Whether writing, playing a sport, dancing or creating something new, our hobbies are a labor of love and enjoyment. Every once in a while, we are lucky enough to turn our hobbies into something more. This is exactly what Veronica Cerda-Ayala did. After 18 years of being a teacher, Ayala decided she was ready to pursue her true passion … home decor. She began several years ago in her very…
Although the Rio Grande Valley is one of the state and country’s best fertile regions to grow fruits, vegetables and livestock, consumers have not had the opportunity to get the best the land produces unless they go to a grocery store or to a fruit stand. Winter vegetables, for example, usually ship to many places in the United States. Goat cheese isn’t a supermarket staple in this part of the…
In the mid-1990s, Carlos Rodriguez found himself back in his native Mexico. He had an industrial engineering degree in hand, but with an economy in tatters, he found no real jobs in his field. “I had no job, no car, no nothing, but a lot of enthusiasm to start a new adventure,” he recalled. Rodriguez had just returned from Canada. Here he took intensive English classes in Vancouver to bolster…
The largest retailer of used vehicles, CarMax, is now open in Pharr. The first location in the Rio Grande Valley and the 22nd in Texas. CarMax was welcomed by City of Pharr officials and the Greater Pharr Chamber of Commerce with a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 13. CarMax offers more than 300 used vehicles. It also offers customers the ability to choose vehicle transfers from any other CarMax location in the country.…
Juan Guerrero has the mind of an engineer … analyzing, probing, figuring out a problem in using a well-honed process. “I do enjoy having projects that interest me,” said Guerrero, a retired electrical engineer with more than 20 years in the maquiladora industry for companies like Zenith and TRW. One idea that Guerrero latched on to came about when spending time with construction workers and carpenters who were building his…
The history of a legendary Rio Grande Valley bootmaker provides the backdrop for the Bootique, a clothing and gift shop in downtown Raymondville. The store is in a portion of the brick building where Abraham Rios crafted custom footwear for decades. The building’s current owners, Cruz and Sonya Tijerina, ran the Bootique until they sold the business to Elma Chavez, former director of the Raymondville Chamber of Commerce. The Tijerinas…
Mike Heep spends his days cultivating native plants and educating people about the benefits of using indigenous vegetation in gardens and landscaping projects. Native plants are drought and freeze tolerant, and attract the birds and butterflies for which the Rio Grande Valley is famous. In 1964, Heep moved from San Antonio to the Harlingen area with his family. He operates Heep’s Nursery on the same two-acre tract where he grew…
Fresh out of college at 23 years of age, David Hernandez saw an opportunity and then seized it. With $30,000 in hand from his relatives, Hernandez used it as seed money to open the first of what would become 12 Pop-A-Top stores in the Rio Grande Valley. The yellow stores with blue trim became ubiquitous across the region. “Coldest Beer In Town” was the Pop-A-Top signature line and Hernandez meant…
A beauty and beast team is riding a wave of success of almost fairy tale proportions with a line of fresh, healthy meals and other related products. On a good week, Beauty & Beast Cuisine cooks and packages in the neighborhood of 27,000 meals in its Edinburg kitchen. “It’s just been an explosion of opportunity,” said Carlos Hernandez, the beast in the partnership with his wife, Francesca, the beauty. “It…
A lifelong devotion to the love of music drives the success of a Rio Grande Valley business that has shared that passion for more than four decades. “Everything we do and continue to do flows from our love and passion for music and music education,” said Matt Perez, president and chief executive officer of Valley Keyboards of McAllen. His wife, Debra, manages the education department of the company, which is…