Antiques & Collectibles
by Denise Cauthen-Wright

Are you considered a collector? Do your friends call you an “antiquer?” Then you will want to be in San Juan Bautista EARLY on Sunday, August 3 for the SJB Chamber of Commerce’s 45th Annual Antique and Collectible Flea Market! What is early, you might ask? This show starts at 8:00am! But for you that like to sleep in on Sundays, it doesn’t end until 5pm so there will be plenty of time to find something special. Keep in mind though – the early bird gets the worm. With this kind of show, once an item is gone, it’s gone!
The vendors are screened ahead of time and are required to sell only pre-1970 antiques, collectibles, memorabilia and nostalgia UNLESS they are one of the local year round merchants who also get a booth to better serve you with great discounts just for this day. When you get hungry or thirsty, no worries as there will be plenty of booths and local restaurants ready to serve you their best. From such a wide range of menus, you might have to eat more than once! (I would!) Adding to the day is a DJ and Karaoke providing fun entertainment to enhance your day! What better way to spend a day...eating, shopping for that unique treasure all while strolling through the historic Mission town. This event is open to the public and is free. Parking is available on most side streets and 4th and 2nd streets with handicap parking available at the San Benito Bank parking lot on Mariposa Street. So get up when the roosters start crowin’ and spend the day enjoying the fine hospitality of the over 100 vendors and the many stores that serve you year round.
If you would like a booth at this event, please visit www.sjbchamber.com for an application.  For more information on all 2008 events in San Juan Bautista, please visit www.sjbchamber.com or call 831.623.2454.

La Carpa de los Rasquachis
Returns to San Juan
El Teatro Campesino revives its vintage classic La Carpa de los Rasquachis, by Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino, in a rare eight week engagement not to be missed. La Carpa de los Rasquachis is the epic life story of the farm worker in America. Told through the struggles, frustrations and ultimate victory of a single Chicano, the Rasquachi saga comes alive in corridos (Mexican Ballads) that tell of life’s tragedies with an ironic, rollicking earthy good humor.
The cause of all the merriment is, of course, that La Carpa is bursting with all the energy and hope of the United Farm Worker’s movement, from which El Teatro Campesino sprang in 1965. Created especially to organize campesinos, La Carpa de los Rasquachis invokes the carpa (tent) shows that used to travel the valleys and towns of the US – Mexico borderlands in the 1930s and 1940s. Drawing on this great popular tradition, El Teatro Campesino’s La Carpa has returned to many of these small towns not only to entertain, but also to inspire and help organize its audience as never before.
The story follows Jesus Pelado Rasquachi, leaving his own mother and brother in Mexico as he heads for the United States, in hopes of “getting rich” as a bracero. Misfortune and fate, however, stalk his every footstep, in the guise of El Diablo (Devil) and La Calavera (Death). Tricked and betrayed at every turn, Jesus Pelado becomes a pathetic comic figure in the hands of the growers, contractors, bar owners, and social workers, and ultimately, the undertaker.
Now in the year 2008, a new generation of El Teatro Campesino is ready to take on this seminal classic, with plans to eventually tour around the country La Carpa de los Rasquachis opens on July 31 and runs through September 21. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $8 for children 12 and under. Opening night, Thursday, July 31, performance is free, all other Thursday night seats are $5. Tickets are on sale now so call and make reservations early as this show is expected to sell out. El Teatro Campesino Playhouse is located at 705 Fourth Street in San Juan Bautista. Our Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm. For reservations call (831) 623-2444. Group rates are available.

~ For more information on all 2008 events in San Juan Bautista,
please visit www.sjbchamber.com or call 831.623.2454.