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Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the histories, cultures and

contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and

South America.

The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was

expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending

on October 15, which was enacted into law on August 17, 1988.

The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American

countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile

celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or

Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period.

Hispanics have had many contributions to our culture, here are just a few:

Music:

Among the Hispanic American musicians who were pioneers in the early stages of rock and roll were Ritchie

Valens, who scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba" and Herman Santiago who wrote the lyrics to the

iconic rock and roll song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". "Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano is a favorite around the

holidays. Other Hispanic American musicians include: Mariah Carey, Jennifer López, Linda Ronstadt, Gloria

Estefan, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Kat De Luna, Selena, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Carlos Santana, Christina

Aguilera, Selena Gomez, Jerry Garcia, Demi Lovato, Dave Navarro, Romeo Santos, and Tom Araya to name a

few.

Film:

Hispanics and Latinos have also contributed some prominent actors and others in the film industry. Of Puerto

Rican origin: José Ferrer (the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award for his role in Cyrano de

Bergerac), Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, Raul Julia, Rosie Perez, Rosario Dawson, Esai Morales, Jennifer

Lopez and Benicio del Toro. Of Mexican origin: Ramón Novarro, Dolores del Río, Lupe Vélez, Anthony

Quinn, Ricardo Montalbán, Katy Jurado, Edward James Olmos, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, and Becky G.

Of Cubanorigin: Cesar Romero, Andy Garcia, Cameron Diaz and Eva Mendes. Of Dominican origin: Maria

Montez and Zoe Saldana. Of Brazilian origin: Carmen Miranda, Sonia Braga, and Rodrigo Santoro.

Of Spanish origin: Rita Hayworth, Martin Sheen, and Antonio Banderas. Other outstanding figures are: Anita

Page (of Salvadoran origin), Fernando Lamas (of Argentine origin), Raquel Welch (of Bolivian origin), Maria

Conchita Alonso (of Venezuelan origin), John Leguizamo (of Colombian origin) and Oscar

Isaac (of Guatemalan origin).

Some of the Hispanic or Latino actors who achieved notable success in U.S. television include Desi

Arnaz, Lynda Carter, Jimmy Smits, Charo, Selena Gomez, Carlos Pena Jr., Eva Longoria, Sofía

Vergara, Benjamin Bratt, Ricardo Montalbán, America Ferrera, Karla Souza, Diego Boneta, Erik Estrada, Cote

de Pablo, Freddie Prinze, Lauren Vélez, and Charlie Sheen. Kenny Ortega is an Emmy Award-winning

producer, director, and choreographer who has choreographed many major television events such as Super

Bowl XXX, the 72nd Academy Awards, and Michael Jackson's memorial service.

Comedy:

In standup comedy, Paul Rodríguez, Greg Giraldo, Cheech Marin, George Lopez, Freddie Prinze, Jade

Esteban Estrada, Carlos Mencia, John Mendoza, Gabriel Iglesias, and others are prominent.

4 Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15th—October 15th

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Business:

The total number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2016 was 3.3 million. Hispanic and Latino business leaders

include Cuban immigrant Roberto Goizueta, who rose to head of The Coca-Cola Company. Advertising Mexican-

American magnate Arte Moreno became the first Hispanic to own a major league team in the United States when

he purchased the Los Angeles Angels baseball club. Also a major sports team owner is Mexican-American Linda

G. Alvarado, president and CEO of Alvarado Construction, Inc. and co-owner of the Colorado Rockies baseball

team.

The largest Hispanic-owned food company in the US is Goya Foods, because of World War II hero Joseph A.

Unanue, the son of the company's founders. Angel Ramos was the founder of Telemundo, Puerto Rico's first

television station and now the second largest Spanish-language television network in the United States, with an

average viewership over one million in primetime. Samuel A. Ramirez, Sr. made Wall Street history by becoming

the first Hispanic to launch a successful investment banking firm, Ramirez & Co. Nina Tassler is president

of CBS Entertainment since September 2004. She is the highest-profile Latina in network television and one of the

few executives who has the power to approve the airing or renewal of series.

Fashion:

In the world of fashion, some of the most notable Hispanic and Latino designers include Oscar de la

Renta, Carolina Herrera, and Narciso Rodríguez.

Politics:

Latinos are underrepresented in politics, as of October 2016, there were only 6176 among the more than half a

million elected officials in the United States. In 2005, Alberto Gonzales became the highest-ranking Latino in the

history of the executive branch when President George W. Bush appointed him U.S. attorney general. In

2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. And a year later, New Mexico

elected Susana Martinez, a Republican with Mexican roots, as the first Latina governor of a U.S. state. Currently,

there are 36 Latinos in the House of Representatives and 4 in the Senate.

Sports:

The large number of Hispanic and Latino American stars in Major League Baseball (MLB) includes players like Ted

Williams (considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all time), Alex Rodriguez, Alex Rios, Miguel Cabrera, Lefty

Gómez, Iván Rodríguez, Carlos González, Roberto Clemente, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Fernandez, David

Ortiz, Fernando Valenzuela, Nomar Garciaparra, Albert Pujols, Omar Vizquel, managers Al López, Ozzie Guillén,

and Felipe Alou, and General Manager Omar Minaya.

Science:

Among Hispanic Americans who have excelled in science are Luis Walter Álvarez, Nobel Prize–winning physicist,

and his son Walter Alvarez, a geologist. They first proposed that an asteroid impact on the Yucatán

Peninsula caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. F. J. Duarte is a laser physicist and author; who received

the Engineering Excellence Award from the prestigious Optical Society of America for the invention of the N-slit

laser interferometer. Physicist Albert Baez made important contributions to the early development of X-ray

microscopes and later X-ray telescopes. Luis von Ahn is one of the pioneers of crowdsourcing and the founder of

the companies reCAPTCHA and Duolingo. Colombian-American Ana Maria Rey received a MacArthur

Fellowship for her work in atomic physics in 2013. Fermín Tangüis was an agriculturist and scientist who developed

the Tangüis Cotton in Peru and saved that nation's cotton industry.

Hispanic and Latino Americans have made many contributions to our country, and this list is by no means all-

inclusive. Everyone should be proud of where they came from, because the variety of cultures is what makes our

country so great!

Remembering those we have lost

Marcus Blanks - August 1, 2017

NMSRC Staff

Manager—Amparo Vasquez

Assistant Manager—Tina Swindell

Attendants—Angie Mendoza & Kelly Hughes

Facility Maintenance—Ricky Echavarria

The Friends of North Mesa

Senior Recreation Center

accepts donations to help with items for our

center that are not in our budget. Memorials

or honorarium gifts to the Friends of North

Mesa Senior Recreation Center pay a lasting

tribute to those who are important to us.

Donations are tax deductible and are utilized

to improve the center for our members!

Donations can be made at the Carlsbad

Foundation:

114 S. Canyon Street

Carlsbad, NM

575-887-1131

Make Checks payable to:

The Friends of North Mesa Senior Recreation

NMSRC Advisory Board

Sally Garner, Chairperson Beth Frederick

Jean Loafman, Vice-Chairperson Ysidro Molinar (Moe)

Jigger Skillern Helen DeAnda

Jay Redman

A big Thank You to the

Country Gold Line Dancers

for their generous donation to the

Friends of North Mesa Senior

Recreation Center Fund!

On the lighter side...

Hospital rules state that patients checking out must

have a wheelchair.

One day a newly graduated nurse assistant came into

the room to find an elderly man fully dressed. He was

sitting on the bedside chair, with a piece of packed

luggage at his side, all ready to go.

When he was shown the wheelchair, he was adamant

that he was fully capable of walking himself to the

parking lot.

But the assistant told him rules were rules, so he

relented and let her wheel him out.

In the elevator, the assistant asked the elderly man if

his wife was coming to meet him.

“I don’t think so,” he replied, “it takes her awhile to

change her clothes, so she’s probably still upstairs in

the bathroom taking off her hospital gown and