more on Charro Days

Alright, this week has been crazy! Charro Days (and subsequently the Sombrero Festival) are a whole lot of people getting dressed up in all kinds of either Mexican peasant clothes or 'Charro' clothes. This is one of those situations where I have to smile, nod, and accept the fact that I am Casper white and will never have a festival that I am THAT dedicated to (asside from the Renn faires).

Charro Days has three parades -- the Children's Parade, the Iluminated Parade, and the International Parade. Each one has something slightly different to offer. The Children's Parade has elementary kids performing traditional dances, the Iluminated Parade is full of lit up floats, and the International parade is a mix of floats and groups from Matamoros as well as Brownsville.  I went to the Children's Parade and got a bit of a sunburn on my face. I got to see the tail end of both of the other parades. It's not the same watching vs. being a part of it all. Again, I'm too much of foreigner to really appreciate it.

...when in Texas...

Charro Days!

Charro: (noun) "ranching dandy" complete with fancy clothes and a girl on each arm.

Day: (noun) time between sun rise and sun set.

Charro Days: (noun) week long series of events, festival, parades, etc. think Mardi Gras in New Orleans, only  in Brownsville, Texas and not quite as internationally recognized...but it is internationally recognized by some pockets of population... :)

Anyway, Charro Days started today and it goes all week.

...when in Texas...

an update on stuffs

The internet has been down in the flat for the last couple of days. At least I can check my e-mail at my office. I've been going a bit crazy with the museum. We opened but we weren't quite finished--we had a handful of details and a bit of Spanish text we needed to get in. Guess what, the people we hire for printing and the like had a bit of a communications glitch and one guy hasn't been sending work orders to the others who actually do the printing. I've taken steps to fix this and go straight to the guys who actually print out my text. They are cool. They actually do the work in a very timely manner.

So, in the mean time, I'm working on the BHA facebook page. I know, crazy. Its a fan page and anyone who is interested can find it:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brownsville-TX/Brownsville-Historical-Association/255965253619?ref=nf

...when in Texas...

a bit of an edit.

My previous post has a link to get to the newspaper article from Jan. 26th. so, on the date/search date go to January 26, 2010. and the paper should come up.

For those who are wondering, the article made the front page. :)

...when in Texas...

news!

http://epaper.brownsvilleherald.com/Default/Skins/BrownsvilleHerald/Client.asp?Skin=BrownsvilleHerald&Daily=Brownsville&AW=1264531875981&AppName=1

yep, somehow I made it into the paper as the front girl for the Heritage Museum. Actually, I'm the project director for finishing the museum and then I get to put on a different hat for the next project at hand... :) but for now I get to bask in the 'I've got two things left to do on the museum but the pressure is off so I can do my job' :)

...when in Texas...

survive, I did.

We had our big opening/meeting/fancy dinner/etc. yesterday. All day it was a meeting with the Stillman family--whom are pretty much the reason why the BHA exsists! Then we had the annual meeting with the board and members, complete with awards, voting in new members, the state of the BHA address, etc. Members who came to said meeting were treated to the not quite complete (we're missing spanish text, a hand full of labels and a hand full of panels that are also missing spanish text). Everyone loved it! Even with the things we are missing, everyone loved it! After the member's meeting, we had the big dinner. This has been lovingly called the Stillman Trust. Needless to say, with everything going well in the morning and early evening, you'd think SOMETHING would have gone wrong...nope. Went off without a hitch! Sarah was in charge of getting the dinner pulled together and such and oh yeah, she's awesome. The who's who of Brownsville showed up--I know it doesn't sound that impressive but it is for a place like Brownsville, it was. The mayor, commissioners, judges, etc. all came to our event. Now, here's a little thing about said who's who. They tend to judge the event by who else of the who's who came to said event. ALL of them were at our event. Pretty cool if you ask me.

...When in Texas...

one of the coolest things I've been a part of...

Alright, the above piece of stone is a pretty cool one. The four corner images are actual ranching brands from all over the southern Texas. The central brand is the official bar BHA brand. I am in the process of registering it! Rhiannon designed it and drew it, and even painted it on our horse IN the museum.

The stone itself is granite and going to be used for making rubbings of said ranching brands. All we need to do now is get a table for it, write up the instruction panel in English AND Spanish. Lucky me, there's a translator in house.

...when in Texas...