Keep McAllen Beautiful hosts its annual Greatest American Clean-Up & Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-off on April 12, inviting the community to help clean up the streets, trails, schools and parks of McAllen. The event takes place from 8 a.m. to noon at McAllen Municipal Park. Volunteers who participate will receive safety vests, gloves, trash bags and a free t-shirt, and then be assigned a designated area to pick up litter.…
The Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation board of directors recently approved a total of $5,915,394 million to fund 25 quality of life enhancement projects throughout Brownsville. The projects are designed to significantly enhance community parks, recreational facilities, and public spaces, improving the well-being and experience of residents and visitors. The 25 approved projects fall under three funding categories: BCIC’s FY 2025 Quality of Life Grants, the City of Brownsville FY 2025…
The Sunset Live Outdoor Music Series is back for its 23rd season on April 12, bringing free live music, arts and outdoor fun to the McAllen Convention Center Oval Park. The Saturday kick off is also the inaugural McAllen International Jazz Alliance Festival, a free, all-day, family- and pet-friendly celebration featuring musicians from across the U.S. and Mexico. The festival will feature two stages and an expanded schedule, running from…
Rodrigo Cadena started his business life in the United States with a single pastry and cake shop in Mission. As the CEO of Los Pastelas Caseros de Gaby’s, his goal from inception was to scale up with more locations in the Rio Grande Valley. The cake shop company has its roots in Mexico, where it has three locations in the Reynosa area. Cadena aimed for similar successes in the U.S.…
The McAllen school district in 2001 became the first school district in the Rio Grande Valley to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The city’s business community and the McAllen Chamber of Commerce played a pivotal role in the process. They recognized it as a way to attract businesses and families to the region. The district’s IB students have a home campus where they participate in UIL activities. In 2021,…
The open-air labs of the automotive technology program at Texas State Technical College feature lifts, computerized equipment, tools and students huddled around their instructors as they troubleshoot and diagnose scenarios. Rosendo Rodriguez is one of the auto tech instructors at the TSTC campus in Harlingen. On a recent sunny morning, he pointed out what the different groups of students were doing. One instructor was going over a large engine placed…
Elma Chavez was in the midst of a busy work day and reflecting on the one before as a self-described “one-man show” at the Raymondville Chamber of Commerce. It has been about two years since Chavez was called back from the private sector to revive a chamber that had lay dormant since 2020. She knew what she had to do. A previous tenure as executive director of the Raymondville Chamber…
Five featured artists and their upcycled outfits remade will be part of “ReMade in the RGV: A Sustainable Fashion Show” April 3 at Quinta Mazatlán. The free, 5:30 to 9 p.m. event welcomes participants to learn about the global fashion industry, upcycling techniques, what artists and scholars are saying, and how this is expressed and related to geographical context. Community artists include Regina Montemayor, Samuel Ruiz, Eva Ryan, Natalia Saldana,…
The International Museum of Art & Science hosts the 17th annual Night at the Brew-seum, presented by Clark Chevrolet and Clark Knapp Honda, on April 5. This annual fundraiser, co-chaired by Gaby Jones and Annette Garcia, supports IMAS and its year-round art and science education programs in the Rio Grande Valley. For over 17 years, Brew-seum has celebrated the region’s growing craft beer culture. This year’s event will feature a…
The 11th annual South Texas All Hazards Conference takes place March 26-27 at the McAllen Performing Arts Center and McAllen Convention Center. As the second-largest emergency response training event in Texas — and the only one of its kind offered at no cost — the conference expects to host over 3,000 professionals from public health, public safety, law enforcement, emergency management, public works and educational institutions. STAHC follows the National…