San Bernardino Press MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 - DECEMBER 14, 2014
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Oldest Mexican Restaurant in the Inland Empire is a National Success By Vickie Vértiz
Inland Empire. There were also photos of restaurant goers smiling and posing for the camera, clearly loving their food. Patti Oquendo, mother of co-owner Steven Oquendo, told the Sun that the photos included baseball teams sponsored by their business and went all the way back
The need for this project is significant in the San Bernardino area where >28% of households have incomes below the poverty level and >90% of students quality for free or reduced-cost school lunches. In the midst of this richly diverse, yet underserved Please see page 2
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– Photo by Dusty Track
to when only black-and-white photographs could be printed. She said that their customers are what their business is all about. “I have people come in that my mom used to wait on,” said Oquendo to the Sun. Please see page 4
San Bernardino Symphony Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu announced today that the San Bernardino Symphony is one of only 163 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Challenge America grant. Each will receive $10,000. The Symphony’s award will support “Music for All Ages,” a
community engagement project designed to stimulate the imaginations of diverse audiences. “It is very rewarding to be nationally recognized for the efforts that we have been making toward reaching the diverse audiences in our communities,” said Symphony Board of Directors President Dr. Judith Valles.
County Supervisors Hagman and Rutherford Take Oath and Talk About Goals Supervisors Curt Hagman and Janice Rutherford spoke of teamwork as they began new four-year-terms on the Board of Supervisors following Oath of Office ceremonies at the County Government Center today. Supervisor Rutherford, who currently serves as Board of Supervisors Chair, will continue to represent the Second District, which includes the cities of Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, and Fontana, and the unincorporated communities of Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, and San Antonio Heights. Chair Rutherford has been on the board since 2010. She was re-elected in June. “We are working toward a common goal and a common vision and that’s what we’ve been able to create in San Bernardino County over the past several years,” Chair Rutherford said today. “When I ran the first time, one of my big goals was to help restore public confidence in our County government system, and I feel like we’ve made progress toward that … I have a great team of people here to do that with.” Supervisor Hagman represents the Fourth District, which includes the cities of Chino Hills, Chino, Ontario, Montclair, and Upland. He
The famous Mitla Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in the Inland Empire, on Vernon.
When the San Bernardino County Sun News visited the Mitla Café recently, the reporter noticed several articles from The New York Times, NPR, and other national news outlets posted in their restaurant. Each article documented the culinary legacy of the oldest Mexican restaurant in the
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community, the Symphony has long served as a vitalizing force, presenting excellence in classical music programming through concerts and music education programs since 1928. In fact, the San Bernardino Symphony is the longest-running professional orchestra in the region. Their 2014/15 season – themed “By Request: The Music You Want to Hear,” was especially designed to include music suggested by audience members. This concept – considered novel in an industry known for adherence to traditional classical offerings – has so far proven advantageous; the Symphony’s opening concert, “Virtuosity” received exceptional reviews and their upcoming “Home for the Holidays” concert has been extremely popular at the box office. “Our mission is, essentially, to provide accessible music and music education,” said Symphony executive director Dr. Anne
Viricel. “The first part of that mission is to present concerts that are interesting, relevant, affordable, and that will attract a wide breadth of audience members, many for the first time. Our goal is to be the first place that comes to mind when people think of fine music in the Inland Empire.” The Symphony has also partnered with local school districts for most of its 86 years. In fact, over 90,000 students have been introduced to orchestral instruments through the Symphony’s efforts and thousands more have benefitted from their music enrichment programs and workshops, and from their annual free student concerts for the schools. “Our relationship with the San Bernardino City Unified School District is incredibly important to us, and it will be a vital to the success of this initiative,” said Viricel. Scheduled for April 11,
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2015 at the historic California Theatre in downtown San Bernardino, the “Music for all Ages” project advances both aspects of the organization’s mission in a way not previously realized at a Symphony concert. The work will begin months before the event when top art students are invited to take part in special workshops led by Viricel, a long time professor at the University of Redlands, and local artist Michal Madison, known for paintings that evoke movement and emotion. There, they will learn the historical and contextual backgrounds of the pieces and learn Madison’s interpretive artistic process. Then, listening to the various selected pieces (Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Brahms; Concerto for Violin and Violincello, and Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony), they will create unique works of art based upon their individual understanding of the music. The artwork will be incorporated into the April concert event both as part of a curated show during which members of Symphonie Jeunesse will perform. Further, the student art work will be projected above the orchestra during the presentation of the music. Audience members who are familiar with the music will then have the opportunity to experience it anew through the eyes of participating young artists. The young artists will be challenged to visualize the music in new ways they can translate through their unique
media, then see their work come alive through the orchestra performance. Those audience members new to symphonic music will draw inspiration from the students’ work, from the 12-to20-year-old musicians of Symphonie Jeunesse, and from the Symphony’s professional musicians. Perhaps most important in our underserved community, all will be encouraged to see the music – and perhaps the world – in a new more cohesive and inclusive way. Chu said, “I’m pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Challenge America, including the award to the San Bernardino Symphony. The arts foster value, connection, creativity and innovation for the American people and these recommended grants demonstrate those attributes and affirm that the arts are part of our everyday lives.” The Challenge America category supports projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economies, or disability. For a complete list of projects recommended for Challenge America support, please visit the website at arts.gov. Follow the conversation about this and other NEA-funded projects on Twitter at #NEAFall2014. You can learn more about the San Bernardino Symphony at: www.sanbernardinosymphony.org.
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was elected to the Board of Supervisors in November to succeed Gary Ovitt, who retired after 10 years. Supervisor Hagman just completed six years of service to the county in the State Assembly and previously served as mayor of Chino Hills. “This is an awesome county, I think the best in the state by far, and we have a lot of work to do with my colleagues to make it that way working together as a team,” Supervisor Hagman said today. Both new Supervisors join Robert Lovinghood, James Ramos, and Jose Gonzales in leading a dynamic service organization of more than 22,000 employees working in dozens of agencies, departments, and divisions that provide a diverse array of vital public services.
Those services include public safety, economic development, aid to the needy, infrastructure construction and maintenance, elections, parks, museums, libraries, airports, and a variety of healthcare services. The Board of Supervisors works with the community to achieve the Countywide Vision, www.sbcounty.gov/vision, which was created by county residents and community stakeholders and calls for the establishment of a “complete county” that offers residents and investors a wide range of choices in how they live and prosper. Key to the Vision is realizing that all elements of the
community – education, wellness, jobs and the economy, public safety, housing, the environment, water, infrastructure, quality of life, and image – are interrelated and interdependent. Community experts in various element areas are working together to achievethe Vision and the Vision’s two regional goals: - Establish San Bernardino County as a model in the state where local government, regulatory agencies and communities are truly business friendly - Partner with all sectors of the community to support the success of every child from cradle to career.
Big Bear Christmas Events If you really want to add sparkle to your holiday season there is no better place in Big Bear Lake. From Christmas to New Years the cozy mountain town transforms into a magical place of yule-tide cheer! Here are just a few holiday events the whole family will enjoy: Big Bear Snow Play: Christmas Eve, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.; Christmas Day, 11 a.m.4 p.m. Bowling Barn: Christmas Eve, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; Christmas Day, 12 noon -10 p.m. Big Bear Fun Plex: Christmas Eve & Day open, hours TBA. Whether it’s your first Christmas or New Year’s in the mountains, or if you’re a frequent visitor, make Big Bear Lake a holiday tradition. wFor information, contact askbblra@bigbear.com.
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Oldest Mexican Restaurant Continued from page 1
“We’re all family here, us and the customers.” The Sun talked to a longtime customer, Lino Martinez, 68, who is one of the photographs and said he used to take long lunches at Mitla, it was so good. Martinez was eating there again and this time brought friends with him like Raphael Santana, 63. “I can’t come back without coming (to Mitla),” he told the paper. “It’s the best Mexican food in California. After six months without it, I’m dying.” The food at Mitla is straight-forward and relatively simple, said Patti Oquendo to the Sun. They are using the same recipes and atmosphere the restaurant had when it opened in 1937, she added. What is most striking, perhaps, about their menu is the famous hard-shell tacos, which were a stolen concept by the owner of what became Taco Bell. Its founder Glen Bell had his business across the street from Mitla. Bell opened the first Taco Bell in 1962, said the Sun. Gustavo Arellano, writer and editor of the OC Weekly, documented the hard-shell lift in his 2012 book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. Oquendo told the Sun that before Bell opened his new restaurants, that they were family
and local lore, although “she was careful to note that she couldn’t personally verify” the theft. The Sun said she has no hard feelings, which is admirable given the empire of justadd water food he made out of Mexican food. “We just like people to enjoy what we have,” she told the paper. She added that the number of people coming in has fluctuated over 77 years and that this last year has been a down period. The restaurant gets a lot of tourists who “always stop at the Wigwam Motel, then they come back here,” said Oquendo, but has mostly relied on its network and community to be successful. They have hosted election-night celebrations by political opponents, for activists, and council people who represent that region of San Bernardino, added the Sun. The Oquendo family shows no signs of stopping. They told the paper that they plan to keep reuniting people for a long time to come. “They say a lot of family businesses fail after three generations, but we’re at four,” she said. “And my grandson, he’s five, and he comes in to color and watch people. I think he’s getting ready to be the next owner.”
Record-Breaking Storm Still No Relief for California’s Drought by jennifer schlueter
Residents brace for storms with K-rails and sandbags near the Madison Fire area. - Photo by Terry Miller
Last week, drought-stricken California finally received some much needed rain for two straight days along with delayed and canceled flights, traffic chaos, destroyed power lines, and mudslides. The subtropical storm that emerged south of Hawaii broke December 2 records of the past 50 years in “downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport, Long Beach Airport and communities such as Antelope Valley, Palmdale and Camarillo,” meteorologist Eric Bolt from the National Weather Service told Voice of America (VoA). In Glendora and other mountain communities, residents and city departments feared mudslides resulting from desolated hillsides due to previous wildfires. A few evacuations were issued; though, soon lifted because the slides weren’t as bad as expected and cities and residents were well prepared with barricades and 18,000 distributed sandbags. However, despite last week’s downpour, California is still experiencing a severe drought. “We certainly hope
that the rainfall we have now pushes us toward normal — but we’re still below normal.… We’re just trying to get to average,” said spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources to the Los Angeles Times. Whereas downtown Los Angeles normally receives 15 inches of rain per year, 2014 only recorded a meager 5.89 inches, according to VoA. The LA times quotes state water experts who claim “it would take 150% of the average rainfall for California to recover from the current drought. That would mean a total of 75 inches of rain from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015, recorded at eight stations in the northern Sierra.” Gov. Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency in January due to the drought and asked Californians to reduce their daily water usage by 20%, because “most important [water] reservoirs contain just 39 percent to 60 percent of normal water levels,” according to abc. In August, Californians used 11.6% less water compared to the previous year, but in October that number shrank to 6.7%.