It was a pleasure meeting distant cousins during my first experience with the group at the annual Walk to LA in 2004. We had arrived early in the morning at the San Gabriel Mission for registration, and the first thing I noticed was that those who are actual descendants wear red sashes to identify themselves with. Many actually wear festive costumes at public events to represent our fore-fathers and Spanish soldiers. After the kick-off announcements had finished the walk began. The nine-mile trek takes about three hours to complete. I came to find I was walking at a relatively slow pace pushing Anthony in our jogger so I decided to kick it up a notch. I then began a jog-walk that seemed to take forever to catch up to the Pobladores group. I eventually caught up to member Bob Smith carrying our flag and I remember passing him up. I believe I was the first Pobladores member to arrive in LA. Many of the older members don't actually walk the entire trip and get picked up to be taken to the end to greet everyone.

For the 2005 walk it was a little different. It seems we got off to a late start leaving San Gabriel and less than a mile from the end a few of us were walking as a group, including our president Paul Guzman, when his nephew pulled up in the van saying, "The mayor's waiting for you guys - get in!" That year marked the first time a Los Angeles mayor walked with everyone and apparently there must have been a tight schedule to keep. The ceremony had begun without us which was a bit upsetting. Normally the crowd gathers across the street at Union Station and the Pobladores then leads the way to the plaza to the sounds of cheers and festive music. But it was all good. I had worn the Father Serra robe that year that my cousin Felix made himself (which has a small fit on me as he designed it for a smaller individual), and I was able to get a picture of Anthony and I with Mayor Villaraigosa after the ceremony. That was kinda cool.

It's always fun when someone new comes along. I recently met someone at the 75th anniversary of Olvera Street, for which the Pobladores marched in a short parade, who found out about her genealogy while researching online and discovered our web site. The experiences I've had so far with Los Pobladores at our different events have been truly a blast. At last year's annual Mexican Independence Day celebration at Pio Pico State Historical Park in Whittier we got to be interviewed for a CBS2 News segment on California: a special series called California Dreams - see link below. Newsman Josh Rubenstein did a fine job of putting together the piece which has aired several times. Every once in a while someone tells me they saw me on TV. I'm hoping my 15 minutes of fame does not end too soon. I was eventually asked to be parliamentarian for the group which I gladly accepted, however, that was a briefly held position that I had to give up to take on the secretary and newsletter editor positions that became open in early 2006. What a great way to kick off the start of our 25th anniversary year!

Something special that Felix can say he experienced as a Pobladores member was to meet King Don Juan Carlos I and Queen Dona Sofia of Spain when they visited LA in 1987 for the dedication of the statue of King Carlos III at the plaza. Also, the year before the Los Pobladores 200 group was founded, Felix was among twelve descendants to be interviewed for a special televised film to be sent to Spain at the request of the King who was interested in learning about Los Angeles history for which one of his ancestors, King Carlos III, was responsible for directing the founding.