By
Laura Winsky
Yesterday marked the close of the 76th annual "Fiesta de Los Vaqueros," lovingly called "The Tucson Rodeo" by Tucsonans and the truckloads of snowbirds that have been feasting in our restaurants, feeding our economy and slowing down the flow of traffic on our roads.
The rodeo has always brought two distinctly different camps of people out of the woodwork - the traditionalists and the enraged. Now, the traditionalists are the good ol' cowboys. For them, the rodeo is the main event of the year, and they show up as either fans or participants after a year's worth of preparation in a get-up that draws a lot of attention.
The enraged are, well, enraged. They represent the animal-protection organizations of the nation, and they believe that "La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros" is a most obvious animal-health violation.
Now, one can get bogged down in this debate for longer than it takes to rope a steer, and Tucsonans can't seem to reach any kind of compromise on this subject.
As a third party whose only complaint about the rodeo is that the UA doesn't give us time off for it, and that the event overshadows other important parts of Tucson's culture, all I can do is sit back and laugh.
But more than that, the rodeo - the 76th rodeo at that - seems like a horse that has been dragged around long enough.
I remember as a little girl, the holiday was played up in the elementary schools. I believe at one point I actually had red leather cowgirl boots. Unfortunately, there are pictures of this that will one day, I'm sure, be used as blackmail.
But it was exciting. For my little brother and myself, it simply meant days off of school and a trip to Disneyland with our mom. Not too shabby.
But the event got more attention than other cultural aspects of this state, and even this city.
Tucson is rich with history. This shouldn't be news to anyone, but I'm astounded that each day as I learn more about the abundant culture of Tucson through my studies as a Spanish major. A couple of weeks ago, my teacher, a very passionate woman, instructed our class that our homework for the weekend was to find "El Hoyo." The neighborhood is one of Tucson's original barrios just south of the Tucson Convention Center.
Most of it is gone now. The government tore down half of it for the center and for the highway. The families were forced to relocate. But one can still see that the barrio must have been a place of life and energy, where families gathered on front porches to share stories as a distraction from the hot summer nights. One can still imagine the family-owned shops - the barber shop, the shoe store, the early morning bakery - La Panaderia.
We give an entire week each year to the rodeo. Our class took only an afternoon to visit El Hoyo, a small way to pay respect where respect is due.
As far as history is concerned, El Hoyo is not alone. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant on the west end of Congress was once a train depot and still maintains its original form. The Rialto was reopened as a club, but was once the first playhouse on the west coast. The Fox Theatre will be reopened when renovations are complete. Bisbee was once the most populous city in Arizona. The mine employed thousands of workers. And Tombstone, well, we should all know that story. Even if Tucson hasn't, at least Hollywood has paid enough attention to Tombstone.
The rodeo is fun, but it gets a lot more attention than the rest of Arizona's vast culture that should get play during the year.
Let's stop the rodeo overkill.
