Behind the scenes at Charro Days

Behind the scenes at Charro Days’ popular Illuminated Night and Grand International Parades, groups of volunteers keep the floats fresh and colorful, while others make sure these eye-catching creations are pulled safely and securely through the streets of Brownsville each year.
Like hundreds of other willing helpers, the volunteers who work on parade committees use their creative and organizational skills to make Charro Days an annual success.

“As long as I can remember, we’ve gotten dressed up and gone to Charro Days, the parades and the dances, the booths. It’s just part of our culture down here,” said Sandra Maxwell, who heads up the float committee. “This is something I want to see continue and to celebrate for another 75 years.”

Maxwell’s job is to oversee the 12 Charro Days floats, redoing a few each year with new designs. She has several volunteer assistants who help with carpentry skills.

“We have a lot of fun. Right now I am working on the ‘chalupa,’ which is like a canoe and has flowers on it. I try to stick with themes that are indigenous to Mexico: carts, cactus, baskets of flowers.”

While Maxwell uses chicken wire, metallic paper and her imagination in her Charro Days task, Bill Robertson puts his planning skills to work, making sure each float is pulled by a licensed driver with a suitable vehicle.

“I started out pulling one of the floats for Charro Days…and worked my way up through the ranks. At some point I became in charge of the transportation committee,” said Robertson, a nurse who moved to Brownsville in 1993.
On the day of the parades, volunteers are there 2 or 3 hours early looking the floats over, pulling them off the property, lining them up in proper order
"We have a number of drivers that volunteer to pull our floats for us. We make sure everybody is licensed; they have a vehicle that is capable of pulling the floats; they have insurance,” Robertson said. “Many of the float drivers bring their families along, and enjoy taking part in the parades.".

Charro Days Executive Director Carlos Banales, the only paid staff member in the organization, says volunteers are the key to a successful festival. They prepare and sell taquitos, decorate for the dances, sew the costumes and teach the dances.
“Without the volunteers we simply couldn’t do it,” says Banales, who started out as a volunteer himself. “You have to admire them all, because it is a lot of hard work. But they are keeping a tradition alive, and passing it along to their friends and neighbors and family members”
Robertson, who also helps out with the food and drink booths during Baile Del Sol, said volunteering with Charro Days helps him “belong” to his community. “I like it…It’s for the community….I like being a part of it.”