36th Annual Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference Part 1

My attendance this year to the yearly conference was different. This year I did not go as an spectator but as a vendor. I had a table with all my books and also signed up new members for Las Villas del Norte. With this post I will be telling you about my trip and of some of the great people that I meet.

As you may know I live in Mission, Texas so Laredo was just 3 hours away. I left early morning and was over there by 8:00 am. To be honest La Posada Hotel did not look that appealing at first but my impression was soon changed as the door keeper opened the door for me and guided me to the front desk. I noticed the architecture and the well kept building. The lady behind the counter was very nice but check in was not until 4:00 pm but she then said to come back in an hour for my room. I then walked over to the San Agustin Ballroom with two boxes of books. I was probably the first person to arrive. I received my name tag and a goodies bag with candies and water plus other materials about Laredo. I meet Jose Trevino and his wife there in the lobby then Renee La Perrere showed me the vendor tables and I chose the one that I liked the best.

It took me about half an hour to get set up. After that I just stayed there talking with Renee about genealogy and DNA research until attendees started to slowly trickle in. Attending as a vendor put me in a great position, almost everyone visited the vendors section and I got to meet and talk to many people. I meet many readers of We Are Cousins and members of our Facebook Community. It was just great. I got to meet Don Israel Cavazos Garza, Garmendia Leal, and George Farias for a second time.

I also meet and spoke to several other book Authors:

• Mikey Garcia – Marriages of Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico : 1689-1822

• Mario Manuel Escoto Santoyo – Herencia Mestena: Un Reencuentro Con La Historia Del Rancho San Rafael De Las Tortillas, Guerrero, Tamaulipas

• Armando Alonso – Tejano Legacy: Rancheros and Settlers in South Texas, 1734-1900

• Carolina Castillo Crimm – De Leon, a Tejano Family History

• Marie-Theresa Hernández – The Virgin of Guadalupe and the Conversos: Uncovering Hidden Influences from Spain to Mexico

• Alfredo Cardenas – Balo’s War – A Novel About the Plan of San Diego

I mostly hanged around with Mario Davila whom was also sharing the vending table with me. He had a display of his family tree and was taking orders for his book “Libro de Matrimonios de Reynosa 1790-1811“. The vendor next to  me was none other than my good friend Alfredo Cardenas.

Here are some pictures:

Alfredo Cardenas and His wife.

Me with Don Israel Cavazos Garza whom has played a major part in my genealogical research.

Here I am pictured with Marie-Theresa Hernández and Mikey Garcia whom I now consider my friends. Having drinks with them was awesome.

Here I am with Carolina Castillo Crimm.

Well this is it for today. On Thursday I will write about the Taste of Laredo Banquete and about the speakers that attended including the title of the presentations that they gave. I did not get to attend any of them but I am still going to share that with you since I want you to know what you can expect to hear about when you attend one of these conferences. By the way next one will be in Corpus Christi and on my next post I will provide more details. On a final note I want to thank everyone that stopped my my table to say hi and or buy my books. You all are awesome. I left many names and photos out of this page due to time constrains, hope you understand. Once again thank you!

Read part two of this article: 36th Annual Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference Part 2