Nearly 300 students honor Cesar Chavez on his birthday
with a ‘Day of Service’ at his gravesite
Almost 300 middle school, high school and college students will spend Cesar Chavez’s birthday on Tuesday, March 31 performing a "Day of Service" by cleaning and fixing up the grounds around his grave site at the National Chavez Center in the Tehachapi Mountain hamlet of Keene.
Some 250 public school students will travel to Keene from Delano, where Chavez founded what became the United Farm Workers of America in 1962. Thirty-five students from California State University, Fresno will join them for the day.
They will spend the morning cleaning up and applying mulch around the Memorial Gardens that host Chavez’s grave site, raking and preparing soil for the planting of wildflowers and wild grasses later in the year, gathering field stone on the property for use in drainage and planters, and painting the kitchen. After lunch, they will witness a performance and ceremony by Aztec dancers and hear from Paul Chavez, Cesar Chavez’s middle son and head of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, which operates the National Chavez Center. Before leaving, students will tour the adjacent Visitor’s Center, housing a gallery displaying photographic exhibits, a book store and Chavez’s office and library, left exactly as it was the last day he left it.
Known as La Paz, the 187-acre farm worker movement headquarters became Chavez’s personal refuge and spiritual harbor during the last 22 years of his life. It is set amid picturesque volcanic peaks, oak woodlands, creeks and rock outcrops. It was where Chavez asked to be laid to rest after his passing, which occurred in 1993.
Who: Nearly 300 middle school, high school and college students; Aztec dancers; Paul Chavez, Cesar Chavez’s middle son.
What: Performing a "Day of Service" to honor Cesar Chavez on his birthday by cleaning up and improving the grounds around his grave site.
When: 9:30 a.m.-12 noon-Day of Service activities; 12 noon-lunch served; 12:30 p.m.-Aztec dancers and ceremony; 1 p.m. program with Paul Chavez; 1:15-2 p.m.-tour of Visitor’s Center.
Where: National Chavez Center, 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Rd., Keene, Calif. 93531.