Appreciation breakfast draws lively crowd
CALEXICO — Rains appeared to have dampened attendance but not spirits at the 39th annual Farm Workers Appreciation Breakfast at the One Stop Center on Friday morning.
Calexico resident Baltazar Marquez Ruiz said he was not expected at work until about daybreak, but nonetheless had awoken in the middle of the night to come enjoy the event’s friendly atmosphere and a warm meal with his wife.
The 56-year-old said he has been working in the fields for the past 20-plus years and attending the annual event for nearly as long.
Though he is often never entirely sure where the day’s work will take him and at which time it will end, his years of working in the fields have been enjoyable.
“Whatever the job is, you just do it,” Marquez said.
Despite the early morning’s steady rain, Francisca Gazcon and her sister Maria Isabel Gazcon were all smiles as they warmed their bones with some tamales, hot co ee and pan dulce.
The sisters’ daily routine includes walking up in the middle of the night to arrive in Calexico at 1 a.m. during in order to go to work at their respective jobs.
Maria Isabel Gazcon said she had once taken part in a twoyear live-in Job Corps program in San Diego as a 19-year-old, where she learned English, as well as basic computer and clerical skills.
Yet, Gazcon said she has no regrets about working primarily in the fields for the past 20 or so years, and even on rainy days.
“It’s less stressful and the work ends when you go home, unlike o ce work where one never stops worrying about it,” Gazcon said.
Friday morning’s rain appeared to be a first for the annual event, said Loli Torres, one of the event’s founding organizers.
The gathering had initially been an offering of just coffee and pan dulce that employees of the state Employment Development Department office in Calexico wanted to provide to thousands of farm workers who cross over daily from Mexicali, Torres said.
The fare now has expanded to include tamales, beans and salsa.
“One year they tried to serve burritos and it didn’t work,” Torres said. “The people wanted their tamales.”
In the ensuing years, the annual event has grown in attendance, sponsorships and participating agencies, organizations and volunteers.
Some of this year’s participating agencies and organizations included the California Labor Commissioner’s office, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, county District Attorney’s Office and Behavioral Health Services, Comite Civico del Valle, Planned Parenthood, Catholic Charities, to name just some.
This year’s event was also kicked off by recognizing the recent retirement of Enedina Payan, office manager for El Don Farm Labor Contracting, and a longtime event volunteer.
“That’s the difference when you like your job,” Torres said referring to Payan’s longtime support. “You just want to help the farm workers as much as you can.”
Calexico resident Angelina Garcia counts herself as a supporter and admirer of farm workers. She too has made it a point to never miss an opportunity to volunteer at the annual event.
On Friday morning, Garcia could be observed happily handing farm workers handfuls of extra tamales in an effort to avoid having any leftovers as a result of the diminished crowd size.
Garcia’s late mother worked in the fields and had on one occasion dared the rebellious teen to work a day picking cotton to test her mettle. One day was all it took for Garcia to realize she was not cut out for such work, she said.
After a successful stint as a store manager at a downtown Calexico shoe store, Garcia now spends her retirement volunteering on behalf of the community as president of the Club de Los Amigos.
“I have so much respect and love for the farm workers and seniors,” Garcia said.