WBCA Washington Parade 1990 (What I learned)

If you follow me over on the ol' Twitter account, then you are aware I recently picked up some home movies on VHS at a local thrift store. Some of those tapes included some truly gold vintage TV recordings. One such treasure was titled Washington's Parade 1990 and its a taping off the TV broadcast of this WBCA event. I sat down and watched most of the recording as it was truly fascinating.

Hopefully, I will be able to upload the video to my Youtube channel in the next few days. For now, here are a few things I learned while watching a recording of the 1990 WBCA Washington's Parade.

Apparently, Laredo in 1990 had no qualms with using blackface.

Lupita Benavides was already looking great with her sweet 1989 hair. 

Cigarroa High students danced the Lambada and nobody batted an eye. #Forbidden

Worshiping at the altar of Laredo's Panaderias

    In Laredo, bakeries are like cathedrals; however, instead of manna from heaven, worshipers of these panaderias seek out slightly less sacred form of heavenly bread. I say slightly less sacred because Laredoans have an almost religious devotion to pan dulce.

     Old timers are fervently faithful to their bakery of choice, whether it be El Mejor Pan, Polo's Bakery,  or La Reynera. They are like life-long parishioners, unwilling to switch in search of something new. In fact, some would rather first change church affiliation before they ever fathom converting to another pan dulce provider.

    My old man is one such case in point. To him, the 1977 beisbol Tecolotes are still sports royalty, Tatangelo is still town saviour, and he believes that anything you will ever need can be found at either Sears or Dr. Ikes (ever since Munden's closed down). In other words, to my dad, some things should remain constant and warrant no change. He's been a parishioner of Temple Quickie Bakery ever since I can recall, and he assures me it is heretical to buy pan dulce anywhere else.  

     Everytime I mention Pano's or Gonzalez Bakery, he mutters at me angrily and waves me away with his hand, as if I just asked  him if he ever voted for Richard Nixon.

     Laredoans take pan dulce deadly serious. Domingos and meriendas would be catastrophically incomplete without conchas, cuernitos and empanadas. The picture below proves my point.

     Apparently, at Pano's Bakery running out of sweet bread constitutes an emergency akin to a fiend in desperate need of a fix. While these days churches no longer have "emergency numbers", bakeries sure do for they must fill our bellies and save our weary souls. You see, Laredo takes their pan dulce dependency to new heights, and places like Pano's are there to medicate our wanting needs.

     We are willing to pay money, blood, and even the last few remaining dollars on our government issued Lone Star Card in exchange for a dozen tasty treats. 

     In fact, so dependent are local bakeries to Laredo's welfare dollars that they even construct their slogans around their necessity such as you'll see in the picture below.

Chalos is "Now Accepting Lonestar" Best tagline ever!

    Chalo's Bakery sign pleads to pan dulce believers, like a lighted, gold cross reaching out to the unchurched as if saying, "Come as you are. We make no judgements. Your Lonestar Card is worthy of our collection basket."

    At the end of the day, it matters not what currency you use to enter your own local kingdom bakery. Just suffice it to say that their pearly gates will be opened to all, especially in emergencies because in Laredo bakeries are cathedrals and no one gets turned away.

The long and winding road back home

So it's been a while since I last posted anything. Honestly, it hasn't been all quiet on the home front, and that has prevented me from coming around here.

But sometimes the long road back home is just one blog post away. Let me go get my keyboard again.

Aldo Tatangelo Parkway

Anytime I speak with someone that can recall the late 70's and early 80's in Laredo, the name of Aldo Tatangelo always brings a big, warm smile to their face. He is touted by many as the "chosen one", a golden and heroic figure that "brought Laredo into the twentieth century". His local legacy is that of a hard-working man that helped to modernize Laredo and break up the stronghold of the "Old patron Party". To really understand how backwards Laredo was in the mid 70's, one simple tidbit can suffice. According to Time Magazine and a Wiki Article, up to 75% of Laredo's streets were unpaved, dusty mudroads as recently as the early 80s. Talk about WTF moments! It makes you wonder how the citizens of this city put up with the bullshlitz and shenanigans of Mayor Martin and his poltical croonies.

Hanging out downtown by St. Agustine Cathedral this morning, I spotted the parkway named in Mr. Tatangelo's honor and it made me realize that I do not know much about the history of my fair city, so I decided to do some reading and learn as much about the "Old Patron" party and the events that led to their mayoral defeat in 1978. I began to try and track down a book by Fernando Pinon titled, "Patron Democracy" and I want to also get a video copy of CBS News Reports 30 minute segment by Bill Moyers on the scandal of JC Martin. It is sad but interesting learning so much about the history of my border city. As long as we keep going forward Laredo, progress is just around the corner.