When Letty Coronado worked for the downtown H-E-B store 25 years ago, her boss told her to take a fateful fax to the Jacob Brown Auditorium.
When Letty Coronado worked for the downtown H-E-B store 25 years ago, her boss told her to take a fateful fax to the Jacob Brown Auditorium.
Coronado, who still works for H-E-B as a central checkout manager, did as she was told and handed the paperwork to the grocer’s public affairs liaison. Then she turned around to leave.
“And she said, ‘No. No. You are staying to help,’” Coronado said.
That’s how Coronado met H-E-B’s longtime spokeswoman, Virginia Perez.
“She became a lifelong friend,” Coronado said.
Perez, who was battling cancer, died two years ago, she explained.
But from that first moment on, Coronado not only gained a friend, she also became intimately involved in organizing H-E-B’s annual Feast of Sharing.
“Little by little, I got more responsibility,” Coronado said. “And little by little, (Perez) gave me something different every year. She, unfortunately, became ill and she handed it over to me completely.”
Coronado said every year she starts working on the Feast of Sharing in July. In August she meets with H-E-B public affairs, and then she brings in the rest of the team, which she describes as amazing, to put the whole event together.
“It has to roll seamlessly. It’s got to roll perfect,” Coronado said, remembering all the lessons Perez taught her. “We do the best we can because of her.”
And it’s a big task. To start, there’s just the logistics of being prepared to serve a Thanksgiving meal to up to 10,000 people. Last year, the amount of food served was astounding. There was 2,200 pounds of turkey; 110 gallons of gravy; 1,800 pounds each of stuffing, green beans and potatoes; 9,000 dinner rolls; and 800 pies for dessert. Then there’s all the entertainment that goes into the Feast of Sharing. And there’s also coordinating all of those volunteers. It’s no easy task.
“This year we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary. We’re rolling in a cake,” Coronado said. “We have a mariachi that is going to open the event. We always have a mariachi.”
A more complete version of this story is available on www.myBrownsvilleHerald.com
