California Festival to Honor the Agricultural Worker
by Leticia Martinez, Central Coast Center for Independent Living, Salinas, CA
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The 11th annual "Dia del Trabajador Agricola" took place August 28, 2005 in Greenfield, CA. Located 35 miles south of Salinas, Greenfield is a small predominately agricultural community. For many workers the event is a family tradition; it is the day they feel honored. Many workers do not have the economic means to pay to see artists perform at other locations and therefore look forward to this yearly event where they can dance and listen to live music for free. A couple thousand agricultural workers and their family members, including people with disabilities, attended last year's event.
There were about 30 agency representatives sharing information about the services they provide to the community. Agencies such as Center for Employment Training, Employment Development Department (EDD), California Highway Patrol, Central Coast Center for Independent Living, Clínica de Salud, Breast Cancer Awareness, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and Healthy Start, to name a few. Participants were then entered into a raffle for a chance to win a variety of prizes throughout the day.
Dia del Trabajador Agricola featured live entertainment. The day began by having Folklórico dancing performances and continued throughout the day with live music by a number of artists, but one of the biggest names was Graciela Beltran, a Mexican mariachi singer known as "La Reina del Pueblo."
The event was sponsored by South County Outreach Efforts (SCORE), which is composed of agency representatives who serve the South Monterey County Community, the California Rural Legal Assistance, Radio Bilingue, Radio Campesina, the City of Greenfield, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Dominguez farms and GTO Printing, Inc.
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