Only Dolores Huerta gets to celebrate her birthdays for a whole year. I heard she did the same thing five years ago when she turned 80. Her actual birthday is April 10, however about 500 of us got to celebrate with her on November 13, 2015 at Innerlight Church in Santa Cruz, California.
As soon as I heard about the event I invited my friend Susan Drake, former personal secretary of Cesar Chavez, who together with Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers back in 1962. Susan was excited to hear about the event and immediately bought two tickets, one for herself and another former UFW worker friend. I decided to buy two tickets also, just in case they sold out. I didn't get around to finding someone to go with me until the last minute, and by then everyone was already booked.
So I decided to go on my own, by bus so I wouldn't have to hassle with traffic and parking. I figured I could donate the ticket back, give it away, or possibly sell it if the event were sold out. When I boarded the bus at the Santa Cruz Metro Center I noticed an older Mexican guy in sombrero and boots, wearing a Teamsters' jacket. Yep, he must be going to the same event, I thought to myself. And maybe he doesn't have a ticket yet.
I waited until we were about halfway there to approach him and asked him in Spanish if indeed he were on his way to celebrate Dolores Huerta's 85th birthday. He told me that he'd ridden the bus from Watsonville in the morning and spent the whole day wandering around Santa Cruz, looking for Dolores, but hadn't found her. I knew that she had offered her support to the Beach Flats Community Garden which is at risk of being developed, and she had lunch at the University of California at Santa Cruz. I'd been at the Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, so I missed both of these events. But I was looking forward to the main event that evening.
Adan Ramirez, as I learned was the 87-year-old's name, had worked with the UFW since Cesar's passing in 1993
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