There is no plaque bearing the names of the artist, the donors, or even the name of the sculpture.
But the statue of a laboring farmworker speaks volumes to local residents who have seen it at the corner of N. 25th Street and Nolana."We all know someone who has labored in the fields and took pride in the work they did," said a reader who sent us the photos accompanying this post. "It depicts a hard-working man during the "riego," or the time that local fields are irrigated.
Unlike the mangled erection of the Emiliano Zapata at Brownsville's Linear Park, the statue of El Riegero stands along the right-of-way. It has no tile because the apparel, he is wearing, a shovel, rubber boots and work clothes, tell it all.
"This is one of hundreds, if not thousands of workers who have worked in the fields for as long as anyone can remember," he wrote. "I remember that sometimes they have to work throughout the night during a northern when it's been cold and raining and used their skills to make sure every inch of the crop gets the needed water. It is very simple, but it's also very effective. Many of us who have worked in agriculture instantly relate to it.""What is also interesting is there is no plaque giving credit to an agency, doctor, organization or individual. It's simply a statue anyone who has lived this life can relate," said our reader..
"We all know someone who does or has done farm hard labor with honor. Right down to the water boots, hat and rolled up sleeves. Can I hear a I RELATE.!!!?"
6 comments:
Brownsville is a smelly town populated by obese diabetics and governed by clowns. McAllen has proved its superiority for decades. My annual hiatus is always spent in McAllen, not just because relatives live there, but because of the fish tacos.
Eddie Bowlcut
The McAllen statute is classy but simple and reflects the agricultural legacy in the RGV. It is a statue that all can relate to. Brownsville doesn't have the leadership necessary to move us toward "classy" and too many cannot or will not try to move the community forward. They want us to live in the past and accept our lack of progress.
Put a pack of camel cigarettes in his shirt pocket and i see my dad back in the sixties in "el riego del labores"
Mcallen: A place filled with local businesses disguised as legal, with all the money comming from the narcos and dirty politicians from Reynosa and state governors making their mansions on the U.S. side, stealing from the poor campesinos in Tamaulipas. Reynosa's poor are the shoppers in the downtown area, the HEB on 10th is closed (great business I guess). If Brownsville is a smelly town, Mcallen is full of dust, allergy capital of the RGV, and check statistics, KRGV Channel 5 is conducting a diabetic service for the community and the MAJOR number of diabetic patients is in MCALLEN!! I don't like the mayor of Brownsville nor the city commissioners but Mcallen is no better off. The comissioners and state representatives have sold local lots in residential areas (read the fine print, read S.A. Express and Houston Chronicle) where the city of Mcallen has oil rigs that represent a major danger to the residents and air quality has been jeopardized. Great "fish" tacos? SPI is closer to Brownsville than to McAllen so I guess the fish is really really fresh, yeap.
Well Mr. Eddie Bowlcut, you sound like an obese racist. Thanks for spending money in Brownsville :)
-Ben Dover
There are at least two way of looking at that bronze;
1. It honors the honest hard working farm laborer.
2. It show how you end up, if you are illegal, uneducated and don't speak English.
Every mother in the Upper Valley is driving her son by the bronze and saying "Mijo, if you don't want to spend your life like this guy, study hard and stay out of trouble.".
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