Adelante - March 2008 Issue

For the past five years the top athletes in the Rio Grande Valley have been rewarded with this prestigious recognition for being the best of the best. This award became known as the All-Valley Male & Female Athlete of the Year.

The Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Morning Star have partnered to take the next step into the next level in Valley High School sports and host the Inaugural Rio Grande Valley All-Star Sports Awards Banquet. A banquet at the end of the school year will give us the opportunity to recognize these deserving young athletes.

The highlight of the night will be the awarding of the Male and Female Athlete of the Year, which has been officially named the "Buddy" Award. We hope to make this the most prestigious and coveted award for our RGV athletes. Three finalists will be invited, with the winners being announced the night of the banquet. Previous winners will be invited to welcome the new winners to this prestigious club.

A few years back, former Valley Morning Star sports editor, Buddy Green, announced that the VMS sports department would recognize one male and one female for their athletic achievements throughout the season.

The All-Star Awards will give us the opportunity to bring the whole Rio Grande Valley together at the end of the school year to honot and celebrate the area's student athletes' success.

"We at the Star are delighted to work with the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber and our sponsors to honor the Valley's top athletes and programs with the kind of first-class recognition they deserve," Valley Morning Star editor Paul Binz said. "We see this as the beginning of something great off the field or court to honor those who leave so much on it."

Aside from the two Athletes of the Year, we will recognize two Teams (male & female) of the Year, one Coach of the Year, one Athletic Program of the Year, one Moment of the Year, along with special scholarship recognitions.

For more information on sponsorship opportunities for the All-Star Sports Awards Banquet, please contact us at (956) 421-2400.

Banquet Information:

Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Time: 7:00 pm (dinner & program)

Place: Harlingen Country Club | 5500 El Camino Real | Harlingen (off Stuart Place Rd)

LOCAL FASTSIGNS CENTER TAKES HOME TOP AWARDS AT FASTSIGNS CONVENTION

Rod & Rose Snell, owners of the McAllen and Harlingen FASTSIGNS sign and graphic centers, along with their staff, won multiple awards at the 2008 FASTSIGNS International, Inc. convention held recently in Colorado Springs.

The McAllen FASTSIGNS center, which first opened its doors in 1992, was one of 57 FASTSIGNS recognized for achieving more than $1 million in total sales, from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. The Snell's have successfully owned and operated the Harlingen FASTSIGNS since 1998 and the McAllen FASTSIGNS since 2006.

"It's an honor to be recognized by the FASTSIGNS network for our center's achievements," said Rose Snell who, along with husband Rod, accepted the award in Colorado Springs. "We have an exceptional team who work well together. They are hardworking, dedicated and very deserving of this recognition."

Gil Cisneros and Azalia Davila, from the McAllen center, also received sales achievement awards. Both were given individual Outstanding Sales Recognition awards for achieving the second and third highest sales levels of a FASTSIGNS center employee in the Southwestern U.S.

Robert Gonzalez shared in his team's accoladed, receiving a Manager Recognition award for the third consecutive year. In receiving the award, Gonzalez is acknowledged for his level of responsibility, team development, and overall accountability for profitable center operation. Christina Duran, manager of the Harlingen FASTSIGNS, also took home a Manager Recognition award. This is the fourth year Duran has received this acknowledgement.

The McAllen FASTSIGNS sign and graphic center is located at 4107 N. 10th Street, can be reached by phone at (956) 618-1800, by fax at (956) 618-5088 or on the web at http://www.fastsigns.com/161 .

The Harlingen FASTSIGNS, located at 1611 S. 77 Sunshine Strip can be reached by phone at (956) 428-0007, by fax at (956) 428-0071 or on the web at http://www.fastsigns.com/321 .

With more than 525 locations worldwide, FASTSIGNS sign and graphic centers offer consulting, design, production, file transfer, delivery and installation for a full range of custom sign and graphic products, including a wide format banner and POP site signs, tradeshow graphics, window and vehicle graphics, decals and labels, safety and identification signage and floor graphics for interior and exterior use.

APPAREL: All Trendy and Eco-Friendly

The North Pole is melting, water in the South is scarce, wildfires have devastated vast tracts of California - isn't it time we paid a little attention to the environment? That's what Marta Soto thought when she started Bangledox Eco-Friendly Urban Clothing. Her conscientious company makes organic t-shirts from "organic cotton and earth-friendly inks and dyes," plus equally green accessories such as Paparazzi sunglasses and truckers' caps. Marta Soto's experience echoes many other entrepreneurs' beginnings - when she lost her job it was, "Great, now I can start my own business." She parlayed her natural devotion to the environment into a green t-shirt line that she began selling, modestly enough, in flea markets around St. Roberts, Missouri, in 2003. She then went on to set up her own online store. Soto's "all trendy and eco-friendly" gear is not yet in stores, although that seems to the on the horizon. It is available online at http://www.bangledox.com .

SPICY SPIRITS....

Spirited savants: the year's hottest drink trend just might be the most surprising.

You've heard about adding a kick to a sauce or cut of meat by hitting it with fresh or dried peppers like the smoky chipolte and habanero - but adding jalapeno to your tequila or vodka? Those are the kind of concoctions found at some of the hippest bars this year, says Junior Merino, a certified master sommelier and master mixologist who is known as "The Liquid Chef" in New York.

"The peppers give the spirits a nice balance. You mix the dried pepper with simple syrup (sugar and water) and you get the sublte flavor of the pepper as well as the color", says Merino, who favors the dried peppers with tequila from his native Mexico. "With a jalapeno the taste is very clean and bright, and I mash it like a mojito. The dried peppers give it a hint of savory spice. Chipolte pairs well with aged rum, whiskey or aged tequila."

Merino says bar-goers should expect to see more peper cocktails in 2008, as well as organic alcohols and mixed drinks with South American fruites like the mamey and nance rojo, a Brazilian cherry that has three seeds inside instead of one.

• 3/6 of a lime
• 2 slices of English cucumber 1/4 inch thick
• 3/4 ounces Partida Agave nectar
• 1/4 of a de-veined jalapeno
• 2 ounces Partida Tequila blanco

Muddle the first four ingredients, add the tequila, shake and strain through a fine mesh strainer and enjoy.

Pina Partida

• 2 slices of English cucumber 1/4 inch thick
• 2 chunks of pineapple
• 3/8 of a lemon
• 1/2 Partida Agave nectar
• 1/2 ounce club soda or sprite
• 1 1/2 ounces Partida Tequila blanco or reposado

Muddle the first four ingredients, add the tequila, club soda and ice. Shake and serve in a tall glass and garnish with a thin slice of cucumber.

***Always remember to drink responsibly***

TOP 12 COMPANIES FOR LATINOS

In addition to being among the U.S.'s top money makers and corporate leaders, these dozen organizations have made it a priority to reinvest in their communities and specifically in the Hispanic community.

1. Altria Group, Inc.
2. Bank of America
3. Eastman Kodak
4. Ford Motor Co.
5. General Motors
6. IBM Corporation
7. McDonald's
8. Morgan Stanley
9. Sodexho
10. Tyson Foods Inc.
11. UPS
12. Wells Fargo & Company

Have a safe and Happy Easter Holiday. The Hispanic Chamber office will be closed Friday, March 21, 2008 in observance of Good Friday.

Any news stories or articles you would like to publish in our Adelante Newsletter, please submit by the 15th of the month.  You can send news articles to the Hispanic Chamber by fax to (956) 364-1879 or via email to hhcoc@harlingenchamber.