Vasquez, El Pollo Bravo, Espinosa & Hernandez lauded by Latino Town Hall
October 13, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Commitment to community was celebrated at the 14th Annual Latino Town Hall Awards dinner, celebrated September 14 at Casa del Mexicano, where Albino Pineda, Anthony “Tony” Vasquez, Jr., El Pollo Bravo/Francisco and Grace Soltero, Elvia Hernandez, Adrianna Nuńez, Frida Friend and Luzmaria Espinosa were lauded.
LTH President and City Councilman Dr. Gabino Aguirre welcomed the crowd, noting the celebration reflects the organization’s belief that “what is important to us is important to others,” and although at times others “try to drive a wedge” the community of Santa Paula is one of common wants and the need for like opportunities.
LTH strives to support many activities and programs in Santa Paula, and the city, he added, is now home to the nation’s first monument to agricultural workers. “We don’t want any more or any less for all” and, Aguirre noted, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.”
The annual awards, said Master of Ceremonies Jesse Ornelas, are to “recognize real heroes and heroines in our community who give of themselves unselfishly for the betterment of our city.” Recipients are nominated by their peers in a variety of categories that represent different aspects of life, and those that reflect the LTH goal of “advocating for the social and material needs of our community.”
Keynote speaker was nationally recognized civil rights attorney Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF, and past and present elected officials and candidates were also in attendance. Also introduced were Casa directors, with Ornelas giving a brief history of the benevolent organization.
Vasquez Jr., was honored with LTH Youth Services Award. A city native who graduated from local schools, he joined the Army in 1968 and served during the Vietnam conflict and was decorated with a Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge. After a career with the city and in the oil industry, he returned to the latter after being retired only a year.
Like many area youth, Vasquez played Little League baseball - and was an outstanding varsity player at SPHS - a game he was introduced to by his father, “Big Tony.” A Latino Town Hall Award Honoree himself, “Big Tony” also introduced his son to coaching and umpiring.
Vasquez became a Little League coach and umpire in 1975 and stayed with it for two decades. He also coached boys and girls basketball teams for the city’s Recreation Department and St. Sebastian School, and from 1982-2006 he coached teams in every age group that garnered three city recreational titles.
For the past two years, Vasquez has moved up in competition level, and is now coaching girls traveling teams. In 2008, he took a Santa Paula Girls All-Star team to the Western Region Finals in Portland, Oregon, finishing in 4th place. He’s currently coaching a fast pitch team of girls 14 and under. The goal for all participating teams in this league is to qualify in the World Series tournament in Utah.
“Since day one, Tony has established high expectations for his athletes, and at the top of his list is academic excellence” and, noted Ornelas, “a ‘C’ average is not good enough for him, he expects more. He sees in every athlete the opportunity to develop the fundamental skills of the sport plus discipline, confidence, sportsmanship and, most importantly, teamwork,” that will benefit them as adults.
Vasquez, like his late father before him, is an active member of the VFW Mercer-Prieto Chapter. Absent due to a game, his son Tony III accepted the award on behalf of his father.
Espinosa was honored with the Cultural Arts Award in recognition of her more than four-decade devotion to performing arts including poetry, dance and theatre. Espinosa has performed throughout North America, Mexico, Central America and Northern Africa and has integrated art, education, and spirituality in service of Mexican and Chicano youth and adults, humanity and Mother Earth locally.
Born in Michoacan, Mexico, her family migrated to Santa Paula in 1956 where she attended local schools and helped her farmworker family. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Sociology from the UCSB, and an Antioch University Masters in Organizational Management. She has served numerous migrant communities with her adult education credential.
Espinosa is a past artist-in-residence in theatre with the California Arts Council, past coordinator of Ventura County Poets in Schools, and a National Endowment for the Arts recipient. As a performing artist, during the 1970s she traveled to Mexico and Nicaragua with Los Mascarones, the Mexico City-based avant-garde theatre company.
Ornelas said, “While in Mexico, Espinosa became a traditional Aztec dancer and has continued to carry the cultural-spiritual tradition of La Danza Azteca, which has spearheaded and maintained close relationships between Mexican-American and Native American communities throughout North America.”
A self-published poet, her most recent collection is “When Life Has Gone Full Circle.” In Oxnard and Santa Paula elementary schools she has led student poetry workshops, and published the work of youth.
Espinosa coordinated San Louis Obispo County’s PASS for migrant youth to earn credits toward a high school diploma. Since the 1980s she has taught Danza to children and families in the Tri-Counties. In 1997 she was Capitana of Mexico’s Aztec Dance, and is responsible for carrying out traditional Native American ceremonies. She is the Capitana of Danza Azteca Tonantzin in Santa Paula, where she teaches local youth as well as adults the ways of her indigenous cultural heritage.
Francisco and Grace Soltero’s El Pollo Bravo was honored with the Jess Victoria Business Award. “El Pollo Bravo has exemplified first class service devoted to its customers, and consistently goes beyond providing an excellent meal,” said Ornelas, as the couple “takes extra care to provide friendly and generous attention to all their customers.”
In the name of El Pollo Bravo, the Solteros have donated much to the community since it opened in 1988. Francisco, a city resident since 1969, first worked at Familia Diaz, where he began to develop his cooking skills. “Surprisingly, for a short time he worked at a Greek restaurant in Burbank” and others, before returning to Familia Diaz in 1973, the same year he and Grace married.
Francisco began working for Allan Atmore, picking avocados and doing ranch maintenance work, and then moved on to construction work, but suffered a back injury. Retrained as a machinist, Francisco’s dream was to have his own restaurant. He saved for 15 years, and with Atmore’s support was able to purchase El Pollo Bravo 29 years ago.
Grace was a tremendous help, and soon the children Hector, Enrique, Gabriel and Jeannette were growing up between the business and home. Grace helped him run the business, raised the children, and was everywhere doing errands for the restaurant.
“The spirit of Jess Victoria lives on in El Pollo Bravo’s commitment to many organizations within our community,” including, said Ornelas, church and school and youth fundraisers. This generosity is in keeping with the business philosophy and community caring of Victoria, for whom this award is named. El Pollo Bravo employs ten beyond immediate family at the Palm Avenue location of 23 years.
The Solteros are pleased with their success and ability to provide an education for their children. Francisco is also very proud of his wife, Grace, and they are especially grateful to customers for their family and business support. “The Soltero family,” noted Ornelas, “loves Santa Paula and its residents with all their heart and soul.”
Hernandez, described as a born community organizer, was honored with the Community Service Award. She is a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where six weekend Masses are celebrated and where attendance a times reaches up to 3,000.
“On a special annual occasion,” said Ornelas, “a highly venerated icon visits the church and more than 6,000 attend the icon’s closing Mass at Las Piedras Park,” an event where Hernandez is the key organizer. Elvia also organizes other major church events, as well as a variety of meetings throughout the week.
Said Ornelas, “Elvia is always there motivating, organizing or working on special projects.” An example of her commitment to community and parish was the resurrection of church food sales after the kitchen help retired. She immediately recruited new kitchen help, and on weekends works alongside this new crew; sales revenue has increased, benefiting church fund raising efforts.
The Hernandez-organized Annual Church Fiesta is also a successful fundraiser, and she recruits volunteers to help organize the fiesta and then works in one of the booths. A recent crisis at St. Sebastian School drew Hernandez’s help, boosting enrollment and financial support.
She recently became a coordinator for the Ventura County Behavioral Department and its “Proyecto Esperanza,” where she is responsible for disseminating information on services available through the agency and counseling families. “She models determination, responsible engagement and a friendly attitude along with a smile.”
Ornelas said Hernandez is “highly respected and admired for all the excellent work she does for others. She is deeply loved and appreciated by all who know her. Without question, she is a radiant star in our community.”
