Tag: paseo del rio

Jimmie Draper: Rain, shine, sleet, heat

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mariachi-festival

This post needs a soundtrack. Nothing would be more fitting than San Antonio high school students belting out mariachi music, so please play this while you read. For Jimmie.

1968. I think James Miller Draper, Jr., was there when the Paseo del Rio Association started, raising his hand to volunteer to do whatever it took to get attention for the River Walk.

It might be hard to imagine now, but the few businesses opening along the river were desperate. There were times when the only live things walking down the sidewalk in the heart of the river bend were pigeons. Things were so dull, there was even a night when some bored unnamed river operators shot fish. With guns.

Jimmie served as president of Paseo del Rio Association twice, in 1975 and 1984. But assumption of that responsibility is minor compared to his continual presence through thick and thin for more than four decades.

The coldest mornings in December always were the Fridays we placed luminarias along the river’s banks. Bob Buchanan made the coffee, and Jimmie brought the doughnuts. Without fail. For decades. Nancy Hunt, current executive director of Paseo del Rio Association, said that even last year Jimmie rode the bus downtown to deliver sweets to those delivering bags to the river’s banks.

No weather forecaster was more accurate than the first night of the annual Great Country River Festival the first weekend in February. Guaranteed sleet. Jimmie was always there.

The event closest to his heart always, though, was the Fiesta Mariachi Festival. It was his. I believe he was the first and only chair of the festival for more than 40 years. He threatened to retire one year. Paseo even threw him a party to recognize chairing the event 25 years or so. That just made him sentimental and mushy about the whole thing, so he kept coming back. Every year, he gave up four nights of Fiesta to meet the high school students boarding the barges. Without fail. Until this past year. Being 86 is a pretty good excuse for easing up a bit.

Generally Jimmie had the patience of Job. The time he really lost it, although not publicly, was at City Hall. The Paseo’s contract with the city in the late ’70s required we continually appear before Council to request approval for each event.

It should have been routine, but poor Mayor Lila Cockrell had a rather rowdy bunch to try to keep corralled. Those were colorful times.

I could almost see the hairs on the back of Jimmie’s neck bristle as a councilman went off on a rant about gringos being in charge of putting on a mariachi festival.

Then there was without a doubt the most incredible remark I ever heard at City Hall. Councilman Joe Webb interrupted the diatribe: “Mariachis. Cucarachas. What’s the difference? They’re all the same to me.”

Councilman Bernardo Eureste leapt to his feet and challenged Councilman Webb to duke it out. The scuffling councilmen went out in the hall to settle things, but were restrained before striking any serious blows.

Permission to stage the admission-free festival was granted, but, on the way out of City Hall, Jimmie said that was it. He would never go back there and be insulted like that again.

But he kept on volunteering again and again and again. Rain, shine, sleet, heat. No matter.

Gringo Jimmie might not have been known for shouting loud gritos in public, but, in those early years working with Belle San Miguel, his belief in bolstering the talents of young musicians gave fledgling programs in public schools a stage on which to shine. Before there were statewide competitions, the Mariachi Festival was the event inspiring students to strive for professionalism in their performances. Jimmie loved to see students board the barges, proudly wearing their festival medals from each year they had participated.

This spring will bring the 44th annual Fiesta Mariachi Festival. Jimmie was there for 42.

luminaria

Light a luminaria for Jimmie this holiday season. If it goes up in flame, it’s his unselfish and generous soul flying up to heaven.

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. OMG! Turkeys bombing the crowd ‘like sacks of wet cement!’

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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  My family does not just come to dinner; they start arriving Monday.  We party all week long, and I never have to touch the naked turkey.  My sisters generously fly in to take care of the enormous, slippery, uncooperative bird and assign the vegetables to me.  I only cooked the innards in the plastic bag inside the turkey once (an extremely stupid place to store them), but it seems seared in the family’s collective memory.

Turkeys always bring a smile to my face, though, because of that great WKRP episode that should be shown on the first day of any introductory public relations course.  The longer version on youtube is worth watching, but the link below is whittled down to 30 seconds for those of us with short attention spans:

Unfortunately, this show aired in 1978, after the grand media opening I was allowed to orchestrate for the first (and last) Fall Festival on the River Walk.   I had spent several months contacting festival organizers and attractions from throughout South Texas to send mascots and representatives to ride in an opening parade.  This was no easy task; it required much begging and pleading.  I can still hear echoes of the Cuero man’s drawling voice beginning each sentence he uttered over the phone to me with:  “Now little girl….”

This parade was a low-budget, one-barge affair.  Conflicts arose immediately.  Having majored in international relations with hopes of bringing peace to the world working at the United Nations, one would have thought college would have left me better prepared to keep peace among South Texans.  But, for some reason, the sparkling-crowned Miss South Texas was highly offended to be sentenced to ride on the same barge as Miss Vacant Lot of the World from Victoria, not to mention the rest of the barnyard on board.  Ruby Begonia, the racing turkey from Cuero, was frightening the swimming pig from Aquarena Springs…. it’s too painful to go on….

When the barge finally pulled away from the patio in front of The Kangaroo Court, I sat down on the stairs of the David Straus Memorial Footbridge, my throat parched from the tense negotiations.  I took a large gulp from the cup in my hand.  Alas, it was not beer, but a gift from the Caveman from Natural Bridge Caverns and his goat (whose name was something like Hi-Ho-Heidi-Ho?) – fresh, warm goat’s milk.

Oh, how I wished that cautionary WKRP episode had aired first.

One would think I would have been fired for this public relations fiasco, but my boss, Claire Regnier, had done something even worse to try to attract attention to Paseo del Rio in those early days when the sidewalks were often devoid of humans.  She had talked a zookeeper into bringing a hibernating alligator to ride a barge with Wendy and Captain Hook.  Ah, but it was a warm winter day.  The sun shone on the alligator’s back, and his tail soon began to twitch, then flail.  To the horror of those on the banks, Wendy shrieked and made an ungraceful leap from the barge.  No gangplank needed.

Leaving you with the turkey tribulations endured by the residents of La Conner, Washington, where they lack the wisdom of South Texans who know turkeys are for racing, and the hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving week as much as I plan to….

Update on November 21:  Following the foraging option for vegetables might get me fired from side dishes as well….

Wayfinding and New Accessibility Enhance River Walk Experience

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Always hated to have to break the news to lost joggers asking for help, the ones who looked really ready to be back in their hotel rooms, that they had veered off about a mile in the wrong direction.  But lately, few are in need of assistance.  The $250,000 wayfinding system funded by the Convention and Visitors Bureau and designed by Marek-Hill of Houston seems to actually work.  For the first time since I have lived in San Antonio, there is an informative, logical and cohesive look to River Walk signage.

Ben Olivo of the San Antonio Express-News writes that Juliana Marek is a product of Alamo Heights High School who:

likens a good system to a bread crumb trail, that it’s impossible, or rather impracticable, to cram mounds of information into a single sign.

“What a good sign system does is break down the information in understandable amounts, because people can’t digest as much as they’re moving around,” Marek said. “You really, really have to try and simplify the information as much as possible.”

Wall-mounted signs serve as quick references.
Signs come in varied shapes and sizes but are consistent in design.
Maps provide more detail for those wandering the river’s banks.
Signs clearly identify cross-streets.
New signage guides those on the River Walk to accessible routes.
Gentle ramping smoothly blends into existing riverside pathways.
This photo from the City of San Antonio’s website shows an entrance to one of the ramps.
Handsome metalwork now bridges the gaps by a fountain by Omni La Mansion del Rio.
One of the trickiest spots to provide accessibility must have been the narrow right of way by La Mansion del Rio.
Many pedestrians elect the new sloping ramps over taking stairs.

The signage also helps those wandering Paseo del Rio locate accessible routes, which, finally, most of the downtown River Walk is.  For years, many preservationists balked at altering Robert H.H. Hugman’s original designs to make accessible pathways, and the city shied away from the expense.  I must confess I, too, was skeptical architects could incorporate the necessary changes without damaging the aesthetic appeal. 

But Judy Babbitt, the city’s Access Compliance Manager, never quit in spite of strong opposition.  Judy always has been reminded on a daily basis where virtually every violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act is located downtown because she wheels it continually.  She literally has devoted decades to the campaign to eradicate unnecessary obstacles. 

According to the Public Works Department website, which includes accessibility maps: 

Since the early 1980’s, the City of San Antonio has been active in eliminating architectural barriers and in creating wheelchair accessibility to and along the River Walk. The City has improved more than 50 locations during these two decades, generating new ramps, pathways and, with the help of private businesses, new elevators.

As a frequent critic of the city’s tendency to “value-engineer” the character out of projects, I am totally bowled over by the sensitivity and quality of materials used in the new system of ramps.  They are handsome additions to the River Walk.  Sensitive areas, such as the stepping-stones by the fountain by Omni La Mansion del Rio, were not ruined.  The craftsmanship of the inserts eliminating the dangerous openings is exquisite. 

Like many pedestrians presented with the choice, I find myself often opting for the ramps over steps.  It feels good to stretch out one’s calves on the slight incline and reminds me what strength would be required to propel oneself up them using only arm-power.  Judy should have just challenged all the nay-sayers years ago to arm-wrestle her for the right to make Paseo del Rio accessible.  The paths would have been completed more than a decade earlier.   

Note Added on September 18, 2010:  More improvements ahead….

Update on January 27, 2012: The City’s efforts to make the downtown River Walk more accessible are receiving recognition:

The Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, in partnership with the Accessibility Professionals Association (APA), has announced the winners of the 2011 Accessibility Awards, which recognize businesses and organizations that go above and beyond the legal requirements to provide both physical and service accessibility to people with disabilities.

City of San Antonio Historic River Walk Downtown (San Antonio)
Owner: City of San Antonio
Design Professional: Beaty Palmer Architects, Inc – Michael Beaty AIA, Principal