Author Archives: Nydia Tapia-Gonzales

Freelance writer and blogger, Nydia Tapia-Gonzales enjoys writing about life in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She has been a contributor to the Valley Business Report for the past 5 years. An avid proponent of the preservation of mid-twentieth-century modern architecture. Tapia-Gonzales is the publisher of two online publications: La Vida Valle; an online magazine about the arts and culture of the Rio Grande Valley and RGVMod; a website dedicated to create awareness and promote the preservation of the midcentury modern architecture of the Valley. Tapia – Gonzales presents as a guest speaker on the subject of midcentury modern historic preservation in the Rio Grande Valley. She is a destination management and tourism professional with 25 years of experience currently serving as the director of South Texas Nature Tourism Marketing Cooperative. A native of Matamoros, Mexico who lives in Harlingen with her husband Lupe Gonzales. Tapia-Gonzales is a board member of Preservation Texas, the Center for Latino-Jewish Relations and the Brownville Community Development Corporation.

Rio Bravo Pictures leading the way

The Rio Grande Valley is not perceived as a film industry mecca, yet it is the home of a top-of-the-line, nationally accredited production company. “Nobody in South Texas has our record of delivery. We are the number one production company in the Valley,” said Harlingen native Roberto Rodriguez, owner of Rio Bravo Pictures. After earning a degree in film with a minor in international marketing from the University of Texas in Austin, Rodriguez spent three years traveling the world, filming documentaries…

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Caring for Man’s Best Friends

Kamron Fultz's two dogs are among the many pets who spend the day at the pet resort in Harlingen.

American consumers spent $51 billion on their pets last year, and 62 percent of US households have pets, according to a Time magazine report. Pets have become part of the family, with consumers spending more on pet toys and healthcare and opting for pet motels instead of kennels. Kamron and Vicky Fultz couldn’t agree more with this trend. While pursuing theater and music majors in college, they were cast opposite…

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For The Love of Salsa Dancing

Salsa music entered the mainstream in the late 1980s and by the 1990s, thousands of fans outside of Latin communities caused a salsa explosion throughout the United States. Salsa dance fever ensnared  Israel and Rosie Coronado, the owners of Sabor Vallero Latin Dance Company, who recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of teaching and promoting salsa throughout the Rio Grande Valley. “Salsa can really get in your blood,” said Israel Coronado,…

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Winemaker prepares for second harvest

Jorge Jaber shares some characteristics with his northwest Hidalgo County vineyard for he seems to have absorbed the Valley’s sunshine and flourished with its soil. The grapes now being harvested at Jaber Wine Estate have overcome great odds, and so has Jaber, an idealist as resilient as any Valley pioneer. Thirty years ago, Jaber purchased two hundred and eleven acres in northwest Hidalgo County with the intention of planting a…

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