in that tasty seasoning. And of course there the more personal dishes and drinks, like pozole and aguas frescas, that we’ve all tried and know someone who has the best recipe for them on this planet.

Years ago, there was a series of commercials that hammered home the phrase, “Delightful Del Rio.” I used to think they were corny. Turns out this place really is pretty delightful.

Thanks for reading, Brian Argabright Grande Writer/Photographer

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Clockwise from top: - Liana Escareño makes the “heart hands” gesture while gazing at the sunset at Lake Amistad.

- Grande Editor Karen Gleason steps up to shoot this month’s recipe.

- Alma Nuñez and Jorge Alarcon style the bowl of Xochitl Arteaga’s pozole in the News-Herald’s break room.

- Grande Advertising Director Ashley Lopez works with Alejandra Torres to get just the right look for our photo shoot.

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HEART HEALTH FAIR Saturday, FEB 16 12-4 pm Plaza Del Sol Mall Del Rio

Happy Heart Health Month!

Please, join us on Saturday, February 16th from 12 to 4 at the Plaza del Sol Mall for a Heart Health Fair

HEART DISEASE FACTS:

• Heart Disease is the number one killer in the US. • Over 600,000 people die each year from heart disease • One-third of these deaths are easily preventable • You can learn Life’s Simple Seven to prevent heart disease at the VVRMC Heart Health Fair • Heart Disease is a simple puzzle to solve we’re here to help

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