A center that helps in more than just sports

For my final essay due in my humanities class I was told to write about something that I found really interesting. So I started to think about the time that I use to coach my little cousin’s basketball team for the South San REC center. I spent a lot of adolescent years there because when I would get out of school my friends and I would go there to play a few pickup games of basketball until it would close. I was around the age of fourteen or fifth-teen when I was asked by my cousin and his friends if I could be their coach for the upcoming season. I really enjoyed volunteering my time there to help with the kids who would participate in the games. At first I just did it because I had nothing better to do in my spare time. Soon after the team started winning games a couple of the parents that would attend the games would come up to me just to shake my hand. Most of the parents would say that what I was doing helps a lot of the kids around the community. Even though the team I was coaching did not make it to the playoffs the time I spent with them helped me grow personally as well. This place help turn me into the responsible young man I am today! As the years went by, I just didn’t have as much time as I did before to go and help out around the REC center. Now for my paper I had to write about how the centers help the children in the community, and helped some children turn their lives around. So I thought that this would be a great opportunity for me to go back and see how things were going over there. The REC that I volunteered at was the South San REC center on 2031 Quintana Road, right down the street from Dwight Middle School. When I went inside to the REC center everything pretty much seemed to have stayed the same, but they did add a small playground in the back of the building. I went inside hoping to see the center’s staff that allowed me to help them coach the kids when I volunteered. Unfortunately, the new people there told me that they had been assigned to another community center in order to help out more kids all around San Antonio. I asked the center’s new staff workers what time were the REC center’s hours of operation, and they told me, “Monday and Wednesday two pm through nine pm; Tuesday and Thursday one pm through nine pm; Friday two pm through 7 pm; and Saturday nine am through five pm. This community however is closed all day on Sunday.” I asked the main coordinator what’s the requirements for kids to take part in here at the center? “Kids only have to be six years of age and up are allowed to go on in to use the basketball courts, board games, and pool table that are inside the building. This REC center, like every other one, provides all different types of activities to the public all year round. A few of the things that the public can take part in at the center are flag football, volleyball, dodge ball, and a whole lot of other things”, said Larry Castillo, one of the current staff members working there to this day. Then he told me,” Although the biggest sport that the kids get in to around here is basketball!” So I stayed there for a while to ask the kids how the center has helped them personally. Mostly all of the kids said the same thing, “well it helps me get better for my game so that I can be ready for when the school season starts!”, but a fourteen year old young man, Richard Cassias, said, “The center helped change the way I use to be! I was always getting into trouble, fights, and stealing, but then I came here and now all I do is play basketball until it’s about to close.” Hearing this coming from such a young kid made me realize that this place is not just for fun and games, but to some this place is what helps them to stay on a good path. As I was there I took time to observe the current staff and see how well they interacted with all of the children that go into the building and under their supervision. So I started to ask a few more of the kids that were there how they did like the staff here at the REC center. This little girl, Ana Guzman, said,” the people here are real nice they are always outside of the office and out here with us playing a couple of games.” She also said,” one of the ladies, Sarah, that work here is always willing to listen to me when I ask her for advice on something that might have gone wrong at school. The men and women here don’t just care about how we do here, but also how well we do at school as well. That’s why sometimes in the back room they put up tables where we can go and do some of our homework before our parents come for us.” Since I couldn’t stay there the entire day I took a look at the centers website, http://www.sanantonio.gov/, in order to take a look at some of events that will be taking place at any of the centers for the upcoming year. Accord to the website all of the centers will be having dancing, singing, and music classes for anyone who wants to attend. Also that they are asking anyone willing to show off their talent, and see if they want to participate in the San Antonio’s parks and recreation talent show “Our Part of Town” I had a real good time being able to go back and visit the place where I had so much fun when I was younger, and also helped me grow up to always try and help out kids by any means I can.

KEDA Radio

For my class I was told to tune into the radio station KEDA, channel 1540 AM, and listen to some of the conjunto music that was being played to its listeners. KEDA is the biggest conjunto and tejano radio station in San Antonio. Doing this was not real hard for me since every time my family and I go to my grandparent’s house we always turn on the radio to that station. The main reason why we always listen in to KEDA is because one of my cousin’s, Nelda Saenv, is a disc jockey for this radio station. So I called her this past weekend so I can get a little information on what she does. She calls herself “Nelda Saenv La Reina de conjuntos”, and she has been working there for over four years. When I asked her if she had a catch phrase she said yes, and it goes “You know you’re in jalapeno country when you hear Nelda Saenv La Reina de conjuntos”. She told me the time she comes on the air is from two until eight in the afternoon from Monday to Saturday. While I had her on the phone I asked her which singer or group was her favorite, and she told me that she didn’t have one because she liked all of the music from the various artists that are out there. I also asked her how she was enjoying working there for the radio station, and she told that she loved it because she loves being around that music. For as long as she can remember she has always been around this music being that her uncle Lupe Saenv had a band of his own and enjoyed listening to him. Afterwards I started talking to my dad and he told me about this time that my cousin Nelda invited him to a benefit concert for her father to help raise money for his surgery. While they were there she introduced him to Flaco Jimenez and a couple of other famous conjunto singers. When we listen to the radio while she is the DJ my family loves to call her and tell her what songs to play and make dedications to them. Even if my cousin Nelda didn’t work for this radio station I still believe that I would tune in to hear the music being played. Reason being because just like her I also grew up around the sounds of this style of music as well.

Conjunto Music

Since I live in San Antonio, Texas and I do have a Hispanic background a lot of the music that I heard when I was young was conjunto music. Conjunto music is very popular in the southern part of Texas, and San Antonio is the capital of the conjunto music industry. This last Friday in my humanity class we were shown a video about conjunto music and the history of this style of music. The video gave me some insight to things that I didn’t know before about this style of music. One of the main instruments used in this style of music is the accordion, which is a handheld squeezebox that generates air to flow across reeds inside of the accordion. The accordion comes from Europe and was brought to this land by the European immigrants. The conjunto music before never use to have words and was just the melody played by the people, but the man credited to bring words to this music goes by the name Valerio Longoria. In the video he said, “All I would do is try and see what words would go along with the music I was playing.” Now a day the sound can still be heard around my town on the radio station KEDA, and you can listen to some of the men and women who make this music still popular to this day. Like Flaco Jimenez, Eva Ybarra, Mingo Saldivar and Little Joe & La Familla are just to name a few.

St. Mark’s beauty

For this entry I was told to find a piece of art that I thought was really nice. I’m not really interested in paintings, sculptures, or murals. To me I find those things really nice to look at, but house designs and building structures are what really catch my attention! I like looking at old buildings and find historical places to be fascinating. I really didn’t have to search around for that long to find a building that I thought was stunning. Being that I work at St. Mark’s Episcopal church I have grown to admire and appreciate the beauty, and history that this building holds within itself. For starters this church was established during the Civil War era with the help from General Robert E. Lee. Also this church is where President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife “Lady Bird” got married! Another thing that I like about this place is that it has a very rare nostalgic look to it. Also since this church is located downtown at the intersection of Jefferson and E. Pecan St. you would think that there wouldn’t be that much foliage on its grounds. This church however has lots of beautiful plants and trees located through out its premises. The building itself is amazing to have still remained intact after all of these years, and even though time has past around this place the beauty of it has remained unchanged over the years.

My views on “Losing Ground”

For the past week or so, in my class, we have been discussing over a series of articles on the MySA.com website called “Losing Ground”! These articles inform its readers on a law written for developers that has cost the city millions of dollars, and the protection of the regions water supply! The law is called “Vested Rights” and it stops the city from putting any kind of new restrictions on real estate that developers have plans for. Yeah I know it seems like no big deal right, but the thing that is making many people upset is that some developers are building over the Edwards Aquifers recharge zones. Some times there are times when the developers are denied the vested rights that they were hoping for, but all they do is find away around it to get their way. For example in the article it stated that in 2001 the H.E. Butt Grocery Co. had plans to build a new store on Hildebrand Avenue. Although the company wanted to build the store in 2001 they found plans for that area filed close to a century before that! Even some people from the H.E.B company themselves said,” There wasn’t even H.E.B stores back then?” Finding those plans allowed the company to follow the ordinances in that time! Some times when the developers do get to build on the land they have to make sure that there is at lease some grasslands to allow the water to travel through the ground and in to the aquifer. Reading this article gave me a little more insight on how well the government really works and cares for the environment. In my opinion it seems that there will always be a way for people who have money to get what they want! Also from a presentation done in my class from a member of AGUA, Elisabeth Earnley, she lets all of us know that if we have some things to say against these actions that are taking place we should go and let city council hear our concerns. Even though there are meetings to go to the only time to attend them are during the day when every body is either at work or at school. I think that the articles on the website really do give a lot of information that people should know about. The only thing is that not too many people have any idea that these articles are even out. So I think that all of the information gathered should really be put out to the public eye. Allowing for others to know just how bad things are now before things get any worse for the aquifer!

The guest speaker

A few days ago in my humanities class a young woman by the name of Elisabeth Earnley came and gave the class some interesting information. She was part of an organization called AGUA that helps and makes sure that lands are capable of holding water. When developers try to make shopping centers or anything else with concrete AGUA makes sure that they still leave some grassland, and allowing some of the water to go into the ground and in the aquifer. She also let us know that SAWS was not really doing a good job of making sure that developers do this. Many of the developers do get stopped by some city ordinances, but all they have to do is find some loop hole in the system and they still get what they want. Most of the time all developers have to do is just pull a plan out from the past, and say that the new city ordinances don’t affect those plans from the past. She let us know that if we didn’t agree with these actions then we could go to see city council, but the only time that these hearings are held are early in the morning. So that’s why many people have know idea or have any time to make these hearings. Towards the end of the class she gave us some papers with two cases that SAWS passed, but the entire class thought one of them should not have been. She told us that if some people had gone those could have changed that from happening.

My Neighborhood

If I were to ask you how well you knew your own neighborhood, or your neighbors do you think you could give me a full answer? Now a day’s many people don’t really take the time to get out of their own house, and take a stroll down their street. Well that’s how it is for most people, but for me I have gotten to know my surroundings of my “hood” since I have lived here for about ten years. For starters I live on the south side of San Antonio, and not to far from Palo Alto, and even closer to South San Antonio high school, which I use to attend. The neighborhood that I live in is a middle class area there isn’t any thing really fancy about it just the same as every other one in my area. When I was around the age of nine I really got to know a few of my next door neighbors, since I did go to the same elementary school as their children, Kindred, and lived right next to them as well! The ones that I’m most close to are the Devora’s and the Cruz’s because their son’s Orlando and Rene are my friends. Some of my other neighbors around there I’m close to as well because a few of them are a part of my family. Two houses down from mine is the home that belongs to my grandparents who have lived there for over close to forty-five years. I enjoy going to visit them because their house has many trees which provide plenty of shade during those very hot summer days. Also three houses down on the other side of my house lives my Tia Angie. Even though she is my great aunt everyone in my family has always called her “Tia Angie”? A good thing for my family is the church that we attend, St. Clare’s, is only two blocks away from our house. One of the things that I really like the most is that a block away there is a public park called Golden Park. Since I am a very active person it makes it easier for me to go and meet up with my friends. Before I moved here I would have to walk a far distance to play basketball, or do any other kind of activity when I meet up with my friends. Also since it’s so close to home my mom doesn’t really worry so much when I tell her that I’m going over to the park to play a couple of games with my friends. The one thing that I really love about my neighborhood is that when who ever built these houses made them real close to each other. For most people I know that would be a bit annoying, but I like it because it allows you to keep in touch, and have at lease some communication with your surrounding neighbors.

Hollywood’s Alamo

I’m pretty sure that every body has heard of the Battle of the Alamo, and the Anglo Americans that defended it with their lives. What many people don’t know is that there were Tejanos who also gave their life’s along with the more famous heroes of the Alamo. In my humanities class I learned from a PBS video called Remember the Alamo of a man by the name of Jose Antonio Navarro who is one of the most well known Tejanos in history. Even Hollywood has made movies about this battle to give us, the viewers, a little glimpse of what it might have been like during this tragic event. Although the movies are very exciting, and makes learning about history a little more fun than reading it from a book. The movies don’t always tell everything that goes on in history, and leaves out much information that many people may find interesting. In the year 2004 director John Lee Hooker made a remake of the 1960 movie (The Alamo). In his version of this battle they don’t really mention any of the contribution that the Tejanos did. In this film it really only shows the Anglo side of the battle, and what they had a part in the battle. In the film they did show the Tejanos that fought with them, but didn’t really tell much about them. In the movie there was a scene where Sam Houston was the first to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence, but in the PBS video it shows that Jose A. Navarro was the first to have signed the declaration. In the film the only Tejano that was really mention was Captain Seguin who carried a letter to Sam Houston, played by Dennis Quaid, from William Travis, Patrick Wilson, saying that the men at the Alamo needed help to defeat Santa Anna. Another thing about John Lee Hooker’s version of the Alamo is that there was no mention of Stephen F. Austin or how he tried to get settlers into the state of Texas. In most history books they all say that every one of Santa Anna’s soldiers was ruthless and brutal, but however in this film it showed some of he’s men scared. It also showed that not all of he’s men agreed with some of the things that he did during the battle. In this film Billy Bob Thornton portrayed Davy Crockett, a congress man from Tennessee, who was very well know for his hunting skills. Even though he is one of the heroes of the Alamo I didn’t really care that the movie made him seem as if was one of the most important people at the Alamo. Even though these movies have made the Battle of the Alamo famous over the years it still is a shame that not all of the men who gave their life are getting their recognition.

The Unrecognized Heroes

If somebody were to tell you that there were Mexicans helping the fallen heroes at the Battle of the Alamo you would think that they were crazy right. Well this past weekend I took a trip to the Alamo, and I know that I did when I was told that by Dr. Winders, my class’s tour guide at the Alamo. He informed all of us and said that the ones who helped the men at the Alamo were called Tejanos because they were one of the first people to settle in the land of Texas. On the tour Dr. Winders also gave us a little more insight on all of the things that history had kept out of the books before now. For instance the man by the name of Jose Antonio Navarro was a Tejano that befriended Stephen F. Austin because they both had the same dream of building a republic in the Texas land, and keeping it away from the dictator Santa Anna. Dr. Winders told us that Navarro was even one of the men that signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. After Santa Anna was defeated and things went back to normal at the Alamo many of the new settlers came along with some more Tejanos, but had angry towards them thinking that they were part of the group that had killed the Anglo defenders of the Alamo. “The only Tejano that these new Texans looked up to as a hero was Jose Navarro”, said Dr. Winder. As the years went on the writers of history eventually disregarded any information about the Tejanos that also died alongside the Anglo fighters. For me this information is interesting because who knows what if one of my ancestors were the very first Tejanos that came to Texas.

What a dam!!

Well this past weekend I had the privilege to go take a trip over to Espada Park on my own, and see for myself just how beautiful that area looked. From the moment that I entered the park I noticed, just like I did at the Espada Mission, how green and thick the grass looked. As I kept on driving thru the park and continued on the road I saw many other people there doing all types of activities. Some of the families that were there were riding their bikes together, and other families were having bar-b-que’s on the grass underneath the shade of some of enormous trees that were inside of the park. When I stepped out of my car one of the first things that I heard was the sound of rushing water, and I’ve always like that particular sound because it always seems to help me relax. When I was getting closer to the water I started to notice that the grass would get higher and thicker due to all of the water that runs through the dam. The dam that is used the most today is made of concrete and had the help of modern technology, but the dam that was constructed originally sometime between 1731 and 1745 is made of nothing but stone. The converted Native Americans were the ones who built the 270 feet long and 8 feet high dam with their bare hands and still to this today part of that dam can be seen on the right side of the road towards the back of the park and still is in use. The Espada dam was used to help the surrounding areas get their irrigation water. When I got closer to the original dam I notice that there was a stone near the bank that provided me with the following information. It stated that this structure diverts 4,500 gallons of water a minute into the four mile long irrigation ditch know as “Acequia De Espada”. Gravity helps the water flow and spread through out the entire 400 acres of land at the Espada Mission to this very day. I wanted to go further into the park but there was a metal gate that wouldn’t allow my car over the low bridge. Plus there was water flowing over it and I didn’t want to chance something happening to my car! So after I had gathered some information to help me write this paper I decided to take a walk around the park for a little while. I embraced the open fields and enjoyed being able to feel the nice cool breeze while I was walking. See now a days there are very few places like this around here or at lease that I know of, but if it wasn’t for this class that I’m taking I don’t think I would have ever seen the beauty that the city of San Antonio actually has!

My visit to the Espada Mission

This past Friday I went on a tour of the Espada mission along with a couple of people from my humanities class. Even though I have live here in San Antonio my whole life I never took it upon myself to take a look at anyone of the missions. When I was pulling up to the parking lot my eyes were drawn to the beauty of the greenery which surrounded the mission. When the rest of the class began to arrive we all started to head on inside so that we could meet up with the tour guide, Dora V. Martinez, so that she could show us around the historical site. She told us that where we stand now is not the original site of this mission it’s actually the third location! Apparently the people of the missions were in Mississippi at first in 1690, and then moved to Austin in 1720, and finally here in 1731. When we walked outside I saw nothing but the thick green grass that covered almost every square inch of the mission. She took us to what seemed to be the outline of a house, and then stated that it was the outline of the original church. Since the outline of the church was still in good condition I was able to visualize how it might have looked like if it still stood there today. She then took us in to the church which was really amazing to see, because it allowed me to see how much faith in religion these people have. As the tour went on I realize that the mission looked more and more like a fort, and then Ms. Martinez said that it was build like that to help protect the people inside of the town from the attacking Indians. The Indians would try to take the food that was here in the missions. She then showed us the irrigation system that was made back when this mission was first established, and let us see that still to this day that water runs through there.