Photo by Greg Barnette

Amelia Delatorre Ward, chairwoman of the Northern Hispanic Latino Coalition, and about 70 other participants march Friday in Anderson during Cesar Chavez Day. “I think of what he did and it makes me very proud of who he was,” Delatorre Ward said.

ANDERSON – Amelia Delatorre Ward and Gerri Martinez-Coenen couldn’t help but feel a little bit wistful Friday.

Photo by Greg Barnette

Diana Alcala, 7, left, talks to Stefanie Arriga, 7, during Cesar Chavez Day in Anderson on Friday.

They were among those who gathered at the Anderson City Hall Community Center to honor the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez.

Martinez-Coenen, who founded the Latino Outreach in Tehama County more than a dozen years ago, and Ward, chairwoman of the Northern Hispanic Latino Coalition, both said the late labor and civil rights leader shaped their lives and the lives of countless Hispanics and Latinos.

"He was a great man," said Ward, who as a young girl picked strawberries, peaches and pears with her migrant farmworker parents throughout much of California. "I think of what he did and it makes me very proud of who he was. It almost makes me cry."

Martinez-Coenen, who marched in support of Chavez and his United Farm Workers of America during the 1960s and 1970s in Sacramento, said he was a courageous, humble and selfless man who was definitely ahead of his time.

"We were lucky he was there to lead everyone," she said.

With Wednesday being Cesar Chavez Day – a state holiday – Friday’s seventh annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration included a dinner, entertainment, scholarship presentations and a slide show presentation that highlighted Chavez’s life.

Beforehand, it included a symbolic march that saw nearly 70 marchers, many carrying signs and placards and chanting "Si, se puede," or "Yes, we can," walk from the community center to Highway 273 and follow a loop route back to the community center.

Chavez, an Arizona native and U.S. Navy veteran who died in 1993 at age 66, founded the United Farm Workers in 1965 and is credited through his nonviolence movement with raising agricultural wages throughout California and bringing farmworkers medical insurance, employer-paid pensions, unemployment insurance and other benefits.

In 1994, Chavez became the second Mexican American to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. It was awarded posthumously by President Bill Clinton.

Wearing a T-shirt with a likeness of Chavez on it, Jess Gonzalez, a Redding resident and retired Sacramento City College professor, agreed that the late labor and civil rights leader was a remarkable man.

"He was a role model who stood for equality and justice," he said, adding that Chavez also emphasized the importance of education and community service.

And his slogan, "Si, se puede," still serves as a message of empowerment to Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike, he said.

Sponsors of Friday’s celebration included the Northern Hispanic Latino Coalition, Anderson Parks and Recreation, Shasta County Public Health, Shasta College and AmeriCorps.

Reporter Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.