On the sidelines of the Presidential dedication ceremony, a special moment for Andres Chávez and Ruben Andrade...Keene, CA - As President Obama christened the César E. Chávez National Monument on Monday, the National Park Service's Ruben Andrade was announced as the acting superintendent who will oversee the operations at La Paz. The 187-acre compound served as the Chávez family home and headquarters for the United Farm Workers from the early 1970’s until Chávez' death at 66 in 1993. Following the President's visit, Andrade had a small ceremony of his own with 18-year-old Andres Chávez, one of Chávez' grandsons. Visitors to America's National Parks and monuments carry special "passport" books to collect commemorative stamps from each site. Standing at a table outside the visitor's center, Andrade and the young Chavez imprinted his passport with the first stamp from his grandfather's newly minted Monument. (Above: Chávez, left and Andrade look at the passport book)
The stamping ceremony took place within steps of the Memorial Garden where Chávez has been laid to rest, his grave topped by a simple wood and iron cross, and surrounded by a fountain and beds of hybrid roses cultivated to be the special red of the UFW symbol, as well as especially fragrant, Andrade said. Accompanied by Chávez' widow, Helen Chávez, the President laid a rose on the grave. (Above: Andres stamps his passport as Andrade looks on)
Andres is the son of Paul F. Chávez, now President of the César Chávez Foundation. He grew up at La Paz, but never met his grandfather; Andres was born in January of 1994. Thanks to the work of his grandfather and father, he has never done field work, and is now a freshman at California State University at Bakersfield. Neither of the elder Chávez men went to college; César had to end his formal education after eighth grade to help support his family. Like millions of Latinos, Andres claims his grandfather as a hero.
"My father worked in the fields, and my grandpa was a migrant farm worker, and the fact that I am going to college is a true example of their American Dream," Andres said.
He was also very excited about meeting the President.
"I have had two heroes in my lifetime, and President Barack Obama happens to be one," Andres said. "I was a little starstruck. It was very cool."
The day was very personal for Andrade, too. He is also a native Californian, and the son of farm laborers. He grew up in the farming community of Dixon in the northern part of the state, and worked in the fields with his parents as a child during school breaks. He is thrilled to be the acting superintendent, a post that lasts for 180 days while a mandatory search is conducted to find a permanent overseer. (Above: The stamp, on top of an image of Chávez' hands)The search committee is "looking for the absolute best candidate to help interpret this important story," Andrade said. "And I am certainly hoping they decide it is me."
An Army veteran, Andrade left his post as the superintendent of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota to come to La Paz. He was beaming as he discussed the work at the Chávez Center, and after stamping Andres' passport, he was busy answering questions and stamping the passports for other happy visitors. The Center got phone calls about the passport stamps the minute the White House announced that the President would be designating La Paz as a Monument, Andrade said.
"People are very obsessed with their stamps," Andrade said, laughing.
Andrade began his Federal career in 1996 as a park ranger at Pine Flat Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers site in California. In 1998, he accepted his first National Park Service assignment as a park ranger at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park. Andrade received both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree from California State University, Sacramento, in recreation administration. Andrade and his wife, Diane (Castillo), are high school sweethearts with four grown children.
CLICK HERE for links to all posts about the President's visit.
The NPS now owns two acres of the 187-acre La Paz campus. The American Latino Heritage Fund of the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks, has donated $150,000 to support the initial operations of the Chávez monument. The ALHF supports the work of the National Park Service in preserving historic places that tell a more inclusive story of American Latinos' economic, civic and cultural contributions to the American experience. (Above: The President and Mrs. Chávez lay a rose on the grave)
Other buildings on the La Paz campus will continue to be operated by the United Farm Workers Union, the César Chávez Foundation and the National Chávez Center.
César E. Chávez National Monument is located at 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road in Keene, California, approximately 30 miles southeast of Bakersfield. The site is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit the César E. Chávez National Monument website at www.nps.gov/cech.
President Obama dedicates the Monument:
*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; gravesite photo by Pete Souza/White House
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